Ipswich Regent Theatre, Ipswich Regent, The Regent | |
Former names | Gaumont Theatre, Odeon |
---|---|
Address | Regent Theatre, 3 St. Helen’s St, Ipswich, IP4 1HE United Kingdom |
Owner | Ipswich Borough Council |
Type | Theatre |
Capacity | 1551 |
Construction | |
Opened | 4 November 1929 |
Years active | 94 |
Architect | William Edward Trent |
Website | |
www |
Ipswich Regent Theatre (formerly known as the Gaumont Theatre) is a theatre and concert venue located at St Helen's Street in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The auditorium was refurbished in 2007 and now holds 1,551 people, having reduced the capacity by 150 to accommodate larger and more comfortable seating. It is East Anglia's largest theatre. It has also been known as the Gaumont Theatre. [1] It was designated as a Grade II listed building in 2000. [2]
The Regent Theatre opened in 1929 as a 'cine-variety hall' and was among the first UK theatres to play films with sound. Designed by William Edward Trent, it was extremely luxurious, with a restaurant, 14 boxes, a resident Wurlitzer organ and organist and an 18-piece orchestra. Unusually, a manager's cottage was incorporated into the theatre design. [3]
During World War II the theatre was used to stage concerts and civic events, as well as ballet and opera. During the 1950s and 1960s it hosted many top acts, including Buddy Holly and the Crickets and The Beatles. [1] [4] The Rolling Stones performed at the Gaumont Theatre in 1964, and with Ike & Tina Turner and The Yardbirds in 1966. [5] Gene Pitney, The Hollies, The Small Faces, Roy Orbison, The Walker Brothers and Jimi Hendrix also played there. [6]
In the 1970s and 1980s – when it was known as the Gaumont Theatre – it hosted many punk and new wave acts, including Ian Dury and The Blockheads, Elvis Costello, The Stranglers, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Gary Numan, and the Boomtown Rats. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] And as of 2021 Nick Cave and Warren Ellis
Ipswich Borough Council took the theatre on following controversy over its future, reopening it as Regent Theatre on 21 September 1991. It was given a Grade II listing in 2000. In 2009, the Regent Theatre celebrated its 80th birthday with a gala concert featuring Lesley Garrett and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. [12] [13]
Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. The Times called the group "one of the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era".
The Creatures were an English band formed in 1981 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and drummer Budgie of the group Siouxsie and the Banshees. The Creatures released their first EP Wild Things in 1981. They recorded four studio albums: Feast in 1983, Boomerang in 1989, Anima Animus in 1999 and Hái! in 2003.
Susan Janet Ballion, known professionally as Siouxsie Sioux, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. She came to prominence as the leader and main lyricist of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, who were active from 1976 to 1996. They released 11 studio albums, and had several UK Top 20 singles including "Hong Kong Garden", "Happy House" and "Peek-a-Boo", plus a US Top 25 single in the Billboard Hot 100, with "Kiss Them for Me".
Gaumont may refer to:
Stowmarket is a market town and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district, in Suffolk, England, on the busy A14 trunk road between Bury St Edmunds to the west and Ipswich to the southeast. The town lies on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) between Diss and Needham Market, and lies on the River Gipping, which is joined by its tributary, the River Rat, to the south of the town.
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The Scream is the debut studio album by British rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released on 13 November 1978 by Polydor Records. The album is considered a landmark recording: its innovative combination of angular and serrated guitar with a bass-led rhythm and machine-like drums played mostly on toms, made it a pioneering work of the post-punk genre.
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Self Aid was an unemployment benefit concert held in Dublin, Ireland on 17 May 1986. The concert performances were primarily by Irish musicians, although Elvis Costello and Chris Rea, both Englishmen of Irish descent, were designated "honorary Irishmen" for the day; the event was promoted by Jim Aiken. The concert included the last performance by The Boomtown Rats until they reformed in 2013.
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"This Wheel's on Fire" is a song written by Bob Dylan and Rick Danko. It was originally recorded by Dylan and the Band during their 1967 sessions, portions of which comprised the 1975 album, The Basement Tapes. The Band's own version appeared on their 1968 album, Music from Big Pink. Live versions by the Band appear on their 1972 live double album Rock of Ages, as well as the more complete four-CD-DVD version of that concert, Live at the Academy of Music 1971, and the 2002 Box Set of The Last Waltz.
Göta Lejon is a theatre located at 55 Götgatan in the district of Södermalm in Stockholm, Sweden.
The East Anglian Daily Times is a British local newspaper for Suffolk and Essex, based in Ipswich.
Revolver is a British music TV series on ITV that ran for one series only, of eight episodes, in 1978.
John McKay is an English songwriter and guitarist. He was the first studio guitarist of Siouxsie and the Banshees. He was a member of the group from July 1977 until September 1979. He played a "jagged unorthodox chording", and created a "metal-shard roar" with his guitar. Q magazine included McKay's work on "Hong Kong Garden" in its list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever". He recorded two studio albums with the band, their debut album The Scream in 1978 and Join Hands in 1979.
Apollo Stadium was a multi-purpose indoor arena located at 41 Kingston Avenue, Richmond, South Australia, just 5 minutes from the Adelaide city centre. The stadium had an original seating capacity of 4,000 until the early 1980s when the bench seats were replaced by individual plastic seats giving a reduced seating capacity of 3,000 and an overall capacity of just 3,500.
The New Wolsey Theatre is a producing theatre with a café & bar in Ipswich, Suffolk. It is a midsized regional theatre, with a seating capacity of 400.
52°03′26″N1°09′37″E / 52.0573°N 1.1603°E