IT WAS a smash hit! Bolton Amateur Theatre Soceties' annual dinner and the BEN's amateur theatre awards evening at the Albert Halls was a complete sell-out.

And there was still a waiting list for tickets.

One of the highlights of the glitzy and glamorous evening was the after-dinner speech by showbusiness personality Norman Prince. He had the capacity crowd almost helpless with laughter at his jokes.

The BEN awards were started to highlight the work of amateur theatre in Bolton and district but, in his welcoming speech, BEN managing director John Waters said the word "amateur" was not always appropriate to describe the excellent work done by societies.

And he said that last year's productions had been of the highest standard since the awards started. The judges had found it especially difficult to choose the winners.

He stressed that although it was tempting to honour individuals for outstanding performances, it was recognised that all productions were team efforts and that should be reflected in the BEN's awards to societies.

Mr Waters welcomed the involvement of ACDO, this year's sponsors.

In closing, he said that the BEN would be introducing some special awards for next year's Millennium evening.

Replying, Michael Rogers, Chairman of BATS, thanked everyone involved in organising the evening.

He mentioned particularly Harold Hulton who had had the difficult job of allocating the much sought after tickets.

Mr Rogers too welcomed ACDO representatives to the dinner.

Toastmaster Graham Wilkes was the Master of Ceremonies for the evening.

Pictures of all the nominated societies were flashed on screen as the nominees were announced. The winners were presented with their awards by Doreen Crowther, the BEN's Showbusiness Correspondent.

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