BOSSES at Newport's flagship Riverfront arts centre say everything is going according to plan after revealing its first set of attendance figures.

Only one show appeared to flop as 17,550 people passed through the 16 million centre's doors in its first four months, for shows, the cinema and workshops.

Bosses say audiences are in line with their business plan predictions and the national average for theatres and arts centres across the UK.

Nic Young, theatre and arts director at The Riverfront, said: "Building an audience for a completely new venue is a challenge, and developing all the distribution outlets, mailing lists and other resources takes time.

"There is no doubt that, at present, attendances are erratic - some shows sell out, others are rather thinly attended.

"This was as true within the run of the pantomime as it is in looking at the music performances. Attaining consistency is a long-term project."

Selling enough tickets for theatre drama productions is proving a particular challenge.

The Christmas pantomime, Aladdin, sold 10,412 tickets out of a possible 17,353.

And in January, The Holly and the Ivy did particularly badly at the box office, selling only 564 tickets out of a possible 2,820.

But bosses point to the success of the music, comedy and dance productions, which have all been deemed to have performed "satisfactorily".

While Jack Dee, the Comedy Shed, Reduced Shakespeare Company, Think Floyd, Kings of Swing, The Nutcracker, Macbeth, Global Village and The Magic Carpet have all been sell-out or near sell-out shows.

Public workshops at The Riverfront have also proved to be a great success and have been increased from five sessions a week to 22.