A trip down memory lane on how Kempsey’s Bandbox Theatre came about and how it has survived more than half a century.
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In 1962, various singing groups in the Kempsey district, including church choirs, got together to form the Combined Singers of Kempsey.
For the next ten years, the Singers of Kempsey, as they were popularly known, operated productions from the Kempsey High School assembly hall. In 1970, after searching for a new site to develop a theatre of their own, someone noticed the dilapidated, unlined timber building of the Kempsey Municipal Council Band. Following an acceptable agreement between the Kempsey Municipal Council and the Municipal Band, the
Singers of Kempsey, were granted a lease. Over 40 members of the Singers, formed working bees and set to work for a year, to convert the hall into an impressive, real theatre, which would match the atmosphere of many city theatres.
Originally, the band hall was in two separate buildings but by removing a wall and raising the section, at the rear of the hall, by about 8 feet (2.5 metres), a stage was formed, to make place, for a revolving stage. This electrically-driven, stage feature, still exists to this day for many Bandbox Theatre productions. Not a bad invention, after a mechanic was given, an old car axle and tyre complex.
In early 1971, a group of members, travelled to Sydney for a sale of theatre fittings. The St James Theatre fittings were being sold, as the theatre was being demolished. The members bought the lighting board, for $150 which, continued at the Bandbox Theatre until 1988. From a demolished, suburban Hoyts theatre, they bought the “plum-coloured velvet theatre curtain”, and 150 seats. The curtain is still in operation at your
Bandbox Theatre but, many of the seats have been replaced over the years. This strong drive is and always was, the adaptability, inventiveness and talent of the members of the Kempsey Singers Incorporated.
It is now 47 years since the Kempsey Singers began their performances at the Bandbox Theatre in 1971 and now, is the time for the community members, to join on our next 30 years of development, growth, inventiveness and talent. This can be shown by our first comedy for this year, “DYING TO MEET YOU” by Ron Hutson. This production is expected to run on early September.
Auditions take place at the Bandbox Theatre at 7pm. Cnr. Sea and Wide Streets, West Kempsey on Tuesday June 5.
