Tivoli (Aberdeen)

• Theatre ID
  2232
• Built / Converted
  1872
• Dates of use
  • 1872 - 1966
• Current state
  Extant
• Current use
  dark (since 1997; previously bingo)
• Address
  Guild Street, Aberdeen, Grampian, AB11 6NB, Scotland

Details

The Tivoli is one of Britain’s most important Sleeping Beauties still awaiting recall to life. It would make an excellent second theatre for Aberdeen, being smaller in scale than His Majesty’s, and thus more appropriate for variety, drama and chamber lyric theatre. It presents a delightful polychromatic Italian Gothic façe to the street, the main building being of three storeys and seven bays with the windows in each storey united by a series of parti-coloured arches. Deep bracketed eaves and hipped roof over. To the left, a lower, gabled bay. The rear wall, to Wapping Street, rendered with slightly recessed arcaded bays, bears an accidental resemblance to an older type of music hall. The main façe is of 1872, but the intimate auditorium owes its present character to Matcham’s reconstruction of 1909. Two balconies - the first of nine rows and a gallery above of ten padded benches. Two superimposed boxes on each side of the proscenium, stepped down in level from the balcony fronts and flanked by tall Ionic columns. The upper boxes have canopies surmounted by cartouches set in front of characteristic shell hoods. The rectangular proscenium is framed by slender, garlanded colonnettes which carry scrolled brackets. On either side are fine female figures carrying lamps. Above is a tympanum with rounded corners framing a cartouche. The most splendid feature of the auditorium is the opulently decorated circular ceiling, incorporating four painted panels. By present standards the auditorium would seat approximately 800 and, although used for bingo, has suffered very few alterations. There is considerable local interest among local amateur groups in acquiring and reopening this theatre. Apart from the obvious need for modernisation of stage and seating, the main problem will be in improving the cramped front of house accommodation. The acquisition of a small adjoining property could open up new possibilities in this respect.

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• Other names
  Her Majesty's Theatre
• Events
  • 1872 - 1966 Use:
  • 1897 Alteration: improvements to exits and completion of fire separation between stage and auditorium (previously absent); paint frame probably inserted at this time
    • Frank Matcham - Architect
  • 1909 Alteration: auditorium and front of house areas remodelled
    • Frank Matcham - Architect
  • 1949 Alteration: front of house and understage areas remodelled
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1872 Design/Construction:
    • C J Phipps & James Matthews - Architect
    • Drake & Co - Consultant: Concrete Work
    • Warrack & Daniel - Consultant: Carpentry
    • James Garvie & Co - Consultant: Ironwork
    • Alexander Lamb - Consultant: Plumbing
    • Alexander Stephen - Consultant: Glazing And Decorating
    • Thomson’s trustees - Consultant: Gaswork
  • 1910 Design/Construction:
    • R W Hay (of Herriott Watt College) - Consultant: Ceiling Paintings
    • George Donald & Sons - Consultant: Fibrous Plaster And Decorating
    • Ogilvie - Consultant: Wishart & Davidson, Upholstery
    • Scott & Son - Consultant: Plumbing
  • 1872 Owner/Management: Robert Arthur
  • 1912 Owner/Management: Tivoli (Aberdeen) Ltd; Walter Gilbert, manager
  • 1946 Owner/Management: Aberdeen Varieties Ltd
  • 1966 Owner/Management: Top Flight Leisure
  • 1998 Owner/Management: privately owned
• Capacities
  • Original: 1744
  • Later: 1912: 1600 1946: 1032
  • Current: est. 800
• Listings
  • Grade A
• Stage type
  • Proscenium rake
• Dimensions
  • Stage dimensions: d: 8.25m (27ft)
  • Proscenium width: 8.55m (28ft)
  • Height to grid: 13.4m max (45ft)
  • Orchestra pit: Original