Coventry Hippodrome / Apollo / Theatre

I doubt there was any sort of restriction, just bands/acts/shows/promoters chose to book the hall in Warwick rather than the Coventry theatre (probably because it was smaller and newer and the location/size suited their demographic more). Acts like Deep Purple and Rush - still big draws today - used to play Coventry, but now the NEC (rather than a gig in Coventry and one in Birmingham) and Warwick Arts Centre tends to be a bit more offbeat and not particularly mainstream (which suits me fine, as that's more to my taste). A promoter wouldn't even considering doing two bookings in the same city (except for London). I don't see much overlap between somewhere like Wolverhampton Civic Hall and Warwick Arts Centre, for instance. For music, Warwick Arts Centre isn't particularly busy - some brilliant acts, but very limited when compared to other venues and they certainly do not put on the big mainstream musicals that a larger theatre could put on. As per usual the question is: why did the council kill the city centre by allowing everything to be 'moved out', and why do they continue to do it? (The Ricoh has a venue for concerts, but again, it's stuck out of town in a purpose built complex where other businesses cannot benefit from any generated footfall). If they want a lively city centre then these things need to be in the city centre, not stuck on soulless business parks. It's something every other city in the UK has done. There's even a document about Priory Place which even says that it has failed, in part, due to a lack of 'attraction' nearby and this means there's little footfall to encourage businesses to invest. Of course, what was there before they built that horrible empty square?

Oh indeed there were (and still are) such restrictions - sometimes set by the venues themselves to protect their revenue or by the tour promoter - a radius is set on the map with the centre at a given venue. In a lot of cases the acts are booked by the venue not by the acts promoter and it can cost thousands, so any means to protect the outlay can come in to play. It happens with "Rights to Perform" for plays too - a play happening in Leicester or Wolverhampton can "lock out" other venues within a specified radius (the size of which is decided by the rights holder)

My first memory of the Hippodrome was pantomime. In a production of Aladdin, Widow Twankey (always played by a man) 'fed' wicked Abanazar into a huge washing mangle, turned the handle and a life-size cardboard cut out of Abanazar came out the other side. Must have been some quick movement somewhere but to 6 or 7 year olds it seemed like magic. Also recall verbatim one of the comic songs the audience would be taught to sing. I think it was Arthur Askey with a huge pointer as he sang out the words which came down: "When the front door bell goes ting-a-ling-a-ling and the knocker goes rat-at-at-tat, Slide down the bannisters Phew! Bang crash wallop on the mat, shout Hooray life's so gay What can be better than that, when the front door bell goes...... tat." Cinderella, Puss in Boots, Mother Goose, Goody Two Shoes, all pantomimes I saw there as a child.

I only ever saw two shows at the Coventry Theatre. The first was a pantomime in the early 60's, courtesy of a school friend's birthday party, it was packed and we were up in the gods hearing everything a couple of minutes after it was spoken on stage. The second was to see 'Fiddler on the Roof' in the 80's and it was anything but packed, and the performances were terrific. Not my kind of show normally, I knew two of the principal actors, so put in an appearance.

In the 70's, groups I liked never appeared at the CT. The venues were always Lanchester Poly, Warwick University, and in one instance Chesford Grange.

There has to be more to CT's downfall than the council, and as one here pointed out, access to backstage was not particularly good. The Fiddler on the Roof show saw all of the audience herded into the lower seats only, and I doubt that it was half full at that. I have no idea what costs were involved, but with so few in attendance, it is hard to see how it paid anybody to put the show on. Sad really, but maybe a sign of the times..

I saw a number of concerts there; The Kinks, Them, The Byrds, Tom Jones, Booker T, Gene Pitney & Cliff (don't laugh, my wife liked them) - although sadly, not The Beatles. I remember one night, Blue Mink were also on the bill. There were so few people there that when I turned round the whole band were sat watching from a couple of rows behind us! I also recall seeing what I think was the only film ever shown at the theatre; "Gone With The Wind" in a 70mm presentation. Apparently they couldn't get the projector far enough from the screen so they ended up projecting upwards onto a mirror which reflected the image forwards onto the screen on the stage. Maybe someone (LongfordLad) could confirm this?

"Where Eagles Dare" was also shown at the Hippodrome for an entire season. (We were given a season pass in return for displaying the poster). The only advantage of the 70mmm presentation was the six-track stereo surround, the movie was actually shot in 35mm.

I also saw "Where Eagles Dare" at the Hippodrome and I'm pretty sure that I saw "On The Buses" there.

I remember seeing the new 70mm release of "Gone With The Wind" in 1969 with my girlfriend at the Coventry Theatre. It was a really big deal at the time, and a "must see" (otherwise as teenagers, we wouldn't have gone!) I had never seen it before, or any film with that wide a screen, and was impressed. Much earlier than that I had been to pantomimes arranged through my father's work (including Lythalls Lane Engineering), and seen such stars as Mark Wynter, Carole Mowlam, and Bill Pertwee. I loved the red plastic opera glasses mounted between the seats, but to me the real attraction was the band in the orchestra pit, shadowy figures with dim lights on the music stands, belting out great tunes, and in particular the drummer driving the beat and providing the swooshing cymbal sounds, adding to the magic on stage, for example when the villain appeared to the delighted boos of the audience! Later still I saw Cliff a couple of times, and particularly remember "Devil Woman" with the red and green spotlights! The Coventry Theatre was always a special venue to me. What a pity it fell by the wayside.

Hi David, I'd forgotten it was 1969 - that was the year I got married! I definitely didn't fancy going to see the film, but as you say, this version made it a "must see" ... and the red binoculars, which were only released from the holder on the insertion of sixpence in the slot. What I could never understand was why anyone would a) want them cos you could see more clearly if you didn't use them! ..... and b) Why none (or very few anyway) were ever stolen? I guess question (a) answers question (b)!!

But we wouldn't have dreamed of nicking them would we? Our idea of anti-social behaviour would have been to replace them upside down!

I was always impressed by the beautifully detailed "Safety Curtain" with its painting of local landmarks. Didn't fire safety rules dictate that it was lowered in the middle of every performance? Not sure how they managed that when Cliff performed - as I recall the huge over-sized speaker enclosures stood right on the edge of the stage which would have prevented the curtain from being lowered. And those green lights during "Devil Woman" remain firmly etched in my memory too.

My Grandma told me that her Aunt worked there as the stage door manager. Apparently she might have been the first female stage door manager in England, not sure how true that is but there was a picture of her a few years ago in the Telegraph of her having a cup of tea with The Beatles when they performed there.

It was a license condition from Coventry Council that the Fire Curtain had to be operated at least once per performance in view of the audience - we had a similar condition at The College Theatre (now The Albany) when I was Chief LX there. More often we let the audience start to come in with the Curtain in place then raise the curtain to a preset stage or behind the closed main tabs - this allowed us time to set any extra scenery pieces on stage. Knowing Bert Royle briefly (he was Chief Electrician at the Hippodrome until it became a bingo hall) I suspect he would have ensured the Fire curtain could come in but with the smallest of clearances so that there could be no arguments

Does anyone remember the compere/comedian Billy Martin who compered the stars at The Hippodrome in 50's

Does anyone have memories of David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust Concert at the Coventry Theatre 1973? He announced he was quitting once the tour ended! The show itself was one of the best Concerts I ever saw with Mick Ronson's stunning solo (literally on his own with a single beam lighting him up) in "Moonage Daydream" being the highlight. We were up in "the Gods" but charged downstairs during the encore to get a close up of Bowie and the Band. Memorable evening!