It was announced today that the man who has managed and programmed the City’s showpiece Grand Theatre for the past two decades, Gary Iles, will be taking early retirement from his post at the beginning of August.
Gary Iles took over the helm of the City & County of Swansea owned venue in 1989, following periods of employment in Theatres and Concert Halls in Northampton, Cardiff, Southampton, Bridgend and Porthcawl.
In total, he has been employed in the field of entertainment for over 35 years
Since his appointment at Swansea, the Grand’s programme has been
broadened and extended; a new Arts Wing housing a Studio theatre, exhibition facilities and function rooms has been added to the 1000 seat main theatre; audience numbers have increased, and the theatre has become far more accessible to all sections of the Community.
The Arts Council of Wales recently described the venue in its Investment Report as “A confident, proud venue with a wide appeal of its programme… and with an important role in artistic provision across the City & County of Swansea, and further afield”. The report also recorded the venue’s “practical support and developmental opportunities offered to a number of young, local theatre and dance companies to nurture them in their ambitions”.
Speaking of his early retirement, Gary Iles said “It has been a huge privilege to have programmed and managed ‘The Grand’ for the past twenty –one years.
During that time I have worked with a fantastic team of people; met, and in some cases become friends with many very talented actors, musicians, dancers and other entertainers and creative and artistic personnel, and have witnessed some amazing productions and performances.
I have also got to know (perhaps not by name in all cases!) hundreds of our regular patrons, which has been a great experience.
I should like to thank everyone who has played a part in making the Grand the success I, and others, believe it to be”
Asked to comment on Gary Iles’ departure, Swansea’s leading citizen, Lord Mayor Richard Lewis said “Firstly, I’d like to thank Gary. I know that he has been the head of a group of people who work very hard indeed, and he will hate me putting him under the spotlight personally, but he has, over the last two decades, helped make the Grand Theatre very much the jewel that it is regarded by the Council, staff, artistes and producers and, most importantly by the hundreds of thousands of people who visit and use the venue each year.
He has shown exemplary stewardship of the building, always showing a courtesy and understanding to the many people who visit the venue on both sides of the stage. He has also been very successful in picking ‘show winners’. I and the Lady Mayoress have only recently enjoyed several fantastic productions at the venue including ‘The Full Monty’, Billy Elliot, and the wonderful summer Repertory Season (all of which have been packed performances). The first two productions are by local Companies that have been encouraged by Gary and the Repertory Season, which he has nurtured for the last 14 years to the extent that the Repertory Company feels very much that Swansea is its second home.
As part of my Council duties I have also got to know him and his family and would like to consider him as a friend. He assures me that he leaves the building in safe hands and is looking forward to receiving some of the theatre’s famous customer care himself, when he is a member of the public, and a customer himself!”
From the world of entertainment, singer, songwriter and broadcaster, Mal Pope stated. “Well deserved! Thank you Gary for all your past support in what, apart from marriage and children, has given me some of the most rewarding times of my life having staged four musicals (Copper Kingdom, Amazing Grace, Contender and Cappuccino Girls) on the fantastic Grand theatre stage in addition to numerous concerts. Gary Iles has encouraged and supported many of us in the artistic and creative community, and has helped us to aspire to heights some of us had not even dreamed of”.
While Swansea Sound presenter and Grand Theatre pantomime veteran Kevin Johns added “Gary has been a fantastic manager of Swansea’s Grand Theatre and a mentor for me and many others in the performing arts world of Swansea and South Wales. He has worked tirelessly for the theatre and I’m sure that he’ll enjoy his retirement, although I don’t expect him to be sitting in a chair doing nothing for too long!”
Evening Post Theatre Critic, Graham Williams wrote, "In my eleven years of visiting Swansea Grand Theatre I have seen at first hand just how much Gary Iles is respected not only by his colleagues at the theatre but also by visiting artists and companies, many of whom pay tribute to him and his team at the end of their productions from the stage.
Gary has developed the Grand into a venue that not only presents populist entertainment, drama and dance in the main house but also more adventurous fare courtesy of the Depot Studio space in the Arts Wing, as well as developing the performance skills and confidence of young people with the theatre's own in-house dance school and also The Sir Harry Secombe Trust, as well as community outreach projects with companies such as Swansea Ballet Russe and TAN Dance.
While Gary is always keen to emphasise that the Grand's successful track record is the result of teamwork on the part of his staff, his quietly self-effacing style has played an important part in raising the profile of the theatre, and his presence as a figurehead for the Grand will be greatly missed."
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