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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1975 | Coventry Theatre, Hales Street | ||
Date(s) | Show | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|
Sun 12th Jan 1975 | Showaddywaddy | One night only. | |
Sun 26th Jan 1975 | Royal Marines Spectacular | One night only. | |
Sun 2nd Feb 1975 | Hawkwind | One night only. | |
Sun 16th Feb 1975 | Bill Anderson | One night only. | |
Sun 23rd Feb 1975 | Chuck Berry | One night only. | |
Tue 4th Mar until Sat 8th Mar 1975 | Coventry Scouts' 1975 Gang Show | Huge cast of Scouts and Leaders. | |
Thu 13th Mar until Sat 10th May 1975 | 1975 Spring Show | Starring Peters & Lee, Billy Dainty, Rod Hull & Emu, and many more. | |
Sun 16th Mar 1975 | Ralph McTell | One night only. | |
Sun 23rd Mar 1975 | Viennese Gala Night | Compere Ian Wallace. | |
Sun 27th Apr 1975 | Syd Lawrence Orchestra | One night only. | |
Fri 16th May 1975 | Bay City Rollers | One night only. | |
Mon 19th May until Sat 24th May 1975 | English National Opera | Different Opera each night. | |
Sun 25th May until Sat 31st May 1975 | That's Entertainment | Movie - U-rated. | |
Mon 2nd Jun until Sat 7th Jun 1975 | The Dancing Years | Starring John Hanson. | |
Sun 8th Jun 1975 | Tammy Wynette | One night only. | |
Wed 11th Jun 1975 | Special Film Presentation about Jimi Hendrix | X-rated. Plus "We Have Come For Your Daughters", also X-rated. | |
Thu 12th Jun 1975 | Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones Movie. | Was due to be a show by Donovan, but he pulled out due to exhaustion. One night only. | |
Sat 14th Jun 1975 | Dionne Warwick | One night only. | |
Mon 16th Jun until Sat 21st Jun 1975 | Five Finger Exercise | Starring Hywel Bennett, John Paul, Patricia Lawrence and Jeff Rawle. | |
Thu 26th Jun until Sat 28th Jun 1975 | Hungarian Gypsy Dance Company | Three nights. | |
Mon 30th Jun until Sat 5th Jul 1975 | Alfie Darling | X-rated movie, starring Joan Collins. | |
Mon 7th Jul until Sat 12th Jul 1975 | Love Story | Movie, starring Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal. | |
Sun 13th Jul until Sat 19th Jul 1975 | That's Entertainment | Movie - U-rated. | |
Sun 20th Jul until Sat 26th Jul 1975 | Murder on the Orient Express | Movie - evenings. Matinee - The Railway Children. | |
Sun 27th Jul until Sat 2nd Aug 1975 | The Lady Sings The Blues | X-rated movie, starring Diana Ross. | |
Sun 3rd Aug until Sat 9th Aug 1975 | Never Too Young To Rock | U-rated movie, starring Mud, The Rubettes and The Glitter Band. | |
Sun 10th Aug 1975 | Twins of Evil | X-rated movie. One night only. | |
Mon 11th Aug and Tue 12th Aug 1975 | Song of Norway | U-rated movie. | |
Wed 13th Aug and Thu 14th Aug 1975 | My Fair Lady | u-rated movie. | |
Fri 15th Aug and Sat 16th Aug 1975 | Hello Dolly | U-rated movie. | |
Sun 17th Aug until Sat 23rd Aug 1975 | Godspell | U-rated movie. | |
Sun 24th Aug until Sat 30th Aug 1975 | Zulu | Movie, starring Michael Caine. | |
Sun 31st Aug until Sat 6th Sep 1975 | Cabaret | X-rated movie, starring Liza Minelli. | |
Sun 7th Sep 1975 | Showaddywaddy | One night only. | |
Sun 7th Sep until Sat 13th Sep 1975 | Jesus Christ Superstar | A-rated movie. | |
Mon 15th Sep until Sat 20th Sep 1975 | Love Thy Neighbour | Live stage show, starring Jack Smethurst, Rudolph Walker, Nina Baden-Semper and Kate Williams | |
Thu 25th Sep until Tue 21st Oct 1975 | Cilla Black Birthday Show | Variety show. No performances on the 6th and 7th October, due to Cilla losing her baby at 5 months pregnant. The show continued from the 8th with various guest stars, beginning with Ronnie Corbett and Moira Anderson. 10th & 11th Jimmy Tarbuck. | |
Sun 28th Sep 1975 | David Essex | One night only. | |
Sun 12th Oct 1975 | Fairport Convention | One night only. | |
Wed 15th Oct until Sat 18th Oct 1975 | Birthday Show | Continuing with Val Doonican. | |
Sun 19th Oct 1975 | Steeleye Span | One night only. | |
Wed 22nd Oct until Sat 22nd Nov 1975 | Cilla Black Birthday Show | The welcome return of Cilla after recovering from losing her baby. (No performances on Mondays.) | |
Sun 26th Oct 1975 | Jack Jones | One night only. | |
Sun 2nd Nov 1975 | Sparks | One night only. | |
Sun 9th Nov 1975 | George Hamilton IV | One night only. | |
Sun 16th Nov 1975 | Queen | Supported by Mr. Big. One night only. | |
Sun 23rd Nov 1975 | Marching with the Grenadier Guards | One night only. | |
Mon 24th Nov until Sat 29th Nov 1975 | Boeing-Boeing | Comedy, starring Richard O'Sullivan, Sally Thomsett and Yootha Joyce. | |
Mon 1st Dec until Sat 6th Dec 1975 | Christmas Carol | Charles Dickens. (Not Friday 5th.) | |
Fri 5th Dec 1975 | Supertramp | Supported by Joan Armatrading. One night only. | |
Mon 8th Dec until Sat 13th Dec 1975 | Hello Dolly | By the Coventry Amateur Operatic Society. | |
Sun 14th Dec 1975 | The Greatest Swing Band in the World | One night only. | |
Mon 15th Dec until Sat 20th Dec 1975 | The Wombles Christmas Show | Children's musical. | |
Fri 26th Dec 1975 until Sat 6th Mar 1976 | Black and White Minstrel Show | For the season. Featuring Lenny Henry and guests artistes The Monarchs. |
Prev year: 1974Showing 1975Next year: 1976
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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