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Sunderland Empire Theatre

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The Sunderland Empire. Picture Shows Main Front door and Stalls Entry to the left. The Box Office is located 20 yards down the street. The grey building on the left, behind the roofs, is the fly tower

The Sunderland Empire Theatre is located in High Street West in Sunderland, North East England. It is owned by the City of Sunderland Council and operated by Live Nation UK Ltd. Main Parking for the venue is located in the Debenhams car park in the centre of town. It is one of the largest capacity venues in the North, that of 1860 fully seated, and approximately 2000 when all standing positions are occupied, and is the only theatre between Manchester and Edinburgh that is large enough to house today's large-scale West End theatrical productions. The auditorium has four tiers, namely the Orchestra Stalls, the Dress Circle, the Upper Circle and the Gallery. There are four private boxes on the Dress Circle level, as well as two proscenium boxes on the Upper Circle balcony.

The Empire Palace, as it was originally called, was established independently by Richard Thornton after his partnership with theatre magnate Edward Moss was dissolved. It was opened on 1 July 1907 by variety and vaudeville star 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 World War II 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. The dome and tower have recently been refitted with a state-of-the-art LED and floodlight system that illuminates the main entrance in the evening.

Until the mid-twenties, the Empire enjoyed much extended success from its variety performances. With the decline of touring theatre, a projection box was added in 1930 and for the first time, the theatre played host to motion pictures. Although audience figures were high during the 1940's and early 1950's, the theatre closed in May 1959 due to the growing popularity of television and 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. Whilst the ghost of James is said to haunt backstage, the spirits of Vesta Tilley and Molly Moselle are said to haunt the front-of-house areas. Molly Moselle was a stage manager for The Dancing Years by Ivor Novello. Leaving the theatre to purchase a birthday card, she disappeared down a nearby alley and was never seen again. The Empire was known as a 'comic graveyard' - rather unfortunately given the above points - 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 the theatre's refurbishment in 2004. Since this time, the graduation ceremonies have been held at the Sunderland AFC Stadium of Light.

Birmingham Royal Ballet frequently visits the Sunderland Empire, and BRB considers the theatre as it's base in the North East of England.


2004 refurbishment and Subsequent Shows

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. On 9 December 2005, the Sunderland Empire staged a preview performance of the first ever touring production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The official European premiere of this production took place here on the following Tuesday, 13 December. On 2nd May 2006, a new touring production of My Fair Lady began its run, starring Christopher Cazenove and Amy Nuttall.

Recently, it has been announced that Scrooge - The Musical will play at the Sunderland Empire over the 2006 Christmas period, starring troubled comedian and television star Michael Barrymore in the title role.

West End Shows Cats, Guys and Dolls and Chicago will appear at the Empire Theatre towards the end of this year and continuing into the early parts of next year.

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