Looking Back: The excitement of Sheffield Theatre
Going to the theatre has always been very popular in Sheffield. In the days before televisions became affordable, people flocked to the church hall to watch their local drama group perform plays like Blithe Spirit.
My own father Ernest Morton ran St. Patricks Players, who performed many of his own works to include A Bit of Brass which was performed by over 60 different amateur drama groups in Sheffield in one year.
We enjoyed many family outings to the Sheffield Playhouse on Townhead Street which closed in 1971 when the Crucible opened. Its most popular production was The Stirrings in Sheffield on Saturday Night and among the stars it nurtured was David Bradley, Paul Eddington and Patrick McGoohan.
The Crucible of course has become world famous as the venue for the World Snooker Championships together with amazing theatrical productions. Who remembers The Railway Children in the 1970s with the real railway engine coming onto the stage?
And the wonderful Bobby Knutt in panto?
The Studio Theatre at the Crucible is now the Tanya Moiseiwitsch Theatre, named in memory of a talented artistic designer.
The beautiful Empire Theatre on Charles Street opening in 1895, closed in 1959 after a very successful pantomime starring Edna Savage, Laurie London, the Tiller Girls and the exciting spectacle of Kirbys Flying Ballet flying over the auditorium on wires.
Stars appearing at the theatre over the decades have included Laurel and Hardy, Bill Haley and Tommy Steele.
The last manager John Spitzer who lived in the Grand Hotel on Leopold Street, had a reputation as a ladies man and was also of incredibly large girth!
I remember going there to see Marty Wilde with school friends. We wore our school uniform which wasn’t very rock and roll!
Our famous Lyceum Theatre has continued to excite audiences since 1897,especially after its renovation in 1990. Its productions are always world class.
And excitingly, the Montgomery Theatre on Surrey Street is now part of Sheffield Theatres.
A worthy addition to the local theatre scene is the Utopia African Theatre. Its recent production of Death and the Kings Horseman was superb, with colour, drama and pathos.
Looking back at theatre in Sheffield over the years we have been and still are incredibly spoilt for choice!