Belgrade Theatre

So, I can remember performing at the Belgrade (small theatre) in about 1973/4 - folk music, and, also appearing on 'Midlands Today' - doing the same thing. I learned to play the guitar at Finham Park, and, Mick Swain was our teacher. It was brilliant, and we were live on the TV and at the Belgrade. Can't remember the presenters very well (Tom Coyne?), I think it was at Pebble Mill. But, our aspirations to be the Spice Girls of the mid 70s weren't to be. Have just booked tickets for next Wednesday's performance of 'Jackie the Musical' at the Belgrade. My era

Hi SueL, I only started visiting the Belgrade in the 90s but it's a great theatre. I only wish I could find one that does such pleasing stuff that was a little closer.

Hi Helen, Yes the Belgrade is a great venue - I'm looking forward to our visit next week! I've just remembered that the 'small theatre' at the Belgrade I referred to in my initial post, was known as the 'Belgrade Studio' in the 1970s. I, along with several different groups of school friends from Finham Park Comprehensive, performed a folk concert there for two or three nights in 1974. The television program we were on was 'Midlands Today'. Kind regards. Sue

Hi Ladies, It's a great theatre for bacon butties too. A group of friends often meet for a Wednesday morning butty time. You would always be most welcome to pull up a chair.

Ah, but those late 1950s when a young man/young woman could become a Young Stager (for a nominal fee) and thereafter enjoy reduced price tickets for the theatrical shows. Ian McKellen (Gandalf - Lord of the Rings) was a member of the company in the 1960s, as was - also in the 1960s - Leonard Rossiter of Rising Damp TV fame).

My first trip to the theatre was with my sister to see Wind in The Willows. A certain Ian McKellan played King Rat. In the early 80's I used to go regularly, and possibly the best play I've ever seen about Coventry was one called Risky City. "We're West Midlands Gas, and East Midlands Electricity, nobody knows where we belong."

Mayjan and I used to belong to the 'Under 21s Club' in the late 50s, we used to be able to see the plays for half price Monday-Thursday.

For anyone who still hasn't seen the production of "One Night in November" (or who has seen it and would like a reminder), The Belgrade Theatre are now selling a DVD of the play. Available from the box office (by post or in person) or from their website, it costs just £10, this is a live recording of the 2013 performance. I saw the original production when it was staged in the B2 auditorium in 2008, then I saw the slightly larger production when it appeared 12 months later on the main stage. I got my copy this morning and will review it when I've watched it.

I attended the first production with my then fianc

I remember meeting Bill Owen in the bar of the Leofric around '56/7 time when he had something to do with the promotion of building and staging of the Belgrade. He told me the whole story of the whys and wherefores of it being built in Coventry that I've long forgotten. I believe it opened about '58, not sure.

Wasn't he a jockey originally?

Remember being totally in awe when I first went to the Belgrade about 55-60 years ago for a performance of Annie Get Your Gun. My dad worked at The Patternmakers in Henrietta Street (off Red Lane). I think the bosses were in the Rotary Club and helped with the production including making many wooden rifles. My dad got tickets for the family and I got one of the rifles afterwards. Unfortunately my friend (and neighbour) used it as a crutch and snapped it in half.

I first went to the Belgrade on a school trip in 63/64 and thought it was so glamorous. I'd been to the Coventry Theatre many times but this was different. I thought how great it would be to live in one of the flats behind the fountain with the city centre as my neighbourhood. My boyfriend and I went to see Helen Mirren in something where she bared everything above her waist. He's still in love with her. He proposed to me at a later visit to the theatre and we've just had our 50th wedding anniversary.