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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1942 | New Hippodrome, Hales Street | ||
| Date(s) | Show | Notes | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 13th Jan until Sat 7th Feb 1942 | Cinderella | Starring Ted Ray (as Buttons), Phyllis Hunter, Eileen Murphy, and many others. | |
| Mon 9th Feb until Sat 14th Feb 1942 | Sailors Don't Care | With Ernie Lotinga, Eve, The Hobbs' Girls, The London Four, and others. | |
| Tue 17th Feb until Sat 21st Feb 1942 | The Doctor's Dilemma | By Bernard Shaw, starring Vivien Leigh. | |
| Mon 23rd Feb until Sat 28th Feb 1942 | May We Introduce? | With Renee Houston & Donald Stewart, and others. | |
| Mon 2nd Mar until Sat 7th Mar 1942 | Joe Loss and his Band | With Pat McCormac, Bob Arden, Bette Roberts, Ernest Shannon, Eddie Bayes, and others. | |
| Mon 9th Mar until Sat 14th Mar 1942 | Flanagan & Allen | With the 5 Kenways, Ronald Chesney, Cyril Smith and others. | |
| Tue 17th Mar until Sat 21st Mar 1942 | The Maid Of The Mountains | Featuring Sonnie Hale, Elsie Randolph, an Operatic Chorus of 40, and others. | |
| Mon 23rd Mar until Sat 28th Mar 1942 | D'Oyly Carte Opera Company | A different Opera each night. | |
| Mon 30th Mar until Sat 4th Apr 1942 | More 1066 And All That | An Historical Revue in 23 Gay Scenes, with Full Ballet & Orchestra. | |
| Mon 6th Apr until Sat 11th Apr 1942 | Ladies Without! | With Dave & Joe O'Gorman, Nat Hope, Jones & Thomas, and others. | |
| Mon 13th Apr until Sat 18th Apr 1942 | They're Here Again | Duggie Wakefield and his Gang, with The Master Singers, Baker, Dove & Allen, and others. | |
| Mon 20th Apr until Sat 25th Apr 1942 | How Do | With All Star Cast, including Norman Evans, Billy Scott-Coomber, Kimberley & Page, and many others. | |
| Tue 28th Apr until Sat 2nd May 1942 | Macbeth | Starring John Gielgud. | |
| Mon 4th May until Sat 9th May 1942 | Variety Show | With Evelyn Laye, Max & Harry Nesbitt, Clifford & Marion, Sherkot, and Edna Squire-Brown. | |
| Mon 11th May until Sat 16th May 1942 | Cavalcade Of Mystery | Starring The Great Lyle, with Mario (Harp) Lorenzi, Jack Stocks, Bert Brownbill, and others. | |
| Mon 18th May until Sat 23rd May 1942 | Billy Cotton and his Band | With Andree Randall, Eve Drury, Gladdy Sewell, and others. | |
| Mon 25th May until Sat 30th May 1942 | Rise And Shine | Starring Rawicz & Landauer, plus Tex McLeod, and others. | |
| Mon 1st Jun until Sat 6th Jun 1942 | Blithe Spirit | With Ronald Squire, Ursula Jeans, Irene Browne and Agnes Laughlan. (Price range 2/6 (Balcony) to 7/6.) | |
| Mon 8th Jun until Sat 13th Jun 1942 | Variety Show | With Charlie Kunz, Syd Walker, Norman Long, and others. | |
| Mon 15th Jun until Sat 20th Jun 1942 | Variety Show | Scott & Whalley, Arthur Prince & "Jim", Albert Whelan, and others. | |
| Mon 22nd Jun until Sat 27th Jun 1942 | Old Town Hall | With Richard Goolden, Gladys Keyes, Clay Keyes, and others. | |
| Mon 29th Jun until Sat 4th Jul 1942 | You Can't Help Laughing | Starring Forsythe, Seamon & Farrell, Nat Mills & Bobbie, Jill Manners, and others. | |
| Mon 6th Jul until Sat 11th Jul 1942 | Oscar Rabin & His Band | With Low & Webster, Torino with Juanita Cole, and others. | |
| Mon 13th Jul until Sat 18th Jul 1942 | Chu Chin Chow | A Musical Tale of the East, with a cast of 70. | |
| Mon 20th Jul until Sat 25th Jul 1942 | The Mad Hatters Of 1942 | Featuring Syd Seymour and his Band, Mervyn Rolando, Shek Ben Ali, Constance Evans, and others. | |
| Mon 27th Jul until Sat 1st Aug 1942 | Funny-bone Frolics | With Nat Jackley and Jack Clifford, Jack Stanford, the Three Musketeers, and others. | |
| Mon 3rd Aug until Sat 8th Aug 1942 | Mammoth Holiday Attraction | Variety with Leon Cortez and his Broadcasting Band, the Western Brothers, Three Green Sisters, Four Cranks, and others. | |
| Mon 10th Aug until Sat 15th Aug 1942 | Glamour Serenade | Variety, with Maurice Colleano, Gus Chevalier, Erikson, and others. | |
| Mon 17th Aug until Sat 22nd Aug 1942 | Variety Show | With Carrol Gibbons, Noni & Nita, Kitty Masters, and others. | |
| Mon 24th Aug until Sat 29th Aug 1942 | The Belle of New York | Featuring Evelyn Laye. | |
| Mon 31st Aug until Sat 5th Sep 1942 | Stranger's Road | Featuring Barry K. Barnes, Diana Churchill. | |
| Mon 7th Sep until Sat 12th Sep 1942 | The Desert Song | With Arthur Lucas, Frederic Bentley and Doris Francis. | |
| Mon 14th Sep until Sat 19th Sep 1942 | Henry Hall and his Band | With guests Dick Henderson, Helen Trix Lewis, and others. | |
| Mon 21st Sep until Sat 26th Sep 1942 | Piccadilly Playtime | With Jack Warner, Jerry Hoey's Band, Brian Michie's Discoveries, George Doonan, and others. | |
| Mon 28th Sep until Sat 3rd Oct 1942 | The RAF Dance Band | The Squadronaires (Pete Townshend's father featured), plus The New Clapham & Dwyer, and others. | |
| Mon 5th Oct until Sat 10th Oct 1942 | Best Foot Forward | With Will Fyffe and Alfredo's Band. | |
| Mon 12th Oct until Sat 17th Oct 1942 | Calling All Stars | With Nervo & Knox and huge cast. | |
| Mon 19th Oct until Sat 24th Oct 1942 | The London Philharmonic Orchestra | Conductors: Warwick Braithwaite, Basil Cameron & Eric Cundell. | |
| Mon 26th Oct until Sat 31st Oct 1942 | Birthday Week Frolics | With Lew Stone and his Band, plus 50 artistes including Murray & Mooney, Billy Russell and Betty Orde. | |
| Mon 2nd Nov until Sat 7th Nov 1942 | A Waltz Dream | With over 50 artistes and Augmented Orchestra. | |
| Mon 9th Nov until Sat 14th Nov 1942 | One For The Road | Including Billy Caryll and Hilda Murray. | |
| Mon 16th Nov until Sat 21st Nov 1942 | The Maid Of The Mountains | With Sonnie Hale, Malcolm Keen, Sylvia Cecil, and many others. | |
| Mon 23rd Nov until Sat 28th Nov 1942 | Old Chelsea | With Richard Tauber and big West End cast. | |
| Mon 30th Nov until Sat 5th Dec 1942 | Laugh Town, Laugh | With Scott & Whalley, Sid Field, Dorothy Carless, Cyril Fletcher, Monte Rey, and Archie and his Famous Band. | |
| Mon 7th Dec until Sat 12th Dec 1942 | Variety Show | With Cyril Fletcher, Monte Rey, Betty Astell, and Archie and his Famous Band. | |
| Wed 23rd Dec 1942 | Goody Two Shoes | Special one-off preview for members of the Armed Forces. | |
| Thu 24th Dec 1942 until Sat 13th Feb 1943 | Goody Two Shoes | Huge Production and cast of 50. (Record-breaking run of seven and a half weeks!) | |
Prev year: 1941Showing 1942Next year: 1943
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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