The new boss of Aberdeen Performing Arts wants to bring West End and Broadway smash-hit musical Hamilton to His Majesty’s to maintain its reputation for attracting world-class shows to the Granite City.
Andy Eagle, who took up the role of chief executive of APA last week, has shared his vision for the arts in Aberdeen – including an exciting and diverse programme across all three venues – HMT, the Music Hall and The Lemon Tree.
And he is dedicated to seeing the proposed revamp of The Lemon Tree transform it into a hub for the arts, supporting and encouraging creatives in the north-east.
Andy, who took over the role from Jane Spiers, also believes Aberdeen Performing Arts has a key role to play in the transformation of the city, not just on the cultural front but also as a huge economic driver – and he vowed to be a champion for arts and creatives in the north-east.
Andy, who has more than 20 years of experience working in the arts and was previously chief executive of Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff, shared his thoughts with the P&J.
APA has a reputation for bringing world-class shows to Aberdeen, especially at His Majesty’s. Do you have your sights on anything?
I think it is an extraordinary achievement for Aberdeen Performing Arts to bring top-quality West End shows to this area of Scotland and audiences respond. We have two great musicals coming up in the new year with Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and Six and also Shrek The Musical, so we have a whole diverse programme of top musicals coming.
If there’s one I’d really like to get here it would be Hamilton. It’s an extraordinary musical. I don’t know if it’s possible to get it here, but I’d like to think we have a good shot.
I’d like to see more bands coming through the Music Hall programme, the capacity of 1,200 is spot on for that scale of touring. Perhaps some of these bands that do Glasgow and Edinburgh, let’s bring them up to Aberdeen as well. I know that’s something the programme team are very keen to do and works very hard to do, with great success and we can build on that.
What is your vision for Aberdeen Performing Arts?
I want us to very much complete and carry through the development of The Lemon Tree. I think it’s a really important development, not just for Aberdeen Performing Arts but for the city and its wider regeneration.
I think The Lemon Tree can act as a catalyst in growing the creative economy of the city. I wonder if we can expand the offering by having studio provision for artists and companies who perhaps wouldn’t otherwise have a base. If you bring a community of artists together, really exciting things happen.
What other areas do you want to develop?
I want to see our creative engagement programme expanded and continued. I think it’s really important we touch the lives of children, young people, and adults, who perhaps haven’t had the opportunities in the arts for whatever reason.
I want to broaden and diversify the audiences we reach and look at the programme we do which is very distinct between the three venues and maybe tweak it in certain areas.
My personal passion is contemporary dance. With Michael Clark coming from this area, I think there’s an obvious opportunity there.
I would also like to bring in, perhaps, theatre circus. It’s a very accessible art form and there are plenty of very good international companies we could perhaps bring to Aberdeen.
You are arriving in difficult times – post-pandemic and a cost of living crisis looming – how is APA placed to deal with those challenges?
I think we need to look at a period of stability – that doesn’t mean we need to be boring or non-daring, but we need to tread a bit carefully. I think most theatres will be saying that because there is a cost of living crisis and that is probably going to have an impact on the ability of some people to come to our shows.
It’s then incumbent on us to make sure things like our ticket pricing are accessible wherever possible, we have to get the right balance of what we put on, how we market it, who we market it to and the price we charge.
Where do you see APA sitting in the life of Aberdeen, not just culturally, but generally and economically?
Aberdeen is a city that is trying to transform itself. The arts and culture is part of that redefining of a city and broadening the creativity and economics of a city.
Aberdeen Performing Arts is essential to ensuring we get people to stay in the city and have an offer for companies to come to the city… and to help increase tourism as well.
It’s a key driver for the regeneration of the city. I think that Union Street can be touched by the arts in a way that makes it slightly more attractive than perhaps it is at the moment.
Perhaps people don’t realise that the creative economy in the UK has been one of the most rapidly expanding areas. For example, I was reading a few weeks ago the projection of spending in the film industry in Scotland is going from around £600 million to about a billion a year over the next 10 years or so.
I think the north-east of Scotland should have a slice of that cake.
What attracted you to the role of chief executive of Aberdeen Performing Arts?
I pay tribute to Jane Spiers over the past 10 years. I think she’s done a remarkable job in taking Aberdeen Performing Arts and establishing it as a highly reputable arts organisation that’s really important in the city and also wider in Scotland.
This is one of the largest arts organisations in Scotland and probably in the UK and the opportunity to come in and run something of that size doesn’t often come around. I’m delighted to be given the opportunity to take on the job.
Also, the first venue I ever worked in was a Matcham theatre, the Blackpool Grand Theatre, which was straight out of university. So the opportunity to come and run a Matcham theatre like HMT is an honour and a privilege.
Do you see APA as a champion of the arts in the north-east?
Absolutely. We will be championing the arts and the artists of the north-east. We will be shouting about the venues and festivals we run and the other things we are going to be doing in the years to come.
(Aberdeen Performing Arts) is a really important part of the fabric of Scotland. I think we need to recognise that and continue to punch and argue for more investment in the arts in this area. We need to shout for the city and the creatives of this area and demand the same as is seen in relation to the Central Belt and beyond.
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