Manchester Opera House

Last updated

Manchester Opera House
Opera House, Manchester.jpg
Address3 Quay Street
Manchester
England
Coordinates 53°28′44″N2°15′05″W / 53.47889°N 2.25139°W / 53.47889; -2.25139
Owner Ambassador Theatre Group as a CIO
Type Receiving house
Capacity 1,920
Construction
Opened1912
Architect Richardson & Gill with Farquarson
Website
Official website

The Opera House in Quay Street, Manchester, England, is a 1,920-seater commercial touring theatre that plays host to touring musicals, ballet, concerts and a Christmas pantomime. It is a Grade II listed building. The Opera House is one of the main theatres in Manchester. The Opera House and its sister theatre the Palace Theatre on Oxford Street are operated by the same parent company, Ambassador Theatre Group.

Contents

History

The theatre opened as the New Theatre in 1912, renamed the New Queen's Theatre in 1915 and as the Opera House in 1920 when it came under the wing of John Hart and his associates of United Theatres Ltd. In 1931, it was bought by, and prospered under, Howard & Wyndham Ltd [1] which had been formed at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow in 1895 by Michael Simons. [2] [3] The group's managing director A Stewart Cruikshank, headquartered at the group's headquarters in the King's Theatre, Edinburgh, was joined on the board by Charles B Cochrane who now became a visiting producer at the Opera House, premiering numerous musicals and revues. The theatre staged the full range of plays, musicals, opera, and pantomime. [4]

It closed in 1979 and for five years was a bingo hall. The Palace Trust acquired it in 1984 and returned it to a theatre. In 1990, it was acquired by Apollo Leisure and staged large-scale musicals. [5] It was subsequently sold to Ambassador Theatre Group in 2009. [6] In March 2020, the theatre acquired Charitable Incorporated Organisation status along with the Palace Theatre. [7]

Architecture

Opera House, Manchester Manchester Opera House 1.jpg
Opera House, Manchester

The theatre has a rectangular plan and is built of stuccoed brick with a slate roof. Its symmetrical fifteen-bay façade is in the classical style with a five-bay centre with fluted Ionic columns. Above the three central bays is a relief of a horse-drawn chariot within a semi-circular arch. The gable has a moulded cornice on brackets. The entrance canopy is a 20th-century addition. [8]

The auditorium has two curved cantilevered balconies with large overhangs, each holding 500 seats. Either side of the stage are stacked boxes between pairs of fluted Corinthian columns. The high proscenium arch is decorated with a circular medallion flanked by gryphons. The high ceiling above the auditorium takes the form of a coffered segmental tunnel vault. [5]

The stage is 42 ft (13 m) deep and 37 ft (11 m) wide. The orchestra pit holds 80 musicians. The theatre has 1,920 seats. [5] The theatre was redecorated in March 2011 keeping the green and gold colour scheme of the auditorium unchanged.

Notable productions and premieres

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Savoy Theatre</span> Theatre in London

The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Palace. Its intended purpose was to showcase the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan, which became known as the Savoy operas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Palladium</span> West End theatre in London

The London Palladium is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in Soho. The auditorium holds 2,286 people. Hundreds of stars have played there, many with televised performances. Between 1955 and 1969 Sunday Night at the London Palladium was staged at the venue, produced for the ITV network. The show included a performance by the Beatles on 13 October 1963. One national paper's headlines in the following days coined the term "Beatlemania" to describe the increasingly hysterical interest in the band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Opera House</span> Performing arts venue in London, England

The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a historic opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. The first theatre on the site, the Theatre Royal (1732), served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented. A year later, the first season of operas, by George Frideric Handel, began. Many of his operas and oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Coliseum</span> Theatre in London, home to the English National Opera

The London Coliseum is a theatre in St Martin's Lane, Westminster, built as one of London's largest and most luxurious "family" variety theatres. Opened on 24 December 1904 as the London Coliseum Theatre of Varieties, it was designed by the architect Frank Matcham for the impresario Oswald Stoll. Their ambition was to build the largest and finest music hall, described as the "people's palace of entertainment" of its age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palace Theatre, Manchester</span>

The Palace Theatre is one of the main theatres in Manchester, England. It is situated on Oxford Street, on the north-east corner of the intersection with Whitworth Street. The Palace and its sister theatre the Opera House on Quay Street are operated by the same parent company, Ambassador Theatre Group. The original capacity of 3,675 has been reduced to its current 1,955.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pavilion Theatre (Glasgow)</span>

The Pavilion Theatre is a theatre in Glasgow located on Renfield Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Alexandra, Birmingham</span> Theatre in Birmingham, England

The Alexandra, commonly known as the Alex, is a theatre on Suffolk Queensway in Birmingham, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bristol Hippodrome</span> Theatre in Bristol, England

The Bristol Hippodrome is a theatre located in The Centre, Bristol, England, United Kingdom with seating on three levels giving a capacity of 1,951. It frequently features shows from London's West End when they tour the UK, as well as regular visits by Welsh National Opera and an annual pantomime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augustus Harris</span> British actor and impresario (1852–1896)

Sir Augustus Henry Glossop Harris was a British actor, impresario, and dramatist, a dominant figure in the West End theatre of the 1880s and 1890s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyceum Theatre, London</span> West End theatre in London

The Lyceum Theatre is a West End theatre located in the City of Westminster, on Wellington Street, just off the Strand in central London. It has a seating capacity of 2,100. The origins of the theatre date to 1765. Managed by Samuel Arnold, from 1794 to 1809 the building hosted a variety of entertainments including a circus produced by Philip Astley, a chapel, and the first London exhibition of waxworks by Madame Tussauds. From 1816 to 1830, it served as The English Opera House. After a fire, the house was rebuilt and reopened on 14 July 1834 to a design by Samuel Beazley. The building is unique in that it has a balcony overhanging the dress circle. It was built by the partnership of Peto & Grissell. The theatre then played opera, adaptations of Charles Dickens novels and James Planché's "fairy extravaganzas", among other works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Wimbledon Theatre</span> Theatre in London, England

The New Wimbledon Theatre is situated on the Broadway, Wimbledon, London, in the London Borough of Merton. It is a Grade II listed Edwardian theatre built by the theatre lover and entrepreneur, J. B. Mulholland, who at the time was also owner of the King's Theatre in Hammersmith and had owned the Theatre Metropole in Camberwell in the 1890's. Built on the site of a large house with spacious grounds, the theatre was designed by Cecil Aubrey Massey and Roy Young. It seems to have been the only British theatre to have included a Victorian-style Turkish bath in the basement. The theatre opened on 26 December 1910 with the pantomime Jack and Jill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theatre Royal, Glasgow</span>

The Theatre Royal is the oldest theatre in Glasgow and the longest running in Scotland. Located at 282 Hope Street, its front door was originally round the corner in Cowcaddens Street. It currently accommodates 1,541 people and is owned by Scottish Opera. The theatre opened in 1867, adopting the name Theatre Royal two years later. It is also the birthplace of Howard & Wyndham Ltd, owners and managers of theatres in Scotland and England until the 1970s, created by its chairman Baillie Michael Simons in 1895. It was Simons who as a cultural entrepreneur of his day also promoted the building of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and Glasgow's International Exhibitions of 1888 and 1901.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Opera House, Belfast</span> Building in Belfast, UK

The Grand Opera House is a theatre in Belfast, Northern Ireland, designed by the most prolific theatre architect of the period, Frank Matcham. It opened on 23 December 1895. According to the Theatres Trust, the "magnificent auditorium is probably the best surviving example in the United Kingdom of the oriental style applied to theatre architecture". The auditorium was restored to its former glory, and the foyer spaces and bars were reimagined and developed as part of a £12.2 million project in 2020/2021, generously supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. [1]

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King's Theatre, Glasgow</span> Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland

The King's Theatre is located in Glasgow, Scotland. It was built for Howard & Wyndham Ltd under its chairman Baillie Michael Simons as a sister theatre of their Theatre Royal in the city and was designed by Frank Matcham, opening in 1904. The theatre is primarily a receiving house for touring musicals, dance, comedy and circus-type performances. The theatre also provides a prominent stage for local amateur productions. The King's Theatre also stages an annual pantomime, produced by First Family Entertainment. The theatre is currently operated by the Ambassador Theatre Group, under a lease from Glasgow City Council who own the building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Opera House, York</span> Theatre in York, North Yorkshire, England

The Grand Opera House is a theatre on the corner of Clifford Street and Cumberland Street in York, North Yorkshire, England. The structure, which hosts touring productions of plays, musicals, opera and ballet, as well as one-off performances by comedians, and other theatrical and musical events, is a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alhambra Theatre Glasgow</span>

The Alhambra Theatre, Glasgow opened on 19 December 1910 at the corner of Waterloo Street and Wellington Street, Glasgow under the direction of Sir Alfred Butt and was acknowledged as one of the best equipped theatres in Britain, planned to accommodate 2,800 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambassador Theatre Group</span> International theatre organisation

The Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) is a major international theatre organisation headquartered in the United Kingdom, with offices in Woking, London, New York, Sydney, Mannheim and Cologne. ATG's key operations comprise three inter-related activities: theatre ownership and management, ticketing and marketing operations, and show productions

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beacon Arts Centre</span>

The Beacon Arts Centre is a performing arts and community art venue in Greenock, serving the Inverclyde area of Scotland. It is owned and operated by Greenock Arts Guild Ltd., a charitable organisation with core funding from Creative Scotland and Inverclyde Council

The Theatre Royal, Hanley was a theatre in Stoke-on-Trent, England with a long history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Glover (artist)</span>

William Glover was an artist, theatre scenic painter and theatre manager. For most of his professional life Glover was associated with theatrical enterprise in Scotland, particularly in Glasgow.

References

  1. "•". The Stage. 30 August 1931.
  2. Smith, Graeme (2008). The Theatre Royal: Entertaining a Nation. Glasgow Publications. ISBN   9780955942006.
  3. "The Theatre Royal, 282 Hope Street, Cowcaddens, Glasgow". Arthur Lloyd.co.uk.
  4. "The Opera House, Quay Street, Manchester". Arthur Lloyd.co.uk.
  5. 1 2 3 "Opera House (Manchester)". Theatres Trust. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  6. "Manchester's Palace Theatre and Opera House sold to Ambassador Group". Manchester Evening News. 3 November 2009. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  7. "Palace Theatre and Opera House Trust". Charities Commission . March 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  8. Historic England. "The Opera House, Quay Street (1247470)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  9. Bowie-Sell, Daisy (3 April 2017). "Dates for new Take That musical The Band officially announced". WhatsOnStage. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  10. Darvill, Josh (3 September 2019). "& Juliet: First look at new pop musical by Max Martin". Stage Chat.