Supporters

A heartfelt thank you to all of the individuals and businesses that have supported the theatre through the first five years of our operation.  Further down this page there is a long list of thank-yous to the people that helped to keep us going – showing their love for this incredible theatre. And of course the people that picked up paintbrushes, baked scones and pies, counted pennies and collected empties after performances. So many people help this theatre in so many ways.

The Theatre is managed by Jazz Hands, a Community Interest Company, set up in 2018 by Maureen McAllister and Deirdre Makepeace to take on the Palace and bring new life to this ‘grand old lady of Palace Avenue’. Our small team is supported by a gang of lovely volunteers and our not-for-profit ethos means that everything we do here is aimed at bringing the best of arts and entertainment into the heart of this wonderful community.

The challenge of continuing this work and maintaining the Victorian theatre carries on and there are lots of ways for you to support the theatre. Every penny raised goes towards the development, maintenance and operation of this fabulous building.  If you’d like to be part of this, please just click on the links below or contact us to find out more.  Thank you.

Friends of the Palace Theatre

​Annual Membership of the Friends of Palace Theatre is £20 for an individual and £30 for a family (up to four in a household).

Benefits:

• Most of our shows offer a small saving on tickets for example £1 – £2 per Friends ticket.
• We are occasionally able to offer special deals for priority booking and complimentary hospitality.
• We also aim to host an annual ‘Friends’ event.

We have over 200 members and, as a not-for-profit community interest company, we welcome the support we receive from members both financially and sometimes as volunteers. This support enables us to ensure that the theatre can thrive into the future.

Sponsor a seat

Many of our seat sponsors declared their support over 15 years ago when a huge programme of improvements was completed including disabled access and new auditorium seating. There are still seats calling out to be sponsored. £100 will place your name on a seat for 10 years with a short message of your choice. You’ll be helping to keep live theatre alive in Paignton. Just email [email protected] and we will send you the details.

Volunteer

Our lovely team of volunteers help with stewarding, catering and general bits and bobs around the theatre – we couldn’t do it without them! If you have a few hours spare and would like to help then please just get in touch – we’d love to meet you.

Donate today!

You can donate any amount at any time through our gofundme.com page. During lock-down your donations enabled us to complete refurbish Stage Left and future funds will support a range of projects including workshops and activities to benefit the local community.

Thank you to our ‘Spotlight on Stage Left’ supporters

Together you raised £1,375 which helped to pay for the amazing refurbishment of Stage Left during lockdown. This fantastic space is now in full use for arts events, rehearsals and private celebrations.

Mavis Makepeace | Brenda Smith | The Denbys | Jill Worthington | Richard Aitkins | Comical Entertainment | Adrian Mark Sanders | Craig Taylor | Gill Till | Karen Sutton | Sarah Hemingway | Erin Walcon | Sally Thompson | Stephen Mckeating | Angela Brown | Richard Bearne | Gesche Buecker | Louise Knapman-Singh

Thank you to our ‘Keeping live theatre and music alive’ supporters

We joined a national ‘go-fund-me’ initiative to support venues during lockdown and one hundred of you donated an incredible total of  £3,904.

Iain Douglas | Sarah Caplan (Bijou Theatre Productions) | Maggi Douglas-Dunbar | Jonathan Johnston | Kit Ring | Louise Martyn | Paula Hislop | Linda Sykes | Lyn and John Rea | Lyn McCaig | Mike Haig | Gesche Buecker | Sue Kirkham | Laura Rugg | Craig Money | Jackie Kingdon | Jon Dyer | Andréa Wooller | Gillian Till | Julie Smyth | David Eadie | Peter Ginn | John Miles | Edward Jackson | Robin Causley | Ian Barnes | Paul Forsey | Roger Payne | Susan Balcombe | Richard Aitkins | Richard Nagy | Rachel Malloch | Miss J Reynolds | J and V Haigh | Tony and Linda Rogers | Mrs E Gillard | M Simcox | J Allsopp | Richard Bunker | Barbara Grubb | Jacqueline Cox | Mrs P Eastley | Miss J Whiteford | Pat Jones | Brenda White | Paignton Panto Productions | Jonathan Hooton | Lottie Challenger | Lesley Skinner | Christine Wills | Jackie Gale | Lynda Ewing | Carol and Andrew Pryce | Mrs V Taft | Jackie Faint | Sue Cose | Kati Orav | Stephen and Pauline Morgan | Lisa Crawford | Rosamund Willis-Fear | Bev Driffield | Neil Williams | Judith Boyle | Alistair Marshall | Mrs P Holley | Paul Keating | Ainsley Robinson

A special thank you to Paignton Chamber of Commerce for their donation of £250 from the emergency fund.

Huge thanks to Paignton Pantomime Productions for the generous donation.

Huge thanks to the Torbay & South West of England Festival for the generous donation.

Huge thanks to the Friends of the Palace Theatre for their ongoing support and generous donation.

Huge thanks to bacta for their generous donation.

A huge thanks to Yours In Harmony for their generous donation.

Very special thanks to Bijou Theatre Productions, WBW Solicitors and Abbey Signs for their advertising support.

Thanks also to the super talented Frankman Design for providing their wonderful design support.