Timeline
Show time! Track the story of Birmingham Hippodrome from its opening in 1899 to refurbishment in 2001.
1899
This map shows the area around Birmingham Hippodrome eleven years before the theatre was built. The name of freeholders who owned the land is printed in red. You can see a soldier?s Drill House on Thorp street, local pubs and many back to back houses. How much do you think the area has changed?
This is a glowing review of the opening night of The Tower of Varieties and Circus. The acts, enjoyed by the audience included a troupe of acrobats, a boxing pony, the daring feats of bareback riders ?Brothers Clarke?, and banjoists. It must have been noisy back stage!
Can you imagine taking your seat on the theatre?s first performance?
Printed on cream silk this programme celebrates the grand opening night of the theatre, now known as Birmingham Hippodrome. There is a portrait of Theatre Manager Harry Calver and photographic glimpses of the new venue with its circus ring, flooded for water spectacles!
Acts included jugglers, clowns, acrobats, ?funny skaters? and a ?sword walker?.
Also on the bill was Willie Richards ?Rabbit? ?who will make himself generally useful during the evening?.
James and Henry Draysey leased a plot of land bordering Inge Street and Hurst Street to build a theatre. There were to be concerts, theatrical and animal entertainment! The wealthy brothers made their money from horses, bookmaking and property. The new Tower of Varieties and Circus opened on 9 October 1899, the design of local architect Mr. F. W. Lloyd. It had a tall tower with an onion shaped top, and the whole theatre was lit by electric light. Despite some good reviews the venture closed only five weeks after opening.
The first performer at the Tower of Varieties and Circus was Alfred Clark: a juggler.
1900s
Written just before the new Tivoli Theatre of Varieties opened its doors, the author discusses the theatre?s change from circus to ?ordinary? music hall. The article leaves us with a question; will the Tivoli affect the trade of its close neighbour and rival The Empire?
Thomas Barrasford who ran The Tivoli Theatre of Varieties (now known as Birmingham Hippodrome) loved horses. Many of the theatre?s programmes have an illustration of his race horse on the front!
Well known acts appeared on the opening night of the newly re-named Tivoli Theatre of Varieties (now known as Birmingham Hippodrome). Top of the bill was Chung-Ling-Soo ?the marvellous Chinese magician, in his marvellous feats?. In fact, he was not Chinese but an American! Also performing was Austrian born Mdlle Irma Orbasany who sang with her travelling troupe of cockatoos. Her birds could wheel each other about in a push-chair and pick out numbered cards from a deck. The climax of the act featured a shipwreck, complete with rescue by lifeboat!
Early programmes for Birmingham Hippodrome feature small photographs giving a tempting peek into the auditorium. This illustration shows a bustling well-dressed crowd. The distinctive black on red polka dots was used on posters too. You can spot some replica posters on display in the theatre today
Advertising postcards were very popular and used to promote shows. ?The Sultan of Ranogoo? was a song and dance act. This postcard is very persuasive and claims that the show was extended ?at the urgent request of his majesty?s friends?!
Can you spot the theatre telephone number?
On 20 August 1900 the theatre reopened with a brand new name The Tivoli Theatre of Varieties under the management of Mr. Thomas Barrasford who already owned a number of successful theatres in Hull and Leeds.
The building looked the same from the outside but inside the stage had been enlarged and transformed from a circus ring to a proscenium arch theatre. The interior was crimson and gold.
By 1903 the theatre was renamed Birmingham Hippodrome. It was the first Birmingham music hall to present twice nightly shows.
Some of the first moving pictures shown in Birmingham were part of the variety programme in October 1900.
1910s
This slim paper flyer is a rare survivor!
The detailed illustration shows a busy street scene. Crowds snake down Inge Street, boys on bikes ride along Hurst Street and a tram is passing by too.The star attraction for the week was Fred Karno?s comedy performance ?Perkins The Purser?.
Fred Karno was a music hall performer who popularised slap stick acts and launched the careers of famous names such as Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy.
The illustration on this poster shows local Aston born performer Dorothy Ward. It marks her first performance at the theatre. She returned many times up until the 1950s. By 1913 she was a big star of musical comedy and pantomime, in which she played ?Principal Boy? and her husband, Shaun Glenville often played opposite her as ?The Dame?.
Can you find Dorothy?s husband on the bill?
Sharing top billing was singer Fred Barnes, ?The Birmingham Idol?. Encouraged and drawn to the world of show business at an early age he became famous for his song ?The Black Sheep of the Family? which hinted at his homosexuality. It wasn?t until 1967 that homosexuality was made legal in the United Kingdom. ?It?s a queer, queer world we live in
And Dame Nature plays a funny game
Some get all the sunshine
Others Get the Shame?
Large posters were positioned outside the theatre to advertise what was appearing soon. The most famous and well known acts were positioned at the top of the bill, the less well known at the bottom. In this week the star attraction was the film ?The Battle of Waterloo?. It was a military epic, the longest and most expensively made film of its day.
The film boasted 200 veteran performers, 50 canons and ?200 spent on a carriage which was blown up!
Drawn carefully by hand this design shows improvements to the theatre?s projection box for showing films. It is one of a number of building plans drawn up and approved at the time. We don?t know if the work was carried out, the theatre was closed at the time. Films and newsreels were shown again in 1917.
In 1910 the theatre closed and then reopened in the same year with a show that featured Fred Karno and his company, which included Charlie Chaplin. It closed again in 1914 (when further building changes were drawn up) until 1917, re-opening under the management of J. and W. Draysey, sons of the original builders. In 1919 the theatre closed again!
This decade saw the first appearance of artists who returned regularly up to the 1950s, including Robb Wilton, Dorothy Ward and Georgie Wood.
1920s
This programme is packed full of advertisements.There are adverts for tobacco and ice cream as well as a hair salon offering the fashionable ?Marcel Wave?. This was a new-style ?high speed? variety show, pioneered at the London Palladium. The finale included a moment ?In which we all join together and sing for no reason whatsoever?.
This programme is packed full of advertisements.
There are adverts for tobacco and ice cream as well as a hair salon offering the fashionable ?Marcel Wave?.This was a new-style ?high speed? variety show, pioneered at the London Palladium. The finale included a moment ?In which we all join together and sing for no reason whatsoever?.
This programme is packed full of advertisements.
There are adverts for tobacco and ice cream as well as a hair salon offering the fashionable ?Marcel Wave?.This was a new-style ?high speed? variety show, pioneered at the London Palladium. The finale included a moment ?In which we all join together and sing for no reason whatsoever?.
This production brought a touch of French burlesque glamour to the Birmingham stage. The huge sets were sent by a chartered steam boat and there were 400 costumes made by a Parisian designer.
This production brought a touch of French burlesque glamour to the Birmingham stage. The huge sets were sent by a chartered steam boat and there were 400 costumes made by a Parisian designer.
This production brought a touch of French burlesque glamour to the Birmingham stage. The huge sets were sent by a chartered steam boat and there were 400 costumes made by a Parisian designer.
In 1924 the theatre was eventually bought by Moss Empires. The group already had 27 other theatres under their control.
Birmingham Hippodrome was given a new identity, inside there was a steeply raked fan shaped circle and twelve boxes. The colour scheme was two shades of grey, rose-pink with gold relief.
The newly refurbished theatre opened on 24 February 1925.
The first appearance of local dancer Betty Fox was 10 March 1926. Her ?Babes? performed in many future pantomimes.
1930s
Top of the bill was American jazz singer Sophie Tucker who was described at the time as ?the last of the Red Hot Mommas?. During the intermission the audience were treated to a performance of The Hippodrome Orchestra conducted by Mr. Harry M. Pell. During the Second World War Harry conducted the Dudley Hippodrome Broadcasting Orchestra.
Top of the bill was American jazz singer Sophie Tucker who was described at the time as ?the last of the Red Hot Mommas?. During the intermission the audience were treated to a performance of The Hippodrome Orchestra conducted by Mr. Harry M. Pell. During the Second World War Harry conducted the Dudley Hippodrome Broadcasting Orchestra.
The Scottish Houston sisters Renee and Billie were a female double act. They first appeared at the theatre during the week of 02 August 1926 when they spotted actor Laurence Olivier staying in the same digs! He was appearing in the nearby Birmingham Repertory Theatre. In the same year the sisters appeared in a short musical film.
This publicity postcard features chatty radio stars and sisters Elsie and Doris Walters known to their public as ?Gert and Daisy?. The comedy duo is best remembered for their contribution to entertainment during the Second World War. They received an OBE and personal thanks from Winston Churchill.
On the theatre frontage can be seen the name ?G.S. Melvin?. This was George Spence Melvin who first appeared at Birmingham Hippodrome in 1908 and returned regularly until his death in a flooding accident on the River Thames in 1946. He specialised in pantomime ?Dames? and was famous for the song ?I’m Happy When I’m Hiking? the unofficial anthem for the popular pastime of hiking.
As Moss Empires grew they were able to book famous names and spectacular shows, Birmingham Hippodrome was given a new lease of life. The adjoining City Assembly Rooms, became part of Birmingham Hippodrome. The rooms could be hired for private functions but their main use was for dancing in Tony?s Ballroom. It was a decade where big band music, radio and cinema performers were all popular.
The first ice show was staged for four weeks at Christmas in 1937. The first full length musical ?Me and My Girl? opened on 23 January 1939.
1940s
On the bill for this week was The London Philharmonic Orchestra playing classical favourites. A newspaper article in The Birmingham Mail stated ?It is unnecessary to emphasise that, War or No, this is a great opportunity for Birmingham?.
On the bill for this week was The London Philharmonic Orchestra playing classical favourites. A newspaper article in The Birmingham Mail stated ?It is unnecessary to emphasise that, War or No, this is a great opportunity for Birmingham?.
Happidrome? was the title of a famous wartime BBC Radio variety programme and this was its first staging. Due to paper rationing programmes became smaller and more flimsy. Many theatres used red and blue ink on white paper to give a patriotic touch.
Happidrome? was the title of a famous wartime BBC Radio Variety programme and this was its first staging. Due to black out regulations performances started earlier at 15:45.
This patriotic all American soldier musical show was written and staged by Irving Berlin. The money raised from ticket sales was distributed by the British Service Charities Committee. Irving Berlin is considered one of America?s great composers and songwriters. He wrote many scores for Broadway shows and Hollywood films.
Double act and off stage partners Nat Mills and Bobbie were popular performers on the wartime entertainment circuit and also travelled to war-torn France. Bobbie was a song and dance performer and Nat, with his comedy clothes, was described as ?eccentric?. Their catchphrase, delivered in a winy voice was ?Let?s get on with it!?
Danny Kaye was a big American star and this performance sold out. One lucky audience member wrote a letter to the Birmingham Post with his memories of the performance. ‘My wife, her two sisters and I queued all night to get tickets…Most of the usherettes stayed on duty all night and we were able to get a cup of tea and biscuits…I can only say that the waiting to get tickets was worth all the discomfort. The artist himself was superb and held the audience captivated’.
Throughout the war and into peacetime the top stars of stage and screen continued to entertain audiences with a diverse range of shows. When tickets went on sale for Hollywood comedians Laurel & Hardy there was a near riot! Even during air-raids the theatre stayed open, live entertainment became important to keep up people?s sprits. During the night of 23 October 1940 neighbouring theatre The Empire was badly damaged by a German bombing raid. Birmingham Hippodrome was hit too but remained open.
Staging of the theatre?s first play on 04 January 1943, the thriller ?No Orchids for Miss Blandish?.
1950s
This programme shows a typical variety bill. The show featured George Lacey a popular pantomime dame and American impressionist Florence Desmond. The comedy act Wilson, Keppel & Betty who had become popular in the 1930s also appeared. The trio (with a series of different Bettys) were famous for their act ?The Sand Dance? inspired by Ancient Egypt and the discovery of Tutankhamun?s tomb.
This programme shows a typical variety bill. The show featured George Lacey a popular pantomime dame and American impressionist Florence Desmond. The comedy act Wilson, Keppel & Betty who had become popular in the 1930s also appeared. The trio (with a series of different Bettys) were famous for their act ?The Sand Dance? inspired by Ancient Egypt and the discovery of Tutankhamun?s tomb.
The couple met in the late 1940s while working at Birmingham Hippodrome. Bob was the Chief Electrician and Connie an usherette. According to their son, Bob used to try and get Connie?s attention by shining a spot light on her! The pair collected many autographs from their favourite stage performers.
Birmingham Hippodrome staged its first pantomime in 1957 staring Beryl Reid, Reg Dixon and Freddie Frinton. The pantomime had been due to show at the Theatre Royal on New Street before the theatre closed. It was the start of a new tradition for Birmingham Hippodrome!
After the Second World War ice shows became very popular.
The effect was spectacular and old musicals gained a new lease of life on the ice.The story follows the life of a penniless composer and his love for two women, an inn-keeper?s daughter and an opera singer.
This production ran for nine weeks.
The queue to book tickets for ?Gay?s the Word? stretched the length of Inge Street!
The production was written and composed by Ivor Novello. The cast included Cicely Courtneidge, Elizabeth Webb and Thorley Water and ran for four weeks.
The rock and roll fifties was a time of change for variety theatre. Twice nightly variety had run its course and new stars were born through TV and popular music. The decade saw the staging of popular musicals like Rodgers and Hammerstein?s ?Carousel? and in 1957 the first pantomime ?Jack and the Beanstalk?. Birmingham Hippodrome audiences saw Ol? Blue Eyes himself ? Frank Sinatra!
The first pop star to appear at the theatre was Tony Crombie and his rock ?n? roll Rockets on 24 September 1956.
1960s
Max Bygraves got the taste for show business when serving in the RAF during the Second World War. He did impressions of Charlie Chaplin, Frank Sinatra and the top comedian Max Miller. His service mates started to call him Max and the name stuck! He became one of Britain’s highest paid and most popular entertainers.
After appearing first at the theatre in March 1963, The Beatles returned as super stars in November. The theatre’s Assistant Manager Barry Hopson was warned that the band could be trouble but they came like lambs! To try and avoid the crowd of waiting fans they left disguised in policemen’s helmets!
This hit musical was the last shown on stage before the theatre closed for four months. During this time the front of the theatre was transformed, a new box office built, the stage door moved, dressing-rooms improved, a stalls bar added and the famous tower demolished.
This photograph shows the demolition of part of the original Victorian building to make way for improvements. Work men, some in helmets and some in flat caps stand by piles of rubble. The decorative sign for the old City Assembly Rooms, can be seen, which later became part of the theatre. But the show must go on! Signs for the temporary box office advertised the comedian Bruce Forsyth who appeared in May.
The Forward Operatic Company began in 1926 and gained a reputation for successful amateur productions and performing firsts. They performed every year at Birmingham Hippodrome from 1957 to 1980.
This production was one of the most successful ever staged at Birmingham Hippodrome. It played to a packed house for six months! The show starred Tony Britton as Professor Higgins, Wendy Bowman as Eliza Doolittle and Bert Brownbill as Alfred Doolittle.
Did you know Tony Britton was born in a room above the Trocadero pub in Temple Street in Birmingham?
This production was one of the most successful ever staged at Birmingham Hippodrome. It played to a packed house for six months! The show starred Tony Britton as Professor Higgins, Wendy Bowman as Eliza Doolittle and Bert Brownbill as Alfred Doolittle.
Did you know Tony Britton was born in a room above the Trocadero pub in Temple Street in Birmingham?
Reflecting changing times the familiar Moorish style tower, which had become unstable, was pulled down. There were extensive alterations to the front of house and the Hurst Street facade was rebuilt. The orchestra pit was lowered and a new scenery dock installed. To draw in a younger audience the theatre hosted many package shows consisting of chart toppers alongside a variety bill. The programme was no longer weekly, but part of a season of performances. In 1965 Moss Empires tried to rename the Hippodrome to Birmingham Theatre but it didn’t stick for long!
The first full length Shakespearean production Twelfth Night was performed on 25 May 1964. In 1917 Shakespearean extracts were performed as part of a variety bill.
1970s
The famous female impersonator first appeared at Birmingham Hippodrome as a pantomime Ugly Sister in the 1961 production of Cinderella. He returned many times amazing audiences with his dazzling costumes and showmanship. For this one man show the dances were prepared by Lionel Blair and comedian Rod Hudd appeared too.
This popular rock musical first hit Broadway in 1971. The London production included stars David Essex and Marti Webb. The musical contains a series of parables, mixed with rock and pop music, set mainly to the words of traditional hymns.
The cast included a young Lesley Joseph who later appeared at Birmingham Hippodrome in pantomime and The Vagina Monologues.
The American tribal love-rock musical ran for six weeks. The show was famous for its nude scene and glorifying drug taking and hippie culture.
The Birmingham cast was headed by Paul Nicholas, as it had been in the West End, together with Caroline Lynda, Floella Benjamin and Richard O’Brien, who later wrote The Rocky Horror Show. Three local actors also appeared.Did you spot the theatre’s name change?
An elaborately costumed Debria Brown caused a stir as the character ‘Klytemnestra’. A newspaper critic described the performance as sensational, spectacular, and decidedly controversial’. Some audiences found the production too sensational with its flowing blood, stark emotions and fantastic costumes’.
It can take a long time to ‘get in’ a production and sometimes this means late nights and early starts for staff. For this 1970s pantomime the intricate moving coach was put in place at six in the morning.
This was a decade of big hits as well as uncertainty and change. Productions included nudism on stage with the show Hair!, a Danny La Rue extravaganza and Sid James and Barbara Windsor in Carry on London. The Welsh National Opera made its debut at the theatre in 1971 and set up residence in 1977. In 1979, 80 years after the theatre opened Birmingham City Council purchased the freehold for the Hippodrome for £50,000 from Moss Empires and leased it to Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre Trust Ltd, a new charitable trust.
Wagner’s Ring Cycle of operas was first presented by Sadler’s Wells Opera in 1974.
1980s
The first time this pantomime appeared at the theatre was in 1965, starring Ken Dodd. It still holds the all-time record for pantomime attendances at Birmingham Hippodrome. This production starred successful ventriloquist Keith Harris and his puppet Orville, and TV chef and personality Rustie Lee who lived in Birmingham.
In this photograph the newly refurbished theatre glows. The old 1960s frontage was replaced by a more traditional look echoing the golden age of Victorian theatregoing. The pink and white panels were made from a coloured fibreglass material.
Throughout the 1980s Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musicals drew audiences to the theatre which was now big enough to stage them.
Evita ran for nine weeks and has returned many times since.
Redevelopment work continued throughout the decade, transforming the theatre inside and out.
This dramatic photograph shows the stage extension, fly tower and orchestra rooms.Can you see the digger in the background?
This photograph celebrates the announcement from Artistic Director Peter Wright that upon its move to the Midlands the company will change its name to Birmingham Royal Ballet. The company moved into its brand new home in 1990.
A huge restoration project was launched spending more than £2million backstage and on an improved auditorium. Capacity was transformed enabling the biggest and best shows to be staged. In 1986 the sixties style concrete frontage was torn down and replaced by a new pink and white plastic facade. At the end of the 1980s work began on building the best dance facilities in Europe following the purchase of adjacent property in Thorp Street. This became the new home of Birmingham Royal Ballet.
The first show to open the newly refurbished building in 1984 was Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Song and Dance with Marti Webb.
1990s
Entertainer and musical star Gary Wilmot has appeared regularly at Birmingham Hippodrome since taking the lead in Me and My Girl in 1993. He has performed in pantomimes, even playing The Dame!
Showstoppers was his own show featuring songs from popular musicals.
This is one of a set of photographs taken as part of the theatre’s centenary development planning. Some of the Hippodrome dressing rooms have no windows and in all of them ventilation is poor. Note portable fan and air conditioning which the producers have had to supply. On Les Miserables 6 actors using this room which is not out of the ordinary.
Theatre Director Peter Tod and Sean Phelan delivered the theatre’s ambitious redevelopment bid to the London offices of The Arts Council of England.
This publicity photograph was taken to celebrate to theatre’s achievements. The label on the back reads: ‘The Birmingham Hippodrome auditorium. April 1998. Built in 1899 the 1,833 seat Birmingham Hippodrome is one of the largest and most successful theatres in the UK. It is home to the acclaimed Birmingham Royal Ballet and is Welsh National Opera’s ‘English Home’. It is the UK’s annual home for the biggest and largest running family pantomime?
The theatre closed a year later for redevelopment.
Here 20 year old Darcey Bussell is preparing for her leading role in La Bayadere at Birmingham Hippodrome. She was the youngest principal dancer with the Royal Ballet.
Trish McAuley, wardrobe mistress for a production of ’42nd Street’ at Birmingham Hippodrome poses for a photograph featured in The Birmingham Post. Four years later the show was performed by the Birmingham and Midland Operatic Society.
The theatre became a centre of excellence hosting regular opera and ballet seasons, and expanding the range of family productions. In 1994 Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber took up residence with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat starring Phillip Schofield, and broke box office records. In the theatre’s centenary year Birmingham Hippodrome hosted the Royal Variety Performance attended by Her Majesty the Queen. It was the first time the event had taken place outside London.
Birmingham Royal Ballet performed The Nutcracker for the first time on the 29 December 1990.
2000s
Taken at twilight this photograph shows the fourth face of the theatre. It was designed and built by Birmingham based Associated Architects and Scottish Law and Dunbar-Naismith. The building received a RIBA Award in the same year and was commended for helping the regeneration of Birmingham’s Southside.
The invitation to this world premier was given to Birmingham Hippodrome’s then Chief Executive Stuart Griffiths. It was the first of choreographer David Bintley’s fairy tale ballets and one of the most successful.
Beauty and the Beast is a dark gothic ballet featuring 89 dancers.
This was the first year the smash hit musical appeared at Birmingham Hippodrome. It followed a string of blockbusters including The Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables. It was one of the most technically complex musicals the theatre had ever staged, and featured the roaring of a helicopter.
This poster is signed by film, TV and stage star Joan Collins who first appeared on Birmingham Hippodrome’s stage in 1953. Joan made her pantomime debut at Birmingham Hippodrome in the 2010 production of Dick Whittington, alongside Julian Clary, Keith Harris and Nigel Havers.
Full Circle is a romantic comedy written by Alan Melville.
A popular Birmingham Hippodrome pantomime, Aladdin has been staged many times. As part of a variety bill in 1907 John Tiller’s Christmas Extravaganza, included the pantomime sketch Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp. John Tiller is best known for his high kicking dance troupe The Tiller Girls.
In this Qdos production, TV star John Barrowman performed in the title role. The show also featured the Daleks from Dr Who!
At the end of 1999 the theatre closed its doors for a £35million redevelopment, reopening on 11 November 2001. Improvements included a 206 seat studio theatre, new bars, dressing rooms and improved disabled access. Welcoming audiences averaging around 550,000 each year, Birmingham Hippodrome can lay claim to the highest regular annual attendance of any single theatre in the UK.
In 2013 625,732 tickets were sold, the most in 50 years!