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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1959	Coventry Theatre, Hales Street
Date(s)	Show	Notes	Images
Sun 11th Jan 1959	Humphrey Lyttleton and his Band	One night only.
Sun 18th Jan 1959	Sid Phillips Band Show	One night only.
Sun 25th Jan 1959	Johnny Dankworth and his Orchestra	One night only.
Sun 1st Feb 1959	Chris Barber's Jazz Band	One night only.
Sun 8th Feb 1959	Ted Heath and his Music	One night only.
Sun 1st Mar 1959	Ray Ellington Quartet	One night only. With others.
Mon 30th Mar until Sat 4th Apr 1959	Cliff Richard and The Drifters	The Drifters later changed their name to The Shadows. Also featuring Des O'Connor, Johnny Laycock, Joe Black, and others.
Tue 7th Apr until Sat 11th Apr 1959	One Girl A Day	Musical, with Lester Ferguson, Eddie Molloy, Iris Villiers and Lucille Gaye.
Mon 13th Apr until Sat 25th Apr 1959	Old Chelsea	By Tauber, with Vanessa Lee, Kenneth McKellar and Peter Graves.
Mon 27th Apr until Sat 2nd May 1959	The Marquise	Noel Coward play starring Evelyn Laye and Frank Lawton.
Mon 4th May until Sat 9th May 1959	Me and My Girl	With Valerie Tandy, George Truzzi and Helen Ford.
Mon 11th May until Sat 16th May 1959	Variety Show	With Mike & Bernie Winters, Teddy Johnson & Pearl Carr, and others.
Mon 18th May until Sat 23rd May 1959	All-Star Variety Show	Featuring Lonnie Donegan and Des O'Connor. Stalls 6s/6d.
Mon 25th May until Sat 30th May 1959	The Student Prince	Starring John Hanson.
Mon 1st Jun until Sat 6th Jun 1959	The Norman Wisdom Show	Assisted by Eddie Leslie, Lorne Lesley, Tony Fayne, and others.
Mon 8th Jun until Sat 13th Jun 1959	It's Great To Be Young	Starring Ken Dodd, Rosemary Squires, Kenny Baker, and others. (Theatre closed next week for rehearsals for "Pop The Question".)
Sat 20th Jun 1959	The Marty Wilde Show	With Billy Fury, Dickie Pride, Johnny Gentle and Duffy Power.
Mon 22nd Jun until Sat 15th Aug 1959	Pop The Question	Quiz Show, compered by Reggie Dennis, with Ronnie Carroll, Tommy Fields and Gilbert the Chimp.
Mon 17th Aug until Sat 22nd Aug 1959	Bless The Bride	Starring Christian Selva, with Fred Stone, Susan Swinford, and company of 50.
Mon 24th Aug until Sat 5th Sep 1959	The Boy Friend	Musical Comedy by Sandy Wilson.
Mon 7th Sep until Sat 12th Sep 1959	Sadler's Wells Opera Company	Different Opera each night.
Mon 14th Sep until Sat 19th Sep 1959	Chu Chin Chow	Starring Inia Te Wiata.
Mon 21st Sep until Sat 26th Sep 1959	The Desert Song	With Bruce Trent, Desmond Walter-Ellis and Mary Millar.
Mon 28th Sep until Sat 3rd Oct 1959	The Dancing Years	With Barry Sinclair, Margaret Mitchell and Olive Gilbert.
Mon 5th Oct until Sat 10th Oct 1959	Festival of Music	With Great Orchestras and Soloists, including Sir John Barbirolli and the Halle Orchestra.
Mon 12th Oct until Sat 17th Oct 1959	The Merry Widow	Starring Vanessa Lee and Peter Graves.
Mon 19th Oct until Sat 5th Dec 1959	1959 Birthday Show	Featuring Arthur Haynes, Edmund Mockridge, Charlie Cairoli, Freddie Frinton, and many others.
Mon 7th Dec until Sat 12th Dec 1959	Carousel	By the Coventry Amateur Operatic Society and cast of 80. (Theatre closed next week for Pantomime rehearsals.)
Wed 23rd Dec 1959 until Sat 12th Mar 1960	Beauty and the Beast	Starring Charlie Chester, Richard Hearne (Mr. Pastry), Janie Marden, and a Star-Studded Cast.

Prev year: 1958Showing 1959Next year: 1960

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.