Bradford's Alhambra theatre is to spend £100,000 on air conditioning to cool down its audiences during block buster summer shows.

During last summer's mega-musical Les Miserables which ran for three months and generated £2.4million in ticket sales, temperatures soared to 30 degrees centigrade because there is no proper air conditioning in the theatre.

The combination of packed houses, an elaborate lighting and audio set up were responsible for the high temperatures.

And a councillor has warned that they need to sort the problem out if they want to continue attracting top West End productions during the summer months which used to be a traditional shut down for the theatre.

Now Bradford Council is considering dipping into its budgets to safeguard the success of future summer blockbusters by installing a £100,000 ventilation system.

Members of the Council's sport and recreation sub-committee will meet to discuss the plans on Friday. If the scheme is given the go ahead the new system should be up and running by the end of June, when the theatre plays host to a seven-week run of Oliver!.

Sub-committee chairman, Councillor Derek Kettlewell, explained: "People who are coming to see top quality entertainment during the summer months should be able to sit in comfort - not feel like they are in a sauna.

"Last summer was relatively cool, so the situation could have been far worse. But theatre staff were still regularly reporting temperatures as high as 30 degrees centigrade backstage and in the auditorium.

"Large-scale West End productions involve a huge amount of technical equipment which generates a lot of heat. We need to address this problem if we want to continue to attract shows like Oliver!, Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables."

Les Miserables ran for a record-breaking 12 weeks between June and August, attracting a total audience of 110,000 and giving Bradford's economy a much-needed boost.

Theatre bosses hope to repeat that success this year with the Cameron Mackintosh production Oliver!, scheduled to run until the middle of August. And a lengthy run of The Phantom of the Opera has been pencilled in for the spring and summer of 2000.

A spokesman for the Alhambra said the theatre had become a victim of its own success. "The fact that we are now attracting huge productions playing to full houses during the summer months has pushed temperatures up. We set up temporary air conditioning backstage for Les Miserables, but it would be nice to get a permanent cooling system.", he said.

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