The latest addition to Bridgwater College’s state-of-the-art facilities, The McMillan Theatre was formally opened recently by former principal of the College, Fiona McMillan OBE.
The McMillan Theatre, an impressive multi-million pound development, is the only theatre space of its size and type in the local area. The facility offers a 350-seat flexible theatre space, orchestra pit and control room, box office, dance studio and changing rooms.
More than 250 guests attended the opening show which celebrated the many successes of former students who have studied either Performing Arts or Production Arts courses at the College. The exciting programme, which showed off the capabilities of the theatre, included a nail-biting act by illusionist Matthew Pomeroy, a dramatic performance on the piano by Sinead McMillan, fantastic vocal performances by Emma Ingram and Ashley Quinn and an impressive light show designed by Dan Crowther.
Bridgwater-based musical theatre company Pinstripe Productions gave the audience a sneak peak of their upcoming rendition of Sunset Boulevard, while Nathaniel Myers delighted them with his guitar. The evening’s performances were topped off by energetic dance pieces, performed by the College’s very own D14 Dance Company, the McMillan Youth Show Choir and Glastonbury based Hannah’s Hoofers.
The main event of the evening was the official opening and unveiling of the plaque by Fiona McMillan.
Mike Robbins, Principal of Bridgwater College said,
“We are so pleased to have such a fantastic facility for the College and the wider community, and one which matches the quality of our Performing Arts provision and our aspirations for the future. Such a project wouldn’t have been possible without the contribution of a number of local and national organisations who helped to turn our vision into reality, including Sedgemoor District Council, whose gift of the land and invaluable support for the project was so important. We were delighted to have Fiona McMillan back to open the theatre which was named in her honour, not only for her outstanding contribution to the success of the College over many years, but also because of her role in designing and establishing the theatre in the first place.”
