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Empress Theatre (Brixton)

1898 establishments in EnglandBrixtonBuildings and structures in the London Borough of LambethFormer cinemas in LondonMusic venues completed in 1898
Music venues in LondonTheatres completed in 1898
Empress Theatre Brixton 1910
Empress Theatre Brixton 1910

The Empress Theatre (variously later known as: The Empress Theatre of Varieties; Empress Music Hall; and, from 1957, Granada Cinema) was an entertainment venue located on the corner of Bernay's Grove and Brighton Terrace in Brixton from 1898 to 1992 when the building was demolished and the site redeveloped for housing.The Empress Theatre was built for Messrs W. H. Burney and W. J. Grimes and was designed by Wylson & Long and built by the contractor T. L. Green. The Empress could seat 1,260 on three levels, stalls and pit, Dress Circle and Gallery, and had a large stage 60 foot wide by 40 deep with a proscenium opening 30 foot wide. The electric lighting and heating was installed by Messrs Strode and Co.. The box-office hall was decorated with marble mosaic by Messrs Diespeker and Co., and was fitted with Japanese leather decorations. The auditorium, decorated in the French Renaissance style, was fitted with 'chaste embellishments' of nine panels 'each ornamented by a heraldic dive of griffins.. clawing a shield in delicate pink' measured 75 foot by 64 foot in the clear over which was a "lofty saucer-shaped dome". Over the proscenium, on each top corner, were positioned reclining female figures of Euterpe and Terpsichore, while over the two boxes, placed on each side of the proscenium on the dress circle level, were paintings, again in the French Renaissance style. The Empress opened on Boxing Day 1898 with a variety show. The Music and Theatre Review of 30 December 1898 recorded that on the theatre's opening night hundreds of patrons were turned away. On the 'bill' that night were Brixton's Kate Carney as well as a display of the Thomas Edison moving pictures. The singer and comedian Arthur Lloyd appeared here in 1900, 1901 and 1902. Other performers to appear at the Empress at this time included Joe Elvin, Vera Lynn, Tommy Fields, Wilson, Keppel and Betty, Marie Lloyd and Harry Lauder. During the 1950s and 1960s various well-known performers appeared at the Empress, including Tony Hancock, Dorothy Squires, Alma Cogan, Joe Brown, Shirley Abicair, Hughie Green, Charlie Chester, Max Miller, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy and Bruce Forsyth. The Empress Theatre was variously known as the Empress Theatre of Varieties and the Empress Music Hall. In 1930 it was taken over by Variety Theatre Consolidated as a variety theatre and the auditorium was remodelled in the Art Deco Style to seat 2,000. It was the Granada Cinema from 1957 until the 1970s when it was repurposed as a bingo hall. The Empress eventually became a furniture warehouse before being demolished in 1992. A small housing development now stands on the site.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Empress Theatre (Brixton) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Empress Theatre (Brixton)
Brighton Terrace, London Stockwell (London Borough of Lambeth)

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N 51.4621 ° E -0.1163 °
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Brighton Terrace
SW9 8EW London, Stockwell (London Borough of Lambeth)
England, United Kingdom
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Empress Theatre Brixton 1910
Empress Theatre Brixton 1910
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Brixton Road
Brixton Road

Brixton Road is a road in the London Borough of Lambeth (south London, England), leading from the Oval at Kennington to Brixton, where it forms the high street and then forks into Effra Road and Brixton Hill at St Matthew's church at the junction with Acre Lane and Coldharbour Lane. Brixton Market is located in Electric Avenue near Brixton Underground station and in a network of covered arcades adjacent to the two railway viaducts. The market arcades were declared listed buildings in 2009 following controversial proposals by Lambeth Council to replace them with a large US-style mall. The former "Brixton Oval" is at the southern end with Lambeth Town Hall, the Ritzy Cinema, the Brixton Tate Library (with a statue of Henry Tate outside) and St Matthew's church. The space was renamed Windrush Square in 2010, in honour of the area's early Caribbean migrants and the HMT Empire Windrush, which in 1948 brought 492 passengers from Jamaica to London.Brixton Road dates back to the Roman era when it was part of the London to Brighton Way. The River Effra used to be visible near Lambeth Town Hall, but is now underground, serving as a storm drain. Fronting Brixton Road at the north end is the Neo-Byzantine style Christ Church, opened in 1902. For much of its length Brixton Road remains lined by Regency period terraces of houses that once made a virtually continuous frontage from Kennington to Brixton. These had become semi-derelict by the 1970s when some were replaced, but many were refurbished by the Greater London Council, mostly as social housing. Brixton Road is part of the A23. In the 1887 detective novel A Study in Scarlet, an abandoned house off the Brixton Road is the very first of the numerous crime scenes appearing in the Sherlock Holmes books and stories.

Ritzy Cinema
Ritzy Cinema

The Ritzy is a cinema in Brixton, London, England. It is a Grade II listed building. It is managed by Picturehouse Cinemas, who were bought by Cineworld in 2012. The cinema opened on 11 March 1911 as "the Electric Pavilion". It was built by E.C. Homer and Lucas for Israel Davis, one of a noted family of cinema developers, and was one of England's earliest purpose-built cinemas, seating over 750 seats in the single auditorium. Like many cinemas of the period, it was fitted with an organ. It was seen as a 'scruffy relation' to the nearby Palladium, and was known as the 'flea pit'. Sound films began showing in 1929.The neighbouring Brixton Theatre was completely destroyed by bombing in 1940, which allowed the Ritzy to expand into the vacant space.In 1954, it was renovated by noted cinema architect George Coles, who installed CinemaScope: the cinema was renamed "the Pullman" and the organ was removed. It was later renamed "the Classic", before closure in 1976. After this, it was re-invented as "The Little Bit Ritzy", run in collaboration with London Cinema Collective. A collaboration between Lambeth Council and the management of the time ensured the cinema's survival, with the facade being rebuilt and restored to near-original condition.During the 1980s, the cinema developed a reputation as having a left-wing agenda, so much so that the incumbent manager was motivated to place an advert in the local press advising potential patrons that not every film that the cinema screened was "left-wing or gay".Today, the cinema is owned by Picturehouse Cinemas, and operates as a multi-screen complex with bar and café facilities. Its official name is now "Ritzy Picturehouse" although it is still commonly known as the Ritzy Cinema. In 1999, Albion Ventures invested £8million in Picturehouse to help fund the development of several of their cinemas, including the Ritzy. In 2009, the decor and colour scheme was restored from its original style and a live music venue was added, called Upstairs.