Manchester Theatre History ⋆ Page 7 of 7 ⋆ The history of Manchester theatres and stars that appeared there

7th October 2018

The Tivoli Theatre

The Tivoli Theatre opened in 1897 on Peter Street where the Folly Theatre had been, it had had alterations to the outside to make it more ornate and was in use until 1921 when it then became a cinema. When it opened in 1897 it had the exciting new Adolphe Langfriers Cinematographe in use, this was an early version of...

The Tivoli Theatre Comment: 1

27th September 2018

The Folly Theatre, Manchester

The Folly Theatre which was on Peter Street, Manchester was opened in the 1880’s by Edward Garcia who also owned the Comedy Theatre at that time. Here is a waterprint picture of what the theatre looked like It was purely a variety show theatre, they didn’t appear to put on plays or operetta’s. In 1893 Little Tich appeared as top...

The Folly Theatre Comments: 3

14th July 2018

The Prince’s Theatre, Oxford Street, Manchester

I have finished cataloguing the theatre programmes from The Prince’s Theatre, which was on Oxford Street, Manchester and practically opposite St Peter’s Square as you will see from the picture below. It is the building with the yellow facade in its main area and green coloured at the street level Today the site of where the Prince’s theatre was in...

The Prince's Theatre Comments: 0

24th June 2018

The Hippodrome Theatre

This theatre was on Oxford Street, Manchester and when it closed in 1935 it became a famous Manchester cinema ‘The Gaumont’ which had the equally well known ‘Gaumont Long Bar’ , sadly that closed in 1974. Below is a short you tube clip of the actual theatre in its heyday. The programmes for this theatre are so beautiful that...

The Hippodrome Comments: 6

16th June 2018

The Theatre Royal 1845 to 1899

Theatre Royal, Peter Street, Manchester, 1866 in it’s heyday. the Theatre Royal 2018, still standing but what a sad site!! The Theatre Royal which was on Peter Street, was very close to the Free Trade Hall. It opened in 1845 and at present I have...

The Theatre Royal Comments: 5

5th June 2018

The Queen’s Theatre

If you go down Bridge Street, Manchester and look at the Masonic Hall, you will see the spot where the Queen’s Theatre was; sadly in 1911 the theatre was demolished and the Masonic Hall built in its place. Here is a picture of the Masonic Hall which replaced it. At the beginning it had lots of variety programmes including an...

The Queens Theatre Comments: 14

29th May 2018

the Ardwick Hippodrome 1954 to 1961

In 1954 the theatre had the most amazing artistes, too numerous to mention them all, but here are a few; – Peter Sellers and Michael Bentine were on the same bill as Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson, who were top of the bill. Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson represented the UK in the Eurovision song contest in 1959 with ‘Sing...

Ardwick Hippodrome Comments: 18

21st May 2018

The Ardwick Hippodrome

I was surprised to see that it was originally called the Ardwick Empire and was built in 1904, it was a music hall with a good variety of acts. In 1935 its name was changed to the Ardwick Hippodrome when Sir Oswald Stoll took it over. It has been a real nostalgia trip for me to be able to see...

Ardwick Hippodrome Comments: 11

12th May 2018

The Theatre of Comedy

Working as a volunteer at Manchester Central Library, I’m always fascinated and bewildered by the discoveries I make, like a child in a sweet shop and I want to unwrap the stories of our history and share them with you!! I have now cataloged the collection of theatre programmes from the Comedy Theatre which opened in the 1880’s on Peter...

Comedy Theatre Comments: 11