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The Empire Theatre, Lime Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, L11JE

Formerly the New Prince of Wales Theatre and Opera House / Royal Alexandra Theatre & Opera House / Alexandra Theatre / Empire Palace Theatre

Liverpool Index

The Liverpool Empire Theatre 2005 - Courtesy Tony Thompson, Theatre Trustee.

Above - The Liverpool Empire Theatre in 2005 - Courtesy Tony Thompson, Theatre Trustee.

 

Early Programme for the Empire Theatre, Liverpool - Courtesy Peter Charlton.The Empire Theatre was built by the Milburn Brothers and opened in 1866 as the New Prince of Wales Theatre and Opera House by Edward Solomons. In 1867 it was renamed the Royal Alexandra Theatre & Opera House after C J Phipps did some work on the building and gas lighting was installed. Iin 1895 it was renamed the Alexandra Theatre, and in 1896 it was renamed the Empire Theatre, the name it retains to this day, after major alterations by Frank Matcham. The Theatre is Grade II listed and currently has a capacity of 2348.

'The Empire is owned by The Empire Theatre (Merseyside) Trust Ltd., a registered charity. A trust was set up by Merseyside County Council in 1979 when MCC rescued the theatre which was scheduled for closure by Moss Empires.

The Council started with a programme of decoration and repair but found that the operational losses needed a substantial subsidy. After five years this annual subsidy had reached £600,000. In 1986, local government reorganisation ended the life of the County Council and the Trust, now independent, became the owner of the Empire Theatre.

Right - Early Programme for the Empire Theatre, Liverpool - Courtesy Peter Charlton.

Apollo Leisure was appointed as managers responsible for all commercial risks and for the maintenance of the property. This removed the need for public sector subsidy. In 1995 the building was in its 70th year and in need of major improvements. Apollo Leisure had brought life back to the theatre and increased audiences, but the larger touring shows and popular musicals could not be accommodated.

 

Variety Programme for the Empire Palace Theatre for the week of November 27th 1905. On the Bill were George Lashwood, Will Evans, Hanid Alexander, The Wedburns, The Bandurrias, Pat Carey, Billy Farrell, Fred Clements, O. G. Seymour, and the American Bioscope.

Above - Variety Programme for the Empire Palace Theatre for the week of November 27th 1905. On the Bill were George Lashwood, Will Evans, Hanid Alexander, The Wedburns, The Bandurrias, Pat Carey, Billy Farrell, Fred Clements, O. G. Seymour, and the American Bioscope.

 

Sketch of the Prince of Wales Theatre, Liverpool - From 'The Playgoer' of 1901 - Courtesy Iain Wotherspoon.The Trust decided to completely refurbish the building and increase the depth of the stage. Liverpool City Council was supportive in planning terms and was interested in a theatre extension that is now on the site of "The Legs of Man" a former public house. In July 1999 The Queen came to Liverpool and reopened the main theatre building.

Left - Sketch of the Prince of Wales Theatre, Liverpool - From 'The Playgoer' of 1901 - Courtesy Iain Wotherspoon.

The total capital project cost some £11 million which was

inanced from an Arts Council Lottery Grant, Apollo Leisure, European 'Objective One' funding and many generous donors.

The final project, the Atrium and Annexe, was completed in 2002. The theatre managers are now (2005) Clear Channel Entertainment. The capital improvements have proved to be a great success and the Empire Trust is looking forward to the theatre playing a big role in Liverpool's special Year of Culture in 2008.'

The textual information in quotes above is courtesy Tony Thompson, Trustee - The Empire Theatre (Merseyside) Trust.

The Theatre was bought by The Ambassador Theatre Group in November 2009.

 

Postcard showing the New Empire Theatre, Liverpool

Above - Postcard showing the New Empire Theatre, Liverpool

 

The Empire Theatre, Liverpool
by Donald Auty.

Empire Theatre, Liverpool PostcardThis theatre is a big one 2348 seats all on two levels. It was rebuilt by Milburn brothers in 1925 on two levels and designed so that it could quickly switch to being a cinema should the necessity arise. There are two boxes that give you a wonderful view of the back of the circle. With a sparse audience it can be an empty barn of a place but it heaves with vigour when the house is full.

Right - The Empire Theatre, Liverpool - From a postcard.

Neil Brookes who went on to the London Palladium was manager there. He arrived at the theatre one morning to find himself locked out of his office by the auditors. There was a £100,000 missing from one of the theatres and they were not sure which one it was. It's no good looking here said Neil we have not taken £100,000 in the last year. The missing money was eventually traced to the London Palladium and Harry Claff the box office manager did a prison sentence for theft.The stage was below street level and a hydraulic lift used to take the scenery up and down during get in and get outs. It had an overflow that poured out gallons of water each time it was used. You had to do some nifty footwork in order not to get your feet soaked. There was also a lift to the upper floor dressing rooms that was always breaking down and causing the artistes to miss their entrances. The first thing I always did on arrival was to remove the fuses for it so that it could not be used. The lighting switchboard was in the scene dock on the O.P and was an old strand pattern preceding the grand master. It seemed to stretch for miles and required up to four men to work it.

The Auditorium of the Liverpool Empire in 2008 - Courtesy Charlie Gracie Junior.

Above - The Auditorium of the Liverpool Empire in 2008 - Courtesy Charlie Gracie Junior.

Programme for 'Sunny' at the Liverpool Empire in October 1927. The production originally opened at the London Hippodrome on October the 7th 1926.The resident stage manager was Jack.Roach who came from a long family line of stage carpenters. He was a lazy bugger and used to make the excuse for not doing work that he suffered from the same prostrate trouble that the then Prime Minister Harold McMillan had. This gave a kind of cachet to his idleness. I was sat in the crew room drinking tea with the stage crew and Phil Hindin the agent one Monday morning during the fit up break. Jack Roach pointed to the tea pot and said George Black the late managing director of Moss Empires used to drink out of that. Yes I can see his teeth marks on the spout replied Phil.

Tommy Trinder's brother Fred Dexter was the chief electrician. One week end during the last days of variety we were having trouble with the limes picking up people. At this time the theatre was closed three weeks out of four and stage staff was badly paid and hard to come by. Jimmy Edwards bollocked Fred about it one night. Fred said I breathe a sigh of relief every time the bloody lime comes on let alone picks up artistes.

Left - Programme for 'Sunny' at the Liverpool Empire in October 1927. The production originally opened at the London Hippodrome on October the 7th 1926.

Maurice Mclean was musical director with a fourteen piece orchestra and lived in Stockport. We used to go over to the press club after the show that was open late. There was a train at one in the morning that went to Stockport and Maurice used to catch this with quite a few drinks under his belt. After the train arrived in Stockport it used to return empty to Liverpool so it was in place in the morning. Maurice used to fall asleep on the journey to Stockport and quite few times awoke to find himself back in Liverpool and had to go and knock up the night watchman and sleep in a dressing room for the rest of the night.
The theatre is now very successful and is owned by Clear Channel Television like a few Moss dates it was threatened in the seventies but survived.

Above text from Moss Empires Theatres in the Fifties written by Donald Auty for this site.

Arthur Lloyd is known to have performed his two act play 'An Amateur Detective' at the Liverpool Empire in December 1899.

 

Charlie Gracie at the Liverpool Empire in 2008

The Liverpool Empire in November 2008 with Charlie Gracie headlining the show 'American Heroes' - Courtesy Charlie Gracie Junior

Above - The Liverpool Empire in November 2008 with Charlie Gracie headlining the show 'American Heroes' - Courtesy Charlie Gracie Junior

Poster for 'American Idols' at the Liverpool Empire in November 2008 - Courtesy Charlie Gracie Junior.In November 2008 Charlie Gracie headlined a week of shows at the Liverpool Empire in a production entitled 'American Heroes' which was a tribute to Rock 'n Roll.

Charlie Gracie Junior writes: 'Charlie received special honors as the U.S. Rocker who strongly influenced the Beatles; Paul McCartney and John Lennon who saw him play at this very theater in the late 50s.

Charlie also did a special show at Pauls and John's first professional gig; the Club Moore Conservative - still in existence!

The BBC featured exclusive tv / radio interviews with Charlie as he was given a special tour of the new Beatles Museum.

McCartney covered Charlie's "Fabulous" a few years back!

Charlie was the First solo U.S. Rocker after Billy Haley's Comets to bring rock 'n' roll to the U.K. and the European continent.'

Right - Poster for 'American Idols' at the Liverpool Empire in November 2008 - Courtesy Charlie Gracie Junior.

There is more information on Charlie Gracie on the site here.

 

Charlie Gracie perfrorming at the Liverpool Empire in November 2008 - Courtesy Charlie Gracie Junior.

Above - Charlie Gracie perfrorming at the Liverpool Empire in November 2008 - Courtesy Charlie Gracie Junior.