The weekend’s performances of Menopause the Musical not only netted a tidy profit for the Roxy, but local businesses benefited significantly.
Main street businesses the Advocate spoke to reported increased business on Saturday morning.
When the Advocate spoke to Carisa Riley in Boutique Capri at about 1.45 on Saturday afternoon, an exhausted Carisa said “the rush has just stopped.”
The visitors not only looked, Nancy MacInnes, of Villa Rouge said that throughout the morning, the shop had from six to eight customers, most of them were visitors who on their way to the Roxy.
Both the Fossickers Way Motel and Imperial Hotel-Motel were booked out on Saturday night.
A group of motor cyclists also chose Saturday to visit Bingara, boosting the numbers at the Imperial hotel at lunch time, where 85 lunches were served to theatre goers. “We were just catching our breath from the lunch time rush, when the play ended, and they came in for coffee and afternoon tea,” publican, Erik Ozols said. “Then it all started again with dinner before the show on Saturday night.”
The Sporting Club reported that an extra 70 people dined at the Club on Saturday night, including “a bus load from Barraba.” The RSL Club also had a good night, with an extra 100 dining there.
Also to benefit was the Sportsman’s Hotel, with a couple of rooms booked, and increased patronage in the bar.
As well as a financial boost for the town, the 600 people who attended the show enjoyed it immensly. “It is proof once again that The Roxy delivers the highest quality entertainment,” Roxy Manager, Sandy McNaughton said. “It also reinforces that the town of Bingara benefitted from the huge numbers of people who travelled from across the region to enjoy this spectacular production.” As one resident remarked, “Without the Roxy, Bingara would be just like a lot of other little towns in the bush – dying”.
