Adam Smith Theatre gala re-opening

Fife Today

A full house and a real buzz as Kirkcaldy's historic theatre finally opens its doors.

Transcript

00:00 Well the doors are finally open again at the Amsterdam Theatre after three long years of

00:15 closure for a major refurbish and of course the lockdown. Today it reopens with two sold

00:20 out gala performances and it is really good to be back.

00:42 Right we're here at the very sweet Amsterdam Theatre, obviously a place you've been to

01:12 many times. What do you make of the transformation that you've seen so far?

01:15 What I've seen so far is remarkable because there's obviously a lot of work that's happened

01:22 here since I was last here some years ago now. But I'm just saying to you that they've

01:30 managed to modernise the building but yet still retain the lovely feel of this lovely

01:36 old building and just the detail and yeah the freshness of it you know and the colours

01:43 that we have here in the beverage suite is great. As always when you come into a space

01:49 that you think you're familiar with and it's changed it kind of takes your head away a

01:53 wee while to get used to and that's kind of where my head is at the minute because I looked

01:58 around about half an hour ago and just sort of having a look backstage which has changed

02:03 but hasn't changed if you don't mind. So it's just lovely to be back here.

02:07 That's what's important, the theatre's now reopened after three years, lockdowns changed,

02:10 everything for theatre is under pressure. This one's now reopened, transformed and hopefully

02:14 a nice bright future as well. Yeah and it's so important, it's such a hugely

02:19 important venue not just obviously for Fife but beyond. I've been lucky enough to have

02:27 performed here on a number of occasions and I remember I came here and I'm going to talk

02:31 about this during the shows, that I came here in the mid 90s to see, you probably not know

02:37 this band, they're called Lights Out by Nine and I was invited along to go and see them

02:42 because we were looking for an exciting band that could handle the party that I had planned

02:46 for my wedding and of course as soon as we came in and they started that was it and of

02:51 course the sad news about doing it this week is it makes this kind of return even a little

02:55 bit more poignant so then that was always my first thought about coming here because

02:58 it's kind of connected to my wedding plans and when Claire and I got married and the

03:04 fact that it's kind of timed, it's bizarre just the timing of all these things coming

03:07 together and I know his association with this place is absolutely massive and his granddaughters

03:11 are going to be on stage during the show dancing as well so that's going to be lovely and you

03:17 know I brought my one man show here, Tales from Behind the Mic, Andy, Alan and I did

03:22 Canned Laughter here, actually we spent a week here taking it, rehearsing it and getting

03:27 it on and that was an adventure because it was a big massive set which had, it was littered

03:32 with problems but we managed to get open that first night without a full rehearsal which

03:37 was terrifying to say the least but however and what my big recollection about this place

03:43 is that the people at Kirkcaldy and people at Thrive have always come and supported everything

03:47 that we've done and there's always always a brilliant atmosphere in there so it's just

03:51 a lovely wee band.

03:51 Welcome to the Amsterdam Theatre at Kirkcaldy which is filling up to capacity for the very

04:03 first show staged here in three years. The theatre's been closed for lockdown and of

04:07 course a multi-million pound refurbishment transforming it into the most important creative

04:12 cultural hub in the kingdom. It opens again today with two sold out gala shows featuring

04:17 250 performers all of whom consider this to be their home venue and it's hosted by Grant

04:23 Stock, he'll be on stage very shortly taking them through a gala performance. The red carpet's

04:28 outside, there's a real buzz right through the building today as it finally returns to

04:31 use and looks ahead to a very bright new future.

04:34 Thank you.

04:35 Thank you.

04:36 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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