The spring has sprung and performers who subscribe to our publication are
hopefully looking forward to a busy and lucrative summer list of gigs and shows.
The holiday centres have always been a vitally important part of our income and
speaking as someone who, up until recently, was actively involved in the
holiday centre business, I can confirm that providing entertainment for the parks
takes a lot of thought.
My own situation now is that I am now happily semi-retired from actively
working at the sharp end of show business, due to on-going health problems
concerning both myself and other members of my family. This means that my
working life nowadays, such as it is, consists of the odd social club gig and a bit
of press work. Taking life easier has resulted in my experiencing first hand of
old maxim that the on-looker sees more of the game.
On a further personal note, I am glad to be out of the holiday centre business and as a consequence my life is a
lot more content nowadays. That is not to say that I won’t be making the odd trip to the seaside this summer.
Many entertainers boost the often fallow winter months with a bumper summer season of one-night appearances
or longer contract engagements. Which rather conveniently brings me to my main point. We want to hear about
your experiences on the UK holiday centre entertainment scene this year. Do you visit such centres as a cabaret
artiste or are you involved in providing entertainment for the customers and have duties that involve managing
staff or customer satisfaction? If so, please e-mail me and maybe you could write something for us. My e-mail
address is at the bottom of the page.
On a broader note, I am pleased to announce that UK Cabaret has a new publisher. This individual has taken over
from me as publisher, although I shall continue in my role as managing editor. The publisher wishes to remain in
the background on this venture and I am more than happy to have this person on board. The new publisher has
weighed in with some vitally important inward investment .This will result in us being able to offer a thicker
monthly magazine, as well as helping us further develop our web-business, which has been so expertly presided
over by Martin Brown.
Some of our initial supporters may recall my revelation
last year that I had gone to huge expense (by my meagre
and humble standards) to launch this publication, only to
find myself chucked out at The Stage and losing another
major source of income at almost exactly the same time.
As a result of that double-whammy, my pockets were
suddenly virtually empty and the coffers at Chez Ritchie
were running pretty low.
Many people initially made encouraging noises, but have
not subscribed. Our first magazine editions were rather
humble and modest efforts, in fact I heard that some
people were extremely dismissive and negative regarding
the chances of success for UK Cabaret. However our
highly valued subscribers have witnessed our printed
version becoming thicker, more colourful and glossy, as
well as professionally designed by my colleague John
Stokes.
Subscriptions and advertising have been trickling in on a
more regular business recently and the future looks very
hopeful as we continue to attempt to adequately cover
and promote light entertainment in this country. This is something that, in my view, the Stage doesn’t do any
more. So, the message is clear, this publication must pay its way. Those who promised to get behind us at the
beginning of this publishing adventure last June must show their support.
My e-mail address as ever is mark-ritchie@btconnect.com
