What a few months it’s been for the Southend Team! Here’s a special news round-up from TD, Nick Parr.

Cliffs Pavilion 2024 Refurbishment

In October, Southend-on-Sea City Council gave the final go-ahead for the long-awaited refurbishment of the Cliffs Pavilion.  This now means that the project team are working flat-out to ensure the project starts on time, 8 January 2024.  The Cliffs will remain open throughout the refurbishment works. 

Dixon Studio reopens!

Thanks to phenomenal support from our landlord, Southend-on-Sea City Council, the Dixon Studio at the Palace Theatre reopens on Wednesday 22 November with Southend Drama Society’s staging of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (running until 25 November).

Following the discovery of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in the ceiling at the Dixon, which is a 1980’s extension to the original grade two listed theatre, the studio had to close while interim safety measures could be put in place.

A new ‘crash deck’ has been built under the existing roof ensuring that even if the RAAC fails, there is no risk to users of the space. The Southend tech team have re-built the technical infrastructure to ensure nothing is fixed to the roof. Work has now begun on the long-term solution of replacing the roof and removing the RAAC completely, which will require specialist planning permission and a short closure, expected to be in early 2025.

The news of the closure of the Dixon and the impact on the local community, prompted BBC’s The One Show to contact the Southend team.  Their feature, originally broadcast on 31 October can be viewed below from around 90 seconds in. Available to watch until the end of November.

Only Fools and Hearses

The Cliffs Pavilion has always been a venue of diverse activity, but Monday 30 October was unique, even by the Cliffs’ standards!

The day started with one of our most successful on-sales in history – Only Fools and Horses the Musical took over £380k in its first week on sale. During the course of the same day, the Maritime Room hosted the funeral of Southend-on- Sea cabbie David Burley. 

As a huge fan of the Trotters, the funeral was themed around Only Fools and Horses (thanks to funeral specialist Only Fools and Hearses) and ‘Del Boy’ was seen parading through the City’s streets! You could not make it up! All of this while Level 42 were sound-checking for their 2,200-capacity gig that evening in the main auditorium.