Hippodrome’s ‘Stage Appeal’ boosted by £40,000

A FUND-RAISING appeal by the Birmingham Hippodrome theatre for a new stage has been boosted by more than £40,000.

An auction and entertainment evening was held on Saturday which saw around 300 supporters of the city centre venue dine on its stage.

The biennial gala dinner heard from chairman John Crabtree why £1m was needed to replace the 30-year-old platform and that 650 productions had passed over it since its last revamp.

The event, sponsored by Birmingham City Centre Partnership and supported by the theatre’s pantomime partner Qdos, was hosted by Christopher Biggins, whose own offer of dinner at London’s Ivy Restaurant boosted auction receipts.

Other auction prizes included a tango class with ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ stars Vincent and Flavia, ‘Golden Tickets’ to every Birmingham Hippodrome production for a year of which six were sold for £2,500 each.

Entertainment was provided by ventriloquist Paul Zerdin and among his puppets was Mark Smith, PwC’s regional chairman and chair of the Birmingham Hippodrome Development Trust, who is leading the Stage Appeal.

Rob Macpherson, Hippodrome marketing and development director, said: “The Gala Dinner really is a unique occasion. The evening was even more special as this will be the last time we’ll use this particular stage for the dinner before we replace it next August.

“Our supporters responded as they always do with a spirit of generosity and great fun.

“With support like this, we should be able to reach our ambitious £1m target so we can undertake the much needed work next year.”