In the footsteps of Charlie and Gracie
Many scene changes in Amateurs' 90 years of tradition
by Frank Watson
THE Prince's Theatre in Edgar Street, which was opened on March 6th, 1882, was Accrington's first permanent theatre. Originally, the site was bought with the intention of building a warehouse and when the idea was first mooted that a theatre was to be built on the site, it created considerable opposition.
In 1920 it was converted into a cinema and silent pictures were shown until 1926 when efforts were made to restore the theatre to its original purpose for a number of years. This venture was not successful and the theatre had to return to films with "talkies" being introduced in December 1929.
The Amateurs made the Prince's their home from 1894 until 1913 and gave a total of 18 shows there. The first show in 1894 ran only from Wednesday to Saturday but the society extended its public performances the second year to start on Tuesday evening, a practice that continued until 1901. "The Yeomen of the Guard" in 1902 was the first show which commenced playing to the public on Monday, a practice that has continued ever since.
For some reason that has so far eluded my researches, no show was given in the year 1898 and "Tom Jones" in 1909 and "Princess Ida" 1910 were both staged at the Hippodrome before the society returned to the Prince's for "Veronique" in 1911. Both the 1912 and 1913 shows were staged at the Grand Theatre, as Mr. Wilson had renamed it when he took it over in 1912. Due to the effects of the First World War, it was 1920, a gap of seven years, before the next production and by then the Prince's had been converted into a cinema so the society had to revert to the Hippodrome in Ellison Street.
The Old Hippodrome was opened in Ellison Street on October 12th, 1903. It was made of wood with a covering of corrugated iron, but it lasted only five years as it was burned down on the night of June 26th, 1908. The most famous person to appear on its stage was Charlie Chaplin when he was about 15 or 16 in a show called "Caseys Court Kiddies."
After the fire it was immediately announced that a new and more substantial structure was, to be built on the same site, and the work commenced on August 5th, 1908. Work proceeded at an astonishing rate and the New Hippodrome, capable of seating 1,600 people, was opened on December 21st, 1908.. The New Hippodrome was the regular home of the Amateurs from 1920 to 1953. This building had the distinction of showing the first full-length talking picture to be screened in Accrington - "The Donavan Affair" on August 28th, 1929.
Gracie Fields appeared on its stage three times. Her first visit was in July 1914 when her remuneration for the entire week was said to be £5. The New Hippodrome closed its doors for the last time in April 1955, forcing the Amateurs to seek yet another new home.
Upon having to vacate these premises after a total of 31 shows the town council made considerable improvements to the stage in Accrington Town Hall in order to accommodate the society. From this new base the Amateurs gave eight productions from 1954 to 1961 before returning to their original home, the Prince's Theatre in 1962.
The Prince's was taken over in July 1961 by Star Holdings Ltd. of Leeds who paid £50,000 for both the Prince's and Empire Cinemas. Prior to this, in the late 1950s, exploratory talks had begun to see if the Accrington Amateurs could not return and restore the Prince's to its former use for at least one week in the year.
The new owners looked favourably on the idea so, during 1962, a start was made by members of the society to remove 31 years of dirt from backstage areas and the dressing rooms. I, personally, remember, operating an industrial vacuum cleaner and graphiting hundreds of pulleys which worked perfectly with a little coaxing, after their 30-year rest period.
The years 1962 and 1963, when the society returned to its original home at the Prince's Theatre are remembered with great affection by members who were involved during this period of the society's past.
The enthusiasm for "White Horse Inn", the first production on our return in 1962, by members of the public astounded everyone connected with the society. It was so great that the police had to be called to control the crowds at the Ambulance Drill Hall when public booking for the show commenced at 1.30 pm and by 4.30 pm every available seat, a total of 5,500, had been sold.
The Prince's, at this time, contained 786 seats compared with the 530 seats which had been available at Accrington Town Hall. The following year, it was decided to stage two productions, "Salad Days" and "Oklahoma", to help offset the considerable expense which the society had incurred in making the Prince's Theatre habitable once more for live shows.
The disastrous fire which completely gutted the Prince's Theatre in November 1964 once again made the society homeless because by this time the stage at Accrington Town. Hall had been altered and could no longer be adapted to stage live shows.
It was Oswaldtwistle Town Council led by John Snell, which came to the rescue by offering the use of its stage and hall. This year's show "South Pacific" on Monday, November 14th to Saturday, November 19th, was to be our 22nd production in this building, now named "Hyndburn Civic Theatre."