Just saw this item that captured my imagination. Plans are underway to give the West End's Arts Theatre a total facelift including a new set of retractable seats. The plan being that post-show, the seats would all swiftly disappear by way of hydraulics (please don't ask me to explain this... I'm lucky I can spell it!) thus transforming the house into an open party space. (read: available for rental)
Laurence Kirschel, the visionary developer behind this proposed overhaul, states plainly the somewhat obvious point that because theatres are dark for almost 20 hours of each day, they are far more limited financially than say, a hotel, a bar, or a restaurant, each of which can generate cash for many more hours per day.
I say Kirschel's idea is a good one that ought to gain some traction here in the U.S. Why not have more parties in theatres after hours? And for that matter, what's to preclude other uses such as classes, workshops and concerts during the day?
Every time I go to the Soho Playhouse on Vandam and am kept waiting in that cute little basement area with the bar, it strikes me as such a waste that this adorable little spot isn't being transformed nightly into a downtown cabaret.
Maybe some enterprising young impresario will read this and set such a thing in motion. Let me know if you do. I'll be the first on your guest list. Save me a vodka gimlet... straight up.
More more info on the Arts Theatre check out this story at www.thisislondon.co.uk
