New Empire Theatre

• Theatre ID
  315
• Built / Converted
  1896
• Current state
  Fragmental remains
• Current use
  Theatre (amateur theatre)
• Address
  22 Alexandra Street, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS1 1BU, England
• Website
  • http://www.newempiretheatre.co.uk

Details

Built as a theatre on the site of the Public Hall, which had become the Alexandra Theatre in 1891, and which was destroyed by fire in 1896. The new theatre had a capacity of 2000 which included 1000 in the gallery and 500 in the pit. The interior was described as ‘semi-circular’ with dress and upper circles and six stage boxes, all decorated in light blue, salmon pink and gold with plum coloured upholstery. The act drop represented ‘the Pier Approach and Hill as it will be when the Pier Hill Scheme shall have been carried out’. In 1920, it was converted to the Rivoli cinema. This was two tier with boxes, but made no use of the excavated area formerly used for understage, orchestra pit, stalls etc. Any possible stage use disappeared with further modernisation and twinning in 1962. The only parts of the original building, apart from external walls and exits, are stairs to stalls and pit stalls and original signs, and possibly some other areas at the lowest level, under the 1920 cinema, now a basement area. In 1998 the cinema closed and stood empty. At the end of the year, it was acquired for use by two local amateur theatre groups, one in the former stalls area, and one in the balcony area. Films are screened occasionally.

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• Other names
  Empire, Alexandra Theatre, Rivoli, ABC, Cannon
• Events
  • 1891 Design/Construction: as a public hall
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1891 Alteration: converted to theatre
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1896 Alteration: new theatre on site of burnt-down public hall
    • W J Wood with W Hancock - Architect
  • 1920 Alteration: converted to cinema
    • Adams & George Coles - Architect
  • 1962 Alteration: modernised
    • ABC house architect - Architect
  • 1980 Alteration: twinned
    • Unknown - Architect
  • 1896 Design/Construction:
    • W Hancock - Consultant: Consulting Architect
  • 1896 Owner/Management: Fred Marlow, proprietor
  • 1920 Owner/Management: Sidney Bacon, owner
  • 1935 Owner/Management: Union
  • Owner/Management: later: ABC
  • 1998 - 0 Owner/Management: currently: Robertson family
• Capacities
  • Later: 1908: 1800 1920: 1555 1962: 1226 1980: 680 & 298
• Listings
  • Grade Not listed
• Dimensions
  • Stage dimensions: d: 35ft wSL: 32.5ft SR: 32.5ft
  • Proscenium width: 25ft