The history of The Sunderland Empire Theatre

Sunderland – Empire Theatre. Image courtesy of ndl642m through creative commons.

The Sunderland Empire is one of the largest theatre venues in the North East, with 1,860 seats and the capacity to accommodate 2,200 when all standing positions are occupied.  The auditorium is also one of the few remaining in the UK to have four tiers; the Stalls, the Dress Circle, the Upper Circle and the Gallery. There are also four private boxes on the Dress Circle level, as well as two proscenium (area of the theatre surrounding the stage) boxes on the Upper Circle balcony.

The Theatre, originally called The Empire Palace, was opened 1 July 1907 by  Matilda Alice Powles. She was an English drag impersonator who at the age of of 11 adopted the stage name Vesta Tilley and became the most famous and well paid music hall male impersonator of her day. Matilda also laid the foundation stone for the theatre on 29 September 1906.

Vesta Tilley dressed as a Toff. Image courtesy of Vintage Lulu through creative commons.

The dome on top of the 90 ft tower section used to have a revolving sphere which beared the statue of Terpsichore, one of the Greek goddesses which represented dance and song. Though this was removed during WW2 due to safety reasons after a bomb fell nearby which rocked the building. You can still see the original statue at the top of the Theatre’s main staircase as well replica was produced and placed on the top of the dome.

Only recently has the Theatre’s dome and tower been  fitted with an LED and floodlight system that illuminates the main entrance  at night.

Empire Theatre at night. Image courtesy of Niall Ritchie.

The theatre enjoyed a lot of success from its variety of performances. Though with a decline in travelling theatre in the 1930’s a projection box was added and the Theatre began to host motion pictures.

Portrait of Tommy Steele from the 1962 Preview Film Album. Image courtesy of joanna tidball through creative commons.

One of the biggest success stories of the time to play at the Empire was Tommy Steele (shown in image above) who made his stage debut on a variety show on the 5 November 1956.  He then went on to become  regarded as Britain’s first teen idol and rock and roll star and was dubbed Britain’s answer to Elvis Presley. He reached No.1 with Singing the Blues in 1957 and went on to play at the Empire many times.

Tommy Steele Empire Sunderland. Image courtesy of Bradford Timeline.

Due to the rise of television and cinema the Theatre closed in May 1959, however it reopened its doors in 1960 when Sunderland Council bought it. The Empire then went onto host The Beatles in 1963 during their first UK national tour.

Marlene Dietrich with The Beatles at the Prince of Wales Theatre, Nov. 1963. Image courtesy of Judith.

The Empire is also said to be haunted. One of those said to haunt the Theatre is the Carry On Film actor Sid James who suffered a heart attack during  a performance of The Mating Season on 26 April 1976 and died on the way to hospital. It is rumoured that his ghost occupies the dressing room he used on the night of his death. Comedian Les Dawson after apparently experiencing this refused to perform at the Empire never again.

Sid James in Carry On Cleo. Image courtesy of RubyGoes through creative commons.

Les Dawson. Image courtesy of Dame Agnes Guano through creative commons.

Whilst the ghost of James is said to haunt backstage, the spirits of Vesta Tilley and Molly Moselle are said to haunt the front-of-house areas. Molly Moselle was one of the stage managers for Ivor Novello’s The Dancing Years in 1949.  After leaving the Theatre to purchase a birthday card, she disappeared down a nearby alley and was never seen again. The Empire is known as a ‘comic graveyard’ – rather unfortunately due to the points given above.

Nowadays, the Theatre regularly plays host to large-scale musicals, opera, ballet, dance showcases, amateur productions and one-night shows.

Starlight Express. Image courtesy of David through creative commons.

Another big name to grace the Empires stage is Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren who made her stage debut at the Sunderland Empire.

Helen Mirren. Image courtesy of tompickenfrets through creative commons.

The Theatre was also the regular venue for the University of Sunderland’s graduation ceremonies until the theatre’s refurbishment in 2004. Since then the graduation ceremonies have been held at Sunderland AFC’s Stadium of Light.

In 2004 the Theatre underwent a £4.5m redevelopment in order to enable it to host West End shows.  This meant that the stage was expanded and the fly tower was heightened. After a 9 month renovation it reopened on 9 December 2004 with a performance of Starlight Express.

The refurbishment also allowed a new production of Miss Saigon to be staged at Sunderland in early 2005.

Miss Saigon ticket.Image courtesy of Pedro Rebelo through creative commons.

On 9 December 2005, the Empire staged a preview performance of the first ever touring production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, starring Tim Flavin and Robin Askwith. The official European premiere of this production also took place on the following Tuesday, 13 December.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Image courtesy of Luke Gattuso through creative commons.

 In 2007 the Sunderland Empire celebrated its centenary and hosted a massive line-up of big shows including Starlight Express, The Producers, Footloose, South Pacific and the first pantomime since its refurbishment – Cinderella which starred Hollywood legend Mickey Rooney.

The Empire Theatre is still going strong today and is due to host shows; War Horse, The Lion King and Jersey Boys this year. Along with Dirty Dancing,  One Man, Two Guvnors and Comedian Jimmy Carr  in 2015.

Jimmy Carr. Image courtesy of -room100 through creative commons.

Sunderland Empire Theatre