Hippodrome / Coventry Theatre / Apollo show archive

n attempt to list all the shows ever performed at our Hippodromes, beginning with the temporary circus buildings, which from 1884 were specially erected on Pool Meadow for each visit - then, in 1903, to the first permanent, but short-lived, 'Tin' Hippodrome on the Priory Street side of Pool Meadow facing the old Swimming Baths. The popularity of these shows created the demand for a theatre worthy of our city, and so in 1906 began the construction in Hales Street, next to Swanswell Gate, of what we now regard as the Old Hippodrome.
Again, the success of this theatre meant that barely three decades later a greater capacity was required, and so we come to our lovely art-deco New Hippodrome in Hales Street, once known as the Showplace of the Midlands. Opening on the 1st November 1937, it was renamed Coventry Theatre in 1955, then from 1979 became The Apollo, giving its final performance in June 1985. After a short spell as a bingo hall it was eventually realised that such a building could not be put to any practical use, so, sadly, it was demolished in 2002. If anyone still has any tickets or programmes and would like to see them used to illustrate a show, please contact me.

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1981	Apollo Theatre, Hales Street
Date(s)	Show	Notes	Images
Sat 24th Jan 1981	Hazel O'Connor	Part of her "Breaking Glass" tour. One night only.
Tue 10th Feb until Sat 14th Feb 1981	English National Opera North	The Merry Widow and La Boheme.
Fri 27th Feb 1981	Showaddywaddy	One night only.
Wed 4th Mar 1981	The Stranglers	Part of their "MenInBlack" tour. One night only.	Image(s) courtesy of Paul Wilkinson
Tue 17th Mar until Sat 21st Mar 1981	Coventry Scout's Gang Show	Huge cast of Scouts and Leaders, including the 13th Coventry Scout Band.
Tue 24th Mar until Sat 28th Mar 1981	Welsh National Opera	Different Opera each night.
Sun 29th Mar 1981	The Spinners	One night only.
Thu 2nd Apr 1981	Charley Pride	One night only.
Fri 3rd Apr 1981	Max Boyce	One night only.
Mon 6th Apr until Sat 11th Apr 1981	Once a Catholic	Mary O'Mally's comedy of sex and religion. (Not suitable for children!)
Mon 13th Apr until Sat 18th Apr 1981	Oh! Calcutta	Avant-garde, risque theatrical revue. The Good Friday performance (17th) was banned due to objections from "the church" about nudity on a religious day.
Sat 25th Apr 1981	Leo Sayer	One night only.
Mon 27th Apr until Sat 2nd May 1981	Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet	Different Ballet each night.
Mon 4th May until Sat 9th May 1981	Ipi-Tombi	Award winning African musical.
Sun 10th May 1981	Freddie Starr Extravaganza	One night only.
Tue 12th May 1981	Girlschool	One night only.
Sat 16th May 1981	Mike Harding	One night only.
Tue 19th May until Sat 23rd May 1981	Welsh National Opera	The Marriage of Figaro and La Traviata.
Tue 26th May 1981	Manhattan Transfer	One night only.
Wed 3rd Jun 1981	Rita Coolidge	One night only.
Sat 20th Jun 1981	Fred Wedlock and Friends	"The Oldest Swinger in Town".
Fri 26th Jun 1981	Teardrop Explodes	One night only.
Sun 28th Jun 1981	The Kinks	One night only.
Sun 9th Aug 1981	Barbara Dickson	One night only.
Sat 29th Aug 1981	Siouxsie and the Banshees	One night only.
Sun 6th Sep 1981	The Desperados	One night only.
Tue 15th Sep 1981	David Essex	One night only.
Wed 16th Sep 1981	Bobby Bare	With guests Ronnie Prophet, Vernon Oxford, Melba Montgomery and American Expression.
Fri 18th Sep and Sat 19th Sep 1981	The Shadows	Two nights.
Wed 30th Sep 1981	Siouxsie & The Banshees	One night only.
Mon 12th Oct 1981	Showaddywaddy	One night only.
Thu 15th Oct 1981	Hawkwind	Supported by Mama's Boys.
Fri 16th Oct 1981	Donovan	One night only.
Sat 17th Oct 1981	Sad Cafe	One night only.
Mon 19th Oct 1981	Sheena Easton	One night only.
Wed 21st Oct 1981	That'll Be The Day	On the movie screen.
Thu 22nd Oct 1981	George Shearing	With Mel Torme.
Fri 23rd Oct 1981	Jack Jones	One night only.
Sat 24th Oct 1981	Joan Armatrading	One night only.
Sat 24th Oct 1981	The Song Remains The Same	Led Zeppelin. On the movie screen.
Fri 30th Oct until Sat 21st Nov 1981	Hans Anderson	Large production musical, starring and directed by Tommy Steele.
Tue 24th Nov 1981	Human League	One night only.
Thu 26th Nov until Sat 28th Nov 1981	Rowan Atkinson	Tickets £4.50, £5.50, £6.50
Mon 30th Nov 1981	The Cure	Supported by And Also The Trees, and Lydia Lunch & 13.13.
Mon 7th Dec 1981	The Nolans	One night only.
Tue 8th Dec 1981	Thin Lizzy	Part of their "Renegade" tour. Supported by Sweet Savage.
Fri 18th Dec 1981 until Sat 30th Jan 1982	Cannon and Ball Christmas Show	Also featuring Zee & Co, Aiden J Harvey, The Brian Rogers Dancers, Roger de Courcey, and many others. (***Need to check end date***)

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1884 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985

Also of interest might be A short history of Coventry's Theatres and Cinemas, by Bill Birch.