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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1937 | Old Hippodrome, Hales Street | ||
| Date(s) | Show | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 1st Feb until Sat 6th Feb 1937 | Macari and his Dutch Accordion Band | Plus, Bruce Bairnsfather, Charlie Higgins, Taby & Tabu, Johnnie Regan, Helen Tryx, and many more. | |
| Mon 8th Feb until Sat 13th Feb 1937 | Rudy Starita and his Cuban Marimba Band | Plus, Phyllis Robins, Bud Ritchie, 8 Harlem Pages, Julius Schichtl's Marionettes, and more. | |
| Mon 15th Feb until Sat 20th Feb 1937 | Syd Seymour and his Mad Hatters Band | Plus, Johnson Clark, the 3 Harmony Kings, the Four Astaires, Max Welton, and many others. | |
| Mon 22nd Feb until Sat 27th Feb 1937 | Rose Marie | Musical play, by the Coventry Amateur Operatic Society. | |
| Mon 1st Mar until Sat 6th Mar 1937 | Elsie and Doris Waters | Radio's 'Gert & Daisy'. Plus, Alec Finlay, Billy Danvers, Pat Rossborough, O'Shea & Joan, and many more. | |
| Mon 8th Mar until Sat 13th Mar 1937 | Gypsy Nina | The glamorous singing accordionist. Plus, Peg Leg Bates, the Three Pirates, Len Clifford & Jan, and many more. | |
| Mon 15th Mar until Sat 20th Mar 1937 | Sim-Sala-Bim | Starring Dante, supported by an international company of skilled mystifiers. | |
| Mon 22nd Mar until Sat 27th Mar 1937 | Round About Big Ben | First revue of the year, with Dave Morris and 50 artistes. | |
| Mon 29th Mar until Sat 3rd Apr 1937 | Arthus Prince | King of ventriloquists. Plus, Gaston Palmer, Tracey & Andersen, The Ormonde Sisters, French and Jerome, and more. | |
| Mon 5th Apr until Sat 10th Apr 1937 | Archie's Juvenile Band | Plus, Lucan & McShane, Bob & Alf Pearson, Edwin Lawrence, the Two Heltanos, Jack Warman, Six Zio Girls, and Helen Mitchell and Dad. | |
| Mon 12th Apr until Sat 17th Apr 1937 | Anona Winn | Of radio fame. Plus, Steffani, Billy Russell, 6 Zio Angels, Mamie Soutter, De Haven & Page, Jones & Thomas, and the Alva Brothers. | |
| Mon 19th Apr until Sat 24th Apr 1937 | Ganjou Brothers & Juanita | Plus, Randolph Sutton, 6 Zio Angels, Archie Glenn, Don Galvan, Pim's Navy, and more. | |
| Mon 26th Apr until Sat 1st May 1937 | Don Rico and his Gipsy Ladies' Orchestra | Plus, Pepino's Comedy Circus, Nora Williams, Navarre, Howard Rogers, Alec Pleon, and others. | |
| Mon 3rd May until Sat 8th May 1937 | Tulip Time | The funniest musical play seen for years. | |
| Mon 10th May until Sat 15th May 1937 | Bill Pethers' Party | Including Jimmy James, the Great Patriotic Tableau, 3 Clayton Sisters, Two Jovers, 6 Warren-Dene Girls, and more. | |
| Mon 17th May until Sat 22nd May 1937 | G. H. Elliott | The chocolate coloured c**n. Plus, Chas. Dixon and Pal, Leslie Weston, Earle and Babette, and many others. | |
| Mon 24th May until Sat 29th May 1937 | Mr. Flotsam and Mr. Jetsam | Radio favourites. Plus, Jane Ayr and Eddie Leslie, Duncan Grey, the Smeddle Bros., Betty Auckland, and more. | |
| Mon 31st May until Sat 5th Jun 1937 | Blackberries | Featuring The Famous Cole Brothers, 'Pep' Graham, and a galaxy of coloured stars. | |
| Mon 7th Jun until Sat 12th Jun 1937 | The World Looks Up | With a galaxy of stars, headed by Len Jackson and Henry Lytton, the new comedians. | |
| Mon 14th Jun until Sat 19th Jun 1937 | Billy Merrin and his Commanders | Plus, Bob Fisher, Angus Watson, Jean Kennedy, Eddie Smith, Cleef, Berg & Cleef, the Lennox Sisters, Wally Wood, and more. | |
| Mon 21st Jun until Sat 26th Jun 1937 | Mrs. O'Hara's Birthday Party | With Devito & Denny, Dorothy Stevens, Dave Seed, and many others. | |
| Mon 28th Jun until Sat 3rd Jul 1937 | Melange of Magic | Featuring Jasper Maskelyne and Company, 20 Tiny Tappas, and many others. | |
| Mon 5th Jul until Sat 10th Jul 1937 | Teddy Joyce and his Band of Girl Friends | Plus, Hubert & Pierre Pierrotys, Eddy Bayes, Don Phillipe, Tubby Turner, and more. | |
| Mon 12th Jul until Sat 17th Jul 1937 | Radiovue | Featuring Elsie Carlisle, Herschel Henlere, Leslie Noyes & Dorothy Dee, and many more. | |
| Mon 19th Jul until Sat 24th Jul 1937 | New Faces | Comedy, with Janice Hart & Frank O'Brian. | |
| Mon 26th Jul until Sat 31st Jul 1937 | Kiss Me Segeant | Comedy burlesque revue, with Tom Gamble as 'Spuddy'. | |
| Mon 2nd Aug until Sat 7th Aug 1937 | Rose Perfect | 'Girl with the golden voice'. Plus, Duncan's Collies, Wilbur Hall, Arthur Pond, Evetts & Browning, and many others. | |
| Mon 9th Aug until Sat 14th Aug 1937 | Billy Thorburn and his Band | Radio's ace pianist. Plus, Billy Kay & Co., Skeets Martin, Sybil Stanford, Royce & King, and more. | |
| Mon 16th Aug until Sat 21st Aug 1937 | Claude Dampier | Film and radio star. Plus, Eve Becke, The Mummy's Dream, Peel & Curtis, Eddie Le-Roy, and more. | |
| Mon 23rd Aug until Sat 28th Aug 1937 | Brookins & Van | Plus, The Nine Elliotts, Grace & Mabel Embert, Deveen, Joe Hastings, Fred Retter & Partner, and more. | |
| Mon 30th Aug until Sat 4th Sep 1937 | Wings of Laughter | With Tom Moss. Including Billy West and The Famous Hungarian Band, 16 Dancing Beauties, and others. | |
| Mon 6th Sep until Sat 11th Sep 1937 | Western Brothers. | (Kenneth and George.) Plus, Ted Ray, Kit-Kat, Ernest Shannon, Paddy Drew, and many more. | |
| Mon 13th Sep until Sat 18th Sep 1937 | Crown Him King | Presented by Frank E. Franks, with a cast of 60 artistes. | |
| Mon 20th Sep until Sat 25th Sep 1937 | 12 Royal Master Singers | With Gwyneth Lascelles. Plus, Ruper Hazel and Elsie Day, the Dagenham Girl Pipers, Stanford & McNaughton, and many others. | |
| Mon 27th Sep until Sat 2nd Oct 1937 | Alfredo and his Famous Gypsy Band | Plus, Bobby Wright & Marion, Chimpanzee Club, Florence Oldham, George Betton, and much more. | |
| Mon 4th Oct until Sat 9th Oct 1937 | 1937 Road Show | With Sandy Powell of stage, film, radio and gramophone fame. | |
| Mon 11th Oct until Sat 16th Oct 1937 | Nat Mills & Bobbie | 'The rare pair'. Plus, Kitty Masters, 6 Zio Angels, Jack Daly, Alec Halls, Lorraine, Nicol and Martin, and more. | |
| Mon 18th Oct until Sat 23rd Oct 1937 | Hetty King | Male impersonator. Plus, Radcliffe & Rodgers, Charlie Higgins, 6 Zio Angels, Leon Pierre, and more. | |
| Mon 25th Oct until Sat 30th Oct 1937 | All Star Comedy Bill to Pull Down the House | Featuring Tommy Handley, Joe Young, 'Wilson, Kepple & Betty', Bertha Willmott, Collinson & Dean, Dick Henderson, Donald Peers, Martyn & Maye, Six Zio Angels. THE FINAL SHOW AT THE OLD HIPPODROME. | |
1937 | New Hippodrome, Hales Street | ||
| Date(s) | Show | Notes | Images |
| Mon 1st Nov until Sat 6th Nov 1937 | Harry Roy and his Band | Also featuring Ann Penn (radio impressionist), Jack Edge (royal jester), the Siddeck Four, Percy & Mary Honri, the Goldwyn Bros., Leslie Lester, and 10 Zio Angels. THE FIRST EVER SHOW AT THE NEW HIPPODROME. | |
| Mon 8th Nov until Sat 13th Nov 1937 | Mills Brothers | Quartet of black American vocalists, using voices to replicate instruments. Also appearances by Clarkson Rose, Robb Wilton, Dawn Davis and the Three Mighty Atoms. | |
| Mon 15th Nov until Sat 20th Nov 1937 | Henry Hall and his Orchestra | Also the Max Rivers 12 Hippodrome Lovelies. | |
| Mon 22nd Nov until Sat 27th Nov 1937 | Stanley Holloway | Comedian. Also Leslie A. "Hutch" Hutchinson. | |
| Mon 29th Nov until Sat 4th Dec 1937 | Arthur Tracey the Street Singer | Plus Rawicz and Landauer, piano duo. | |
| Sun 5th Dec 1937 | Cheylesmore Senior Girls' School | Nativity play. | |
| Mon 6th Dec until Sat 11th Dec 1937 | Ronald Frankau | Radio performer. Plus Revnell and West, Royal Command performers - Ivor Moreton and Dave Kaye, pianists. | |
| Mon 13th Dec until Sat 18th Dec 1937 | Hip! Hip! Zooray Circus | Includes sea lions and dancing elephants! | |
| Mon 27th Dec 1937 until Sat 29th Jan 1938 | Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp | Pantomime, featuring Vera Lennox, Rex London, Donald Stuart, Heather Gale, the Lassiter Brothers and Alec Pleon. Thereafter on each Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. | |
Prev year: 1936Showing 1937Next year: 1938
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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