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.

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

1979	Coventry Theatre, Hales Street
Date(s)	Show	Notes	Images
Sun 21st Jan 1979	Elvis Costello and The Attractions	Supported by John Cooper Clarke. One night only.
Sun 28th Jan 1979	Gloria Gaynor	With The Chi-Lites. One night only.
Sun 4th Feb 1979	UFO	Part of their "Strangers in the Night" tour. One night only.
Mon 5th Mar 1979	Chris de Burgh	One night only.
Thu 8th Mar 1979	Slim Whitman	One night only.
Tue 13th Mar until Sat 17th Mar 1979	Coventry Scouts' 1979 Gang Show	Huge cast of Scouts and Leaders.
Mon 26th Mar 1979	Nana Mouskouri	One night only.
Tue 27th Mar 1979	The Buzzcocks	One night only.
Sat 31st Mar 1979	David Essex	One night only.
Sun 1st Apr 1979	Roger Whittaker	One night only.
Fri 13th Apr 1979	Mahendra Kapoor Nite	One night only.
Wed 18th Apr 1979	Elton John	Part of his "A Single Man" tour. One night only.	Image(s) courtesy of Paul Wilkinson
Thu 19th Apr 1979	Billy Connolly	One night only.
Tue 24th Apr until Sat 28th Apr 1979	Scottish Ballet	Tues, Wed & Thur: Napoli (an ideal family ballet). Fri & Sat: Underground Rumours (a new rock adventure!).
Mon 30th Apr until Sat 5th May 1979	Mzumba	Exciting African Musical.
Wed 9th May 1979	Rush	Part of their "Hemisphere's" tour. Supported by Max Webster. One night only.
Tue 15th May until Sat 19th May 1979	My Fair Lady	By the Coventry Musical Play Society.
Tue 22nd May 1979	George Hamilton IV	One night only.
Thu 24th May 1979	Slade	One night only.
Mon 4th Jun until Sat 9th Jun 1979	A World of Wisdom	Starring Norman Wisdom, with Tony Fayne.
Tue 26th Jun 1979	Talat Mahood	Indian Concert.
Fri 21st Sep 1979	The Slits	With Don Cherry and Happy House, Prince Hammer and Creation Rebel. One night only.
Sat 22nd Sep 1979	Loudon Wainwright III	One night only.
Sun 23rd Sep 1979	Gary Numan and the Tubeway Army	Supported by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) - their largest venue to date. One night only.
Fri 5th Oct 1979	Blaster Bates	Comedian. One night only.
Sat 6th Oct 1979	Elkie Brooks	One night only.
1979	Apollo Theatre, Hales Street
Date(s)	Show	Notes	Images
Tue 16th Oct 1979	APOLLO THEATRE	New ownership to prolong the theatre's life, beginning with the Royal Gala Charity Show.
Tue 16th Oct 1979	Royal Gala Charity Show	All-Star charity show starring The 3 Degrees, Roger De Courcey & Nookie Bear, Norman Collier, and many more. One night only. (Tickets £4 to £8) Attended by the Duchess of Kent, proceeds to the Lord Mayor's Year of the Child Appeal.
Thu 18th Oct 1979	Gladys Knight & The Pips	One night only.
Sun 21st Oct 1979	Leo Sayer	One night only.
Tue 23rd Oct 1979	Sham 69	One night only.
Fri 26th Oct 1979	Darts	One night only.
Sat 27th Oct 1979	The Stranglers	Part of their "Raven" tour. One night only.	Image(s) courtesy of Paul Wilkinson
Mon 29th Oct 1979	Gallagher & Lyle	With special guest Judie Tzuke. One night only.
Wed 31st Oct 1979	Billie Jo Spears	With special guest, Bobby Bare. One night only.
Fri 2nd Nov 1979	Whitesnake	Supported by Marseille. One night only.
Sun 4th Nov 1979	Manhattan Transfer	One night only. (Tickets £6.50 and £7.50)
Thu 8th Nov 1979	Steve Hillage	Supported by Trevor Rabin (later with Yes) on his Face to Face tour.	Image(s) courtesy of John Packer
Sat 10th Nov 1979	The Little & Large Show	One night only.
Wed 14th Nov and Thu 15th Nov 1979	Dame Edna	Featuring Barry Humphries.
Fri 16th Nov 1979	Hot Chocolate	One night only. (Tickets £2.50 to £5)
Mon 19th Nov 1979	Mike Harding	One night only.
Mon 26th Nov until Sat 1st Dec 1979	Paint Your Wagon	By the Coventry Amateur Operatic Society.
Tue 4th Dec 1979	Showaddywaddy	One night only.
Wed 5th Dec and Thu 6th Dec 1979	Max Boyce	Two nights.
Fri 7th Dec 1979	The Damned	One night only.
Thu 13th Dec 1979	Dr. Feelgood	One night only. (Tickets £2 to £3)
Tue 18th Dec and Wed 19th Dec 1979	Cliff Richard	Two nights.
Wed 26th Dec 1979 until Mon 18th Feb 1980	Cinderella	Pantomime, starring Ken Goodwin and Jack Douglas.

Prev year: 1978Showing 1979Next year: 1980

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.