History of the Friends of AP Theatre

Please note - this article is in the process of being updated.

The Friends of the Theatre was set up in 2002 to support the Alexandra Palace Charitable Trust, which runs the Palace and park, in restoring the Victorian Theatre to public use.

Timeline

March 2002 Work on the foyer complete, giving access to the theatre.
April 2002 Inaugural meeting to set up the Friends attended by leading theatre figures including Juliet Stevenson, Maureen Lipman and Bill Paterson.
June 2002 Feasibility study of the costs of renovation. Promotion of the venue begins.
September 2002 First foyer event: Tracy Chevalier reading The Girl with the Pearl Earring.
April 2003 Membership structure set up (£15 pa).
May 2003 Stage Machinery Condition Report and Restoration Plan completed.
June 2003 First auditorium event: silent film show by the Cinema Theatre Association.
July 2003 Young Jazz: first fundraiser by the Friends raises £1,000.
August 2003 Discussions begin with theatre group Complicite.
October 2003 Friends awarded a £5,000 grant from the Lottery Awards for All scheme to help with administration and a small events programme.
November 2003 English Heritage grant for archeological study of the stage undercroft.
January 2004 Parliament agrees an order promoted by the Charity Commission to give the Alexandra Palace Trust wider development powers.
May 2004 Joule appointed to provide administrative production support to the Friends.
June 2004 Complicite present a proposal to mount a site-specific production in the theatre in Spring 2005 that would give national profile and leave a legacy of work on the theatre structure.
June 2004 Sunday lunchtime jazz in the foyer with the Henry Lowther-Jim Mullen quartet.
July 2004 Haringey Schools Big Band: first live public performance in the theatre for 70 years.
July 2004 Complicite launches its new season in the theatre auditorium.
September 2004 Organ recital by Nicholas Martin in the foyer.
September 2004 Play reading of Victorian melodrama Lady Audley's Secret in the theatre.
October 2004 Complicite abandons plans after costs of necessary work escalate.
December 2004 Trust appoints professional advisers on development options
March 2005 Study of the undercroft finds a number of objects and pieces of machinery.
April 2005 Friends committee agrees strategy of supporting events by other organisations.
June 2005 Messiah organised by choir master Jeremy Jackman raises œ3,000 for the Friends.
September 2005 Bids sought by the AP Trust to operate and develop the building.
October 2005 £20,000 grant from English Heritage/Wolfson Foundation for stage repairs.
January 2006 Firoka appointed as development partner by the board of trustees.
April 2006 In light of the agreement to transfer operational control of the Palace to Firoka, the Friends committee decides to postpone their AGM until the future becomes clear.
June-July 2006 £500 grant to The Show's The Thing, a light and sound installation.
October 2006 £500 grant to Odysseus Unbound, an short opera season in the theatre.
May 2007 Charity Commission order allows the deal with Firoka to go through.
June 2007 Friends meeting with Firoka cancelled after judicial review of deal sought.
August 2007 Sony Music shoots Walkman cinema, TV and poster advert in the theatre.
October 2007 Judicial review quashes Charity Commission order, Firoka deal collapses.
January 2008 Repairs to the stage and one of the traps completed.
March 2008 Friends committee decide to reconvene Friends of the Theatre.
December 2008 Winter Bring and Buy in the Foyer