Sunderland Empire Theatre
The Sunderland Empire Theatre is located in High Street West in Sunderland. It is owned by the City of Sunderland Council and operated by Clear Channel Entertainment Ltd. It is one of the largest capacity venues in the North East.
It was opened on 1 July 1907 by Vesta Tilley, who had laid the foundation stone on 29 September 1906.
The dome on the 90ft tower featured a revolving sphere bearing the statue of Terpischore, the Greek goddess of dance. These were removed during WWII for safety reasons after a bomb which had fallen nearby rocked the building. The original statue is now located at the top of the main staircase, with a replica on the dome itself.
Due to the growing popularity of television and cinema, the theatre closed in May 1959 due to declining audiences after a period operating as a cinema. It reopened in 1960, however, after Sunderland Council bought the theatre. The Beatles performed there during their first UK national tour.
Sid James suffered a heart attack during a performance on the opening night of The Mating Season on 26 April 1976 and died on the way to hospital. Later it was rumoured that his ghost was in the dressing room he occupied on the night of his death; after one experience during a gig there, the comedian Les Dawson refused to play the venue again.
The Empire was known as a 'comic graveyard' - rather unfortunately given the above paragraph - because of the partisan reception of the audiences of the time [1]. This is not the case in these more enlightened, modern times.
The theatre was the regular venue for the University of Sunderland's graduation ceremonies until 2004.
2004 refurbishment
Following a nine month closure for a £4.5m re-development project to enable it to stage West End shows, the theatre reopened on 9 December 2004 with a performance of Starlight Express. This refurbishment involved expanding the stage and the height of the fly tower.
The refurbishment also allowed a new production of Miss Saigon to be staged at Sunderland in early 2005.
References
1. Sunderland City Council
External links
- City of Sunderland Fact Sheet in PDF
- cclive Sunderland Empire history
- Tyne and Wear Partnership Sunderland Empire reopens with Starlight Express
- bbc.co.uk - 360° views - Empire Theatre, Sunderland showing the stage set up for Starlight Express