THE Oldham Coliseum is proof positive of the maxim that nothing succeeds like success.

At a time when Bolton's Octagon Theatre is fighting for its life, the Coliseum is pulling in the punters.

Reports that average ticket sales last season hit 77pc is healthy by any theatre's standards.

The1997/98 pantomime, Aladdin, played to 33,000 people and already NEXT year's panto, Mother Goose, is on a 20pc booking.

Flourishing

Marketing and press manager Mark Llewellin: "I don't suppose there is any other theatre in the country that can say that."

At the head of this flourishing theatre is its chief executive, Kenneth Alan Taylor, who since his arrival in 1996 has changed the theatre's fortunes.

This is the second time Taylor has helped to rescue the Coliseum. In the late 1970s, as the late national newspaper theatre critic Jack Tinker recorded, Taylor made the Coliseum one of Oldham's most thriving assets.

Tinker wrote: "Against all the prevailing trends of the time, maybe even against their better judgement, the local council bought the theatre. And the man they appointed artistic adminstrator, Kenneth Alan Taylor, has become to the Oldham Coliseum what Henry Ford was to the car."

A fulsome compliment, but one that was clearly deserved. Because after Taylor went for a stint to the Nottingham Playhouse, there was a slump at the Coliseum and not until Taylor returned in 1996 did matters start to improve again.

Mark Llewellin said: "Once you have broken the pattern of people coming to the theatre, you soon lose your audience. Kenneth focused on building up the audience's loyalty and trust."

One of ways he did that was staging the hugely successful Lancashire comedy Saturday Night at the Crown, which had a large cast and the bonus of actress Judith Barker in a leading role.

Not least among the theatre's attractions is the warmth of the Coliseum's audiences. The atmosphere is that of a theatre club which it once was. Actors often appear in more than one production during the season in a way reminiscent of the repertory system.

Llewellin is the first to admit the bar areas and front of house at the theatre are not ideal.

"But I think the audience can cope with that because of the quality of the productions," he said.

Certainly, Taylor chooses well and casts carefully. Recent hits have included A Different Way Home, starring Roy Barracl ough, Alfie the Musical and Underneath the Arches in which Taylor appeared as Bud Flanagan.

While not fighting shy of plays with bad language or nudity, Taylor makes sure audiences know what to expect. "We are not staging sanitised theatre," Llewllin said. "But when people book their tickets, they are told what sort of production they will be seeing."

There is certainly a family atmosphere at the Coliseum with Taylor often in the foyer greeting members of the audience like old friends.

"Kenneth is very much a personality in the town," Llewellin said. "People do trust him and what he is doing. He knows what Oldhamers want and he delivers."

Visit

But is isn't only Oldhamers who visit the Coliseum. Records show that a large percentage of the audience is from other towns, including Bolton.

If there is a downside to the theatre's success, it is the percentage increase they received from the North West Arts Board in the latest round of increase.

"Kenneth and all the theatre staff were taken aback by just getting three per cent. We have had big cuts and a major reorganisation in the theatre and we don't see we can do any more.

"We have turned the theatre round. We were told success would be rewarded but, patently it is not."

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