Gaiety Musical Theatre Festival 30 April 2023 at Ragley Hall

[FrontroverPaul]

Just found out about this  from West End Wilma, described as "Glastonbury but for musical theatre".

Venue is near Stratford upon Avon and the line up includes John Owen-Jones, Marisha Wallace, Cassidy Janson, Sophie Evans, Kerry Ellis, Lee Mead, Lauren Samuels, Collabro and the London Musical Theatre Orchestra.

Standard tickets cost £55 but available for £35 until 1 march with code WILMA35 - pretty good for a full day's entertainment. Coaches are running from London and around the Midlands, car parking £5.

[ruthieh]

I’m going. It looks good. Crossing fingers for dry and warm weather!

[stagebyte]

So surprised (and happy) this not yet another Londoncentric thing

[lolalou]

So cross with myself I missed the March 1 Wilma offer and now tickets are £65
Does anyone know of any £35 codes still out there pls?
Thx

[ruthieh]

Postponed until next year now. No reason given.
Guessing it’s lack of ticket sales….

[ruthieh]

Back on… 30th April 2023

[ruthieh]

Cancelled. Again. Second year running. No explanation.

[robertb213]

Lack of interest I suspect. There were deals on Travelzoo for it.

[adamkinsey]

Apr 14, 2023 17:18:45 GMT ruthieh said:

Cancelled. Again. Second year running. No explanation.

Not quite true. On The Stage website there is an interesting piece where the producer blames waterlogged fields. However a few weeks ago on a totally separate Facebook page someone was looking for a new sponsor as one had pulled out although claiming ticket sales were really good. So clearly there are at least two stories here and lots of people out of pocket a second time. People and businesses had been trying to get communication with the producers for weeks with no success so all very dodgy.

Quite why the producer would tell The Stage about waterlogged fields but not state that in the official announcement is peculiar. It also seems some of the participants were told a week ago it wasn't happening but the website but it took another week to tell everyone else and tickets were still available.

I suspect we'll hear no more about Mike Wilson Productions (at least not in a good way).

Sadly, after last year's cancellation many of us suspected it might happen again so this was no surprise.

[distantcousin]

Yet another musical theatre festival cancelled - they don't seem a very sustainable idea to me.  The majority of people that fill theatre seats aren't theatre geeks and are not into the "fandom thing" like fantasy and sci-fi genres.

I still remember one from about 10 years ago that was due to happen at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London - never got the money back for my ticket.

[sph]

Yes it's an odd concept isn't it? If you're a theatre fan, you go to the theatre. Not to a field somewhere for a festival which is essentially a less theatrical version of the thing you like.

[BurlyBeaR]

Apr 15, 2023 18:38:30 GMT sph said:

Yes it's an odd concept isn't it? If you're a theatre fan, you go to the theatre. Not to a field somewhere for a festival which is essentially a less theatrical version of the thing you like.

West End Live and the more recent MusicalCon would suggest there’s a market for people wanting to see MT outside of the confines of a theatre. Not for me personally but horses for courses. 

[sph]

I mean, sure, but West End Live is kind of right in the middle of the West End.

[LaLuPone]

And free of charge!

[ptwest]

I saw the advert for this and was interested but for me the issues were:
1. A great list of performers but not necessarily ones I would want to stand in a field to listen to.
2. Location - not the easiest to get to, limited public transport options and would probably mean an overnight stay somewhere close by, but that then would be a car ride.
3. Timing - hold an outdoor festival in late June / July / August and you have a fighting chance of the weather being warm and dry. Less so in April.
4. The names on the bill were ones known to us who have a knowledge of musical theatre. Not well enough names to appeal to the non core audience, and also, out of those of us who are in the target demographic, how many of us are fans enough of the individual performers to overlook all the other issues?

I really do applaud the promoters for trying this and there probably is a time and place for this kind of festival. I just don’t think this was it.

[BurlyBeaR]

Apr 15, 2023 21:13:34 GMT sph said:

I mean, sure, but West End Live is kind of right in the middle of the West End.

It’s not in a theatre though is it, and musicalcon wasn’t in the WE. 

[sph]

Still a big difference between a free concert held right in amongst all the theatres on a Saturday and having to travel all the way out to a remote location for a "festival" in the country. And was MusicalCon actually successful financially?

Clearly there isn't a market for these festivals otherwise they'd be selling out and doing great business and not being cancelled.

[ruthieh]

I think the timing is a valid point. I had tickets, lovingly purchased by the husband for Christmas for me…but as the event was getting closer, looking at the weather I must confess I was getting nervous…and I love most of that lineup! But the thought of getting cold and wet , and not having anywhere to comfortably sit, was starting to worry me!

[ktp1973]

Has anyone who had booked actually received an email about refunds yet. Booked for 2022, carried over, now waiting for refund but no contact yet. Getting worried we won’t see the money back