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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1938 | New Hippodrome, Hales Street | ||
| Date(s) | Show | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 30th Jan until Fri 4th Feb 1938 | Variety Show | Big Bill Campbell, 5 Sherry Bros., Cardini and others. | |
| Mon 31st Jan until Sat 5th Feb 1938 | The Two Leslies and Mantovani | Variety show, including Kafka Stanley and the Gray Sisters. | |
| Mon 7th Feb until Sat 12th Feb 1938 | Scott & Whalley | In Just Imagine It, with Sid Field. | |
| Mon 14th Feb until Sat 19th Feb 1938 | Ride 'Em Cowboy | Starring Will Mahoney. | |
| Tue 22nd Feb until Fri 25th Feb 1938 | George Formby | Comedian and Ukulele player. | |
| Sat 26th Feb until Sat 5th Mar 1938 | The Three Musketeers | Coventry Amateur Operatic Society. | |
| Mon 7th Mar until Thu 10th Mar 1938 | Dante | The World's Master of Mystery. | |
| Mon 14th Mar until Sat 19th Mar 1938 | The Royal Carl Rosa Opera Company | A different Opera each night. | |
| Mon 21st Mar until Sat 26th Mar 1938 | Careless Rapture | Drury Lane Production, including Ivy Tresmand. | |
| Mon 28th Mar until Sat 2nd Apr 1938 | Jack Hylton and his Band | And Colossal Variety Bill. | |
| Mon 4th Apr until Sun 17th Apr 1938 | Switzerland | Extravaganza on Ice. | |
| Mon 18th Apr until Sat 23rd Apr 1938 | Nat Gonella and his Georgians | Hailed as Britain's greatest trumpeter. Also featuring Will Fyffe, Scottish comedian. | |
| Mon 25th Apr until Sat 30th Apr 1938 | Gracie Fields | Variety show. | |
| Mon 2nd May until Sat 7th May 1938 | Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon | Screen, stage and radio stars. Also Vic Oliver, American comedian. | |
| Mon 9th May until Sat 14th May 1938 | Secrets of the BBC | Presented by Jack Hylton. | |
| Mon 16th May until Sat 21st May 1938 | George Clarke | In his sketch 'The New Car'. Plus Syd Seymour with his Mad Hatters Band. | |
| Mon 23rd May until Sat 28th May 1938 | Jack Payne in Round The Dial | Plus comedian Jimmy James. | |
| Mon 30th May until Sat 4th Jun 1938 | Taking Off | Variety show with Florence Desmond, Benny Boss, Maxine Stone, Dick Henderson and Edwin Lawrence. | |
| Mon 6th Jun until Sat 11th Jun 1938 | Carroll Levis and his 1938 Radio Discoveries | ||
| Mon 13th Jun until Sat 18th Jun 1938 | Variety with a Kick | Presented by Hughie Green. Including Georgie Wood & Ken Harvey. | |
| Mon 20th Jun until Sat 25th Jun 1938 | Stanelli's Stag Party | Radio's greatest comedy success with Stanelli, Norman Long, Russell & Marconi. | |
| Mon 27th Jun until Sat 2nd Jul 1938 | Radio Rodeo | With organist Harold Ramsay. | |
| Mon 4th Jul until Sat 9th Jul 1938 | Forsythe, Seaman & Farrell | Comedy team. Also Phyllis Robins and Paul Remos. | |
| Mon 11th Jul until Sat 16th Jul 1938 | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | Includes the Billy Shenton Trio and Jack Curtis & Russ Denny. | |
| Mon 18th Jul until Sat 23rd Jul 1938 | Meet the Stars | With Elsie Carlisle & Sam Browne, plus Albert Whelan and Murray & Mooney. | |
| Mon 25th Jul until Sat 30th Jul 1938 | Variety Show | Featuring Jasper Maskelyne, magician - Harry Welchman, comedy, Nice Florio & Lubov - George Doonan and Nosmo King. | |
| Mon 1st Aug until Sat 6th Aug 1938 | Great Bank Holiday Bill | Jack Jackson and his Radio Band, and Beryl Orde, impressionist. | |
| Mon 8th Aug until Sat 13th Aug 1938 | Brian Lawrence and his Sextet | ||
| Mon 15th Aug until Sat 20th Aug 1938 | Maurice Colleano | Comedian and aerobatic funster! | |
| Mon 22nd Aug until Sat 27th Aug 1938 | Sea Pie | Variety show with Renee Houston & Donald Stewart and many more. | |
| Mon 29th Aug until Sat 3rd Sep 1938 | Variety Show | Mr. Murgatroyd and Mr. Winterbottom with Ronald Frankau, Sue Ryan, Joe Termini, Tommy Handley and more. | |
| Mon 5th Sep until Sat 10th Sep 1938 | Claude Dampier | "Mrs. Gibson's Friend" encouraged by Miss Billie Carlyle. With Max Wall, Navarre, Harry Kahne and others. | |
| Mon 12th Sep until Sat 24th Sep 1938 | Winter Sports | Stage converted to an Ice Rink, featuring Phil Taylor, Eddie Marcel, Elsie Heathcote and others. | |
| Mon 26th Sep until Sat 1st Oct 1938 | The Long & Short Of It | Starring Revnell & West, with Freddie Forbes, Angela Barrie and others. | |
| Mon 3rd Oct until Sat 8th Oct 1938 | Variety Show | Featuring the Diamond Brothers, Douglas Byng, Gaston & Andree, Leonard Henry, Fayre Four and others. | |
| Mon 10th Oct until Sat 15th Oct 1938 | Idiot's Delight | Play, starring Vic Oliver. | |
| Mon 17th Oct until Sat 22nd Oct 1938 | Elsie & Doris Waters | Radio's Gert and Daisy, plus Les Allen, Clapham & Dwyer and others. | |
| Mon 24th Oct until Sat 29th Oct 1938 | Evelyn Laye | The Queen of Musical Comedy & Operette, plus Herschel Henlere, George Lacey and others. | |
| Mon 31st Oct until Sat 5th Nov 1938 | Duggie Wakefield and his Gang | Comedy team, plus Arthur Lucan & Kitty McShane and others. (The Hippodrome's birthday week.) | |
| Mon 7th Nov until Sat 12th Nov 1938 | King Revel | "Mammoth Revue Spectacle", with Billy Russell, George Doonan, Karina and others. | |
| Mon 14th Nov until Sat 19th Nov 1938 | Henry Hall and his Orchestra | Variety Bill, with Jenny Howard, Collinson & Dean, Bobby "Uke" Henshaw, and others. | |
| Mon 21st Nov until Sat 26th Nov 1938 | D'Oyly Carte Opera Company | A different Gilbert & Sullivan Opera each night. | |
| Tue 29th Nov until Sat 10th Dec 1938 | Crest Of The Wave | Featuring Ivor Novello. (No Monday performance in the first week due to extra time required to construct the huge set.) | |
| Mon 12th Dec until Sat 17th Dec 1938 | End of the Season Variety Bill | Afrique (impressionist), Troise and his Mandoliers, Kitty Masters, Murray & Mooney and others. (Theatre closed the following week for pantomime rehearsals.) | |
| Sat 24th Dec 1938 until Sat 28th Jan 1939 | Robinson Crusoe | Pantomime, starring Jimmy James, Muriel Cronshaw, Dan Leno Jnr, Monica Woodhouse and Bert Murray. | |
Prev year: 1937Showing 1938Next year: 1939
1884 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 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.
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