Downtown in Business Birmingham saw 2020 off to a strong and frankly, cultural start with an exclusive dinner at the iconic Hippodrome. The evening was ‘In Conversation’ with the venues leading lady herself – Artistic Director & Chief Executive, Fiona Allan.
The evening began with Fiona reflecting on the milestones and triumphs of last year from the site’s 120th birthday celebration of being an entertainment venue to the first ever musical co-production The Color Purple.
She then addressed the audience with her aspirations for the coming years. Firstly, challenging the “External, antiquated views of Birmingham” and stated that as a collective the city needs to “be on a trajectory learning to shout about ourselves” as not just the second city, but as one of the best cities in the UK. She also touched on the cultural activities that the Hippodrome will be hosting alongside the Commonwealth games in 2022 celebrating our region.
Since Fiona has taken her role at the Hippodrome she has focused on championing diversity and changing the demographic of the audience that the theatre attracts to reflect to be more reflective of our city community. She has additionally opened The Hippodrome in the day and has ambitious fundraising objectives to further develop the building and “turn the Hippodrome into the Barbican”.
The event took place in the Gowling WLG Suite, looking onto the atrium and the venue’s state of the art facilities.
