Vanished Empire Theatre
GENERATIONS OF GEORDIES FLOCKED TO THE NEWGATE STREET VENUE
tone down my Cockney accent. My landlady came to see the show and when I asked her how she liked it, she said, ‘You dorty bugga’ – and that’s the greatest compliment I have ever had in the North East.”
The theatre was built on the site of an old coaching house. It opened as the Empire Variety Theatre on December 1, 1890.
Designed by architects Oliver and Leeson, its grand auditorium could seat 2,000 theatre-goers.
In 1903 it was further improved by the designs of noted theatre architect, Frank Matcham.
It was said: “The building has been furnished and decorated in the most lavish and artistic manner, and it is claimed that it is certainly the finest hall for the purposes required out of London.”
(The theatre for a while also acquired a next-door cinema, also called the Empire, which operated from 1913 to 1933).
As for the theatre, countless thousands filed through its Newgate and Grainger street entrances to watch popular music and comedy acts until 1963 when, like many others around the country, it closed.On November 5, 1965, the Chronicle reported on the building’s demise.
“The demolition men stood respectfully back. The avalanche of bricks gathered momentum - and the last of the old Empire Theatre collapsed.” Another grand Victorian Newcastle building was gone.
In its place, in 1969, the grey concrete slabs of the Newgate Shopping Centre and Swallow Hotel emerged.
By 2016 these too were being razed to the ground. A new £100m hotel, student accommodation and shopping project is currently taking shape as the city undergoes more change.
The avalanche of bricks gathered momentum - and the last of the old Empire Theatre collapsed