Lanarkshire theatre group has show cancelled at dress rehearsal for 2nd time
It comes as Motherwell Concert Hall announcing it is closing with immediate effect until further notice
Clyde News is continuing to hear about the impact of crumbling concrete discovered in public buildings across Scotland - with Motherwell Concert Hall the latest to close.
The aerated material, known as RAAC, has a 30-year lifespan and becomes a risk after this time.
READ MORE: Motherwell Theatre closes with 'immediate effect' after RAAC found in roof
'Heartbroken'
A spokesperson from North Lanarkshire Council confirmed that RAAC was identified in large parts of the venue's roofing structure, as well as water leaks.
The concert hall has now closed the doors until further notice, meaning many upcoming shows have had to been cancelled or postponed.
One group left "heartbroken" by the news is the Airdrie and Coatbridge Amateur Operatic Society (ACAOS), which was taking to the stage this week to showcase a performance of Oklahoma after a few turbulent years.
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Cancelled for second time
The group was originally supposed to perform the musical in 2020 in the Airdrie Town Hall when on the eve of it's debut, the showing was cancelled during dress rehearsals due to Covid-19.
Forced to abandon the venue after it was transformed into a vaccination centre, members of ACAOS were finally ready to receive their curtain call at Motherwell Concert Hall.
However, history was doomed to repeat itself when once again, during dress rehearsal, the group was notified of the building's immediate closure.
Although supportive of the council's decision to prioritise safety, the group are now devastated and in search of a new venue to finally showcase years of practice.
'I feel numb'
ACAOS president, Laura Johnston, said: "We started rehearsals for this show in September of 2019, with the intention of the show opening in the March of 2020.
"We had our band call, our tech rehearsal, and on the 12th of March, we were due to open our show for audiences in Airdrie Town Hall. On that night at five o'clock, Boris Johnston made an announcement that we were essentially going into lockdown which resulted in our show being cancelled before we actually got to get to the stage for our dress rehearsal.
"We have been working away at little bits and bobs behind the scenes with the full intention of getting Oklahoma back on stage.
"We were faced with further issues and that the town hall, which has been the club's home for the last 114 years, is currently being used by the NHS as a vaccination centre for both Covid and flu vaccines and therefore was not going to be available to us for our production.
"Motherwell Civic has now been shut down for the foreseeable future."
History repeats
Laura added: "Our cast were at the venue last night, ready for our dress rehearsal, ready to get into their costumes to get on stage. We were called into a meeting to inform us that the rehearsal could not go ahead and that we needed to vacate the building.
"So we vacated the building as quickly as we could. We were able to scramble everybody to a church hall locally and we ran a rehearsal with our orchestra because this show has a 22-piece orchestra as well as a cast of nearly 40 people.
"We received the call shortly before the announcement was made public that we were going to have to cancel the rest of the And we weren't going to get to open the show and our show week was sadly gone.
"To say that we are, are devastated is an understatement. Numb, I think, would be my initial reaction.
"I've probably cried all the tears that I can cry.
'Up in the air'
"I believe the majority of our cast are meeting in the pub tonight, to lift a glass to what should be opening night. to support each other, to lift each other, to get each other through this.
"The next steps for us are a little bit up in the air just now.
So we would love to be able to say that this show will go on and if possible, we will make that happen.
"We hope that this is not the end of what we've started, but just another speed bump to get us to that big finish and the curtain call that we've been so desperately waiting on."