The New Theatre, Abington Street, Northampton

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The New Theatre, Abington Street, Northampton Northampton Theatres Index Above - The Northampton New Theatre during the run of 'Submarine F7' - Courtesy Alan Ashton, former projectionist at the Savoy Cinema.
The New Theatre, Northampton was built by the respected Theatre Architect W. G. R Sprague and opened on the 9th of December 1912, the same night as The Theatre Royal, Guilford, with a Variety show, the highlight of which, according to the local paper of the time, was 'Smaragda's performing cat.' Right - The auditorium of the New Theatre, Northampton circa 1947 - From a period New Theatre publicity handout. - Courtesy Alan Chudley who writes: 'While still a Sam Newsome house, the New Theatre staff rewired the Theatre. This image is showing the then new Strand Electric "S" type footlights. The black lamp in the centre of the footlights is an Ultra- Violet lamp widely used in Revue and pantomimes. In 1939 Reginald Foort who was the staff organist at the BBC brought his Mollor Organ to the New Theatre for a week and it was apparently so huge that it required five giant Pantechnicon trucks to deliver it and the Gallery Entrance of the Theatre had to be excavated by three feet in order to get the largest part of the organ into the building, part of which weighed two tons. The job took twenty men from noon on the Sunday until 5pm on the Monday to complete and was only just ready for the evening performance by Mr. Foort. The instrument was later to become the BBC Theatre organ after its original Compton was destroyed in the war. Later the Organ was moved to the Methodist Church in Hoxton.
Above - The New Theatre, Northampton - From an early 1900s Postcard. Above - The Site of the New Theatre, Northampton in 2008 - Courtesy Susan Clarke.
The Theatre closed its doors for the last time in 1959 and its contents were auctioned off before the building was demolished. Fifty years later a Primark store now stands on the site of the former New Theatre in 2009. Above - A strip of tickets for the New Theatre, Northampton, retrieved from the floor of the Theatre during the auction of the Theatre's assets by Alan Ashton, former projectionist at the Savoy Cinema, Northampton. Below are some pictures of the demolition of the New Theatre which were published in the Northampton Chronicle & Echo in 1959 and were kindly sent in by Alan Ashton, former projectionist at the Savoy Cinema, Northampton. Gradually disappearing is the vast span of the roof as timbers ripped off. Forlornly, strips of the ceiling decoration now hang over the familiar proscenium painting. The huge girder construction of the circle as seen from what was the circle bar. The shambles at foot was front-row stalls. Above - Pictures of the demolition of the New Theatre which were published in the Northampton Chronicle & Echo in 1959 and were kindly sent in by Alan Ashton, former projectionist at the Savoy Cinema, Northampton.
Northampton variety star Bertha Willmott pays a final visit to the doomed theatre where she was so often top-of-the-bill - From the Northampton Chronicle & Echo of 1959 - Courtesy Alan Ashton. Above - Northampton variety star Bertha Willmott pays a final visit to the doomed theatre where she was so often top-of-the-bill - From the Northampton Chronicle & Echo of 1959 - Courtesy Alan Ashton, former projectionist at the Savoy Cinema, Northampton.
Alan Chudley writes: 'The only time that I went to Northampton was in 1967 when the late Osborne Robinson, the Northampton repertory Company's resident designer was designing "Jack and the Beanstalk" for use at the Yvonne Arnold Theatre in Guildford. The New theatre by that date was demolished having closed in 1959. In my time The New theatre was leased to Sam Newsome of the Coventry Hippodrome, who made the lease over to FJB theatres in the early 1950s. Left and Right - Programme for 'Sleeping Beauty' with Cyril Fletcher at the New Theatre, Northampton in December 1957 - Courtesy Susan Clarke. The New Theatre then became a Number Two Variety house. Freddie Butterworth must have regretted taking on the lease as the New did very poor business, and in its final years it staged mainly strip tease show, thus earning the title of; The Newd Theatre. The last show there in 1959 was; "Strip, Strip Hooray." There are images of the new theatre in Lou Warwick's excellent book; "Death of a Theatre." Alan Chudley.