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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1946	New Hippodrome, Hales Street
Date(s)	Show	Notes	Images
Tue 19th Feb until Sat 2nd Mar 1946	Hot Ice	Tom Arnold's Ice Skating Spectacular, with Armand Perren, Margaret Newson and Derek Roy.
Tue 5th Mar until Sat 9th Mar 1946	Peter Pan	With Diane Calderwood, Celia Lipton, Mercia Swinburne and George Curzon.
Mon 11th Mar until Sat 16th Mar 1946	Can-Can	Operette, with Pat Taylor, Clifford Mollison, Elizabeth French and Leo Franklyn.
Mon 18th Mar until Sat 23rd Mar 1946	Harry Benet's Royal Majestic Circus	Lions, Horses, Mules, Clowns, etc.!
Mon 25th Mar until Sat 30th Mar 1946	Portrait in Black	With Diana Wynyard, Ronald Squire, Hugh Williams and Patrick Barr.
Mon 1st Apr until Sat 6th Apr 1946	The Merry Widow	Starring Marjorie Sandford and Frank Fox.
Mon 8th Apr until Sat 13th Apr 1946	Rocky Mountain Rhythm	Featuring Big Bill Campbell and his famous Radio Cowboys and Ranch Girls.
Mon 15th Apr until Sat 20th Apr 1946	Syd Seymour and his Mad Hatters of 1946	With Pat O'Brien, Jimmy Mac & Frank, Constance Evans, and others.
Mon 22nd Apr until Sat 27th Apr 1946	Variety Show	With Cavan O'Connor, Suzette Tarri, Max Bacon, and others.
Mon 29th Apr until Sat 4th May 1946	Max Miller The Cheeky Chappie	With Connor & Drake, Sid Plummer and an All-Star Programme.
Mon 6th May until Sat 11th May 1946	George Formby	And an All-Star Programme.
Mon 13th May until Sat 18th May 1946	Geraldo and His Orchestra	With Len Clifford & Freda, Archie Elray & Co., Elsie Percival, Manley & Auston, and others.
Mon 20th May until Sat 25th May 1946	Grand National Night	With Leslie Banks and Hermione Baddeley.
Mon 27th May until Sat 1st Jun 1946	International Ballet	Performing Everyman, Swan Lake, Aurora's Wedding, Coppelia and Comus.
Mon 3rd Jun until Sat 8th Jun 1946	Elusive Lady	With Evelyn Laye and Frank Lawton.
Mon 10th Jun until Sat 15th Jun 1946	Strike A New Note	With Richard (Stinker) Murdoch, Sam Costa, Cliff Cook, Freddie Frinton, and others.
Mon 17th Jun until Sat 22nd Jun 1946	Zuider Zee	With Macari and his Dutch Serenaders, Stanelli, Stainless Stephen, and many others.
Mon 24th Jun until Sat 29th Jun 1946	The Big Broadcast	With Issy Bonn, Margarite & Charles, and others.
Mon 1st Jul until Sat 6th Jul 1946	Mayfair Merry-Go-Round	With Jack Jackson and his Band.
Mon 8th Jul until Sat 13th Jul 1946	Carroll Levis and his BBC Discoveries	With Billy Cooke, George Mansfield, etc.
Mon 15th Jul until Sat 20th Jul 1946	Charles Shadwell and his Orchestra	With Eric James, Charmian Innes, Robert Greene, Dave & Joe O'Gorman, Albert Whelan, and others.
Mon 22nd Jul until Sat 27th Jul 1946	Variety Show	With Hutch, Jimmy James, Jack Wilson and Harry Engleman, and others.
Mon 29th Jul until Sat 3rd Aug 1946	Old Mother Riley and Her Daughter Kitty	With Arthur Lucan and Kitty McShane.
Mon 5th Aug until Sat 10th Aug 1946	Scot Free	With Jack Radcliffe, Hella Toros, Edward Reach, and others.
Tue 13th Aug until Sat 24th Aug 1946	The Dancing Years	With Barry Sinclair, Jessica James, Angela Braemar, and others.
Mon 26th Aug until Sat 31st Aug 1946	The Cure For Love	With Wilfred Pickles and Ella Retford.
Mon 2nd Sep until Sat 7th Sep 1946	Peek-A-Boo	Starring Phyllis Dixey, with Howard De Courcy, Harold Childs, Eddie Molloy and Nor Kiddie.
Mon 9th Sep until Sat 14th Sep 1946	Call Home The Heart	With Sybil Thorndike, Judy Campbell, Malcolm Keen and William Fox.
Mon 16th Sep until Sat 21st Sep 1946	Good-Night Vienna	With James Etherington, Marjorie Browne, Teddy St. Denis and Jackie Hunter.
Mon 23rd Sep until Sat 28th Sep 1946	The Sadler's Wells Ballet	With Full Orchestra.
Mon 30th Sep until Sat 5th Oct 1946	Grand All-Star Variety	With Charlie Kunz, G. H. Elliott, Peter Brough and others.
Tue 8th Oct until Sat 12th Oct 1946	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	With Betty Shaw and Bruce Carfax.
Mon 14th Oct until Sat 19th Oct 1946	The Kingmaker	With Kay Hammond, Irene Vanbrugh and John Clements.
Mon 21st Oct until Sat 26th Oct 1946	Pick-Up Girl	With Macdonald Parke and Joan Matheson.
Mon 28th Oct until Sat 2nd Nov 1946	Let's Get On With It	Grand Gala Broadcast Performance, with All-Star Company of 70 artistes.
Mon 4th Nov until Sat 9th Nov 1946	The Years Between	Featuring Alan Webb, Hazel Terry, Allan Jeayes and Patrick Cream.
Tue 12th Nov until Sat 16th Nov 1946	Red Mill	Musical, with Maudie Edwards, Slim Allan, Billy Milton, and others.
Mon 18th Nov until Sat 23rd Nov 1946	The Vagabond King	By The Coventry Operatic Society.
Mon 25th Nov until Sat 30th Nov 1946	Anthony and Cleopatra	Featuring Edith Evans and Godfrey Tearle.
Mon 2nd Dec until Sat 7th Dec 1946	Norman Evans - "Good Evans"	With Vic & Joe Crastonian, Radcliffe & Ray, the Four Pomars, and others.
Mon 9th Dec until Sat 14th Dec 1946	Henry Hall and his Orchestra	All-Star Variety Show. (Theatre closed from the 16th to the 22nd for Pantomime rehearsals.)
Mon 23rd Dec 1946 until Sat 15th Feb 1947	Humpty Dumpty	Pantomime, with Billy Danvers, Eve Lester, Sonny Jenks, the Chevalier Brothers, and many others.

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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.