Putting these venues centre stage once more
AMONG the earliest recorded entertainments enjoyed by local folk were the plays staged at the gates of Tewkesbury Abbey from about 1600 to raise funds for repairs to the town’s finest building.
Then in 1762 a venue named the New Theatre was advertised, which was probably in a former malthouse in the Oldbury.
Within a few years two more theatres opened in the town, one in Rail’s Meadow, the other in an area of town that was called the Pantry. The latter was run by the father of John Kemble, who was a leading thespian of his time.
Records tell us that in 1823 a theatre company from Covent Garden named Abbot & Farley opened a theatre behind the Wheatsheaf pub. This venture thrived for a while and attracted celebrity actors to the town.
In 1830, Edmund Kean, the Anthony Hopkins of his time, performed on this stage as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. But by 1838 the theatre had closed and was being used as a Sunday school.
From 1934 to 1963 the Sabrina cinema provided entertainment for locals, then in 1975 the Roses was built on the same site. This film and live entertainment venue has provided an excellent entertainment facility in the town ever since. Many film goers in Tewkesbury have fond memories of the Sabrina, but there was an earlier cinema in town.
When Walkers Engineering, the firm that built fairground rides, burned down in 1908, the aptly named theatre impresario Shakespeare Shenton acquired the charred, roofless remains of the former factory.
A little time later he opened the building as The Palace, a venue at which films and live acts appeared.
When the First World War came, the Palace closed for a while to reopen as a fully fledged cinema with the name Shakespeare Shenton’s Picture Palace Playhouse.
The name changed again in 1922 to The Palace Electric Theatre, then disaster struck in 1932 when fire raged through the building.
Shenton’s venture came to an abrupt end and the cinema remained empty for the next 30 years until being demolished to make way for, oddly enough, the fire station.
One of Gloucester’s first entertainment venues was the Theatre Royal in Westgate Street. But the city’s earliest cinema was the Theatre De Luxe (known to all as the “Dee-loo”) in Northgate Street, which had previously been Goddard’s Assembly Rooms.
Gloucester people with long memories may remember that pantomimes used to be put on at the Regal in Kings Square and starred well know names of the time.
In 1956 Cinderella featured Edna Savage with Davy Kaye as Buttons. The same production featured ugly sisters Alan Haynes and Danny La Rue.
Davy Kaye returned in 1957 to star with singer Lita Rosa in Aladdin and in 1957 Clarkson Rose played the lead role in Dick Whittington.
The Mudlarks and Billy Burden appeared in Babes in the Wood in 1959. Then in 1960 cool crooner Michael Holiday came to the city in Mother Goose. A year later it was the turn of Cinderalla once more, this time with Sheila Southern and the Dallas Boys.
Panto was an annual event at the Regal until 1974. Until 1962 the show started on Boxing Day, but after that came a break with tradition and the first night wasn’t until New Year.
It’s changed name numerous times, but the building that is now Gloucester’s New Olympus Theatre has been a venue for entertainment since it was erected in 1923. It opened on January 15th of that year as the Picturedrome Cinema.
The 700 seater auditorium was packed, as a film named Fascination starring silent heroine Mae Murray flitted across the silver screen, accompanied by a full orchestra.
Locals knew the cinema as Palmer’s Picturedrome, after E C J Palmer who was the first owner. During the Second World War the ABC cinema chain acquired the Barton Street building, which was then renamed the ABC Ritz.
Improvements were made in 1955, including a new frontage and entrance, plus the installation of wide screen cinemascope. Then the ABC prefix was dropped and the illuminated sign over the doorway read simply Ritz.
April 1961 was a black month for movie fans in Gloucester, as both the Ritz and the Gaumont closed. Two months later, however, the Ritz reopened and a full house arrived to see Elvis Presley in Flaming Star. Unfortunately, full houses soon gave way to dwindling attendances and on March 3, 1962 the Ritz closed again, this time for good. Its last screening was The Young Ones, with Cliff and the Shadows.
For the next 20 years the building became a bingo club. Then in 1984 it was acquired by the Gloucester Operatic and Dramatic Society, which had outgrown its previous venue, the Olympus Theatre in Kingsbarton Street.
On March 7, 1986 the New Olympus Theatre opened, its refurbishment including 200 seats taken from the recently demolished ABC cinema in Cheltenham.
The photo of the Star Theatre was taken in Gloucester in the 1960s. If you’re struggling to recall where it stood, struggle no more. The theatre’s address was 81, Church Street, Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA.