The Newtown Palace Theatre, New Town Row, Birmingham

Later - Newtown Palace of Varieties Bingo Club / Ladbrokes Social Club

Birmingham Index

Above - The Newtown Palace Theatre, Birmingham when it first opened in 1914 - From The Builder, 26th of June 1914.

The Newtown Palace Theatre was situated on New Town Row in Birmingham and was built for Moss Empires as a Cine Variety Theatre, opening on Monday the 5th of January 1914. Moss Empires were already running the Empire Theatre on Hurst Street and the Summerhill Palace, both also in Birmingham, at this time.

The Theatre, which was designed by the architects William and Thomas Milburn of Sunderland, had an auditorium on two levels, stalls and one circle, which could accommodate 2,000 people when it first opened. A sliding roof provided ventilation before the shows and during the intervals when the weather was hot. The Theatre was also equipped with a large stage with a fully equipped fly tower, along with seven dressing rooms for artists, and two Cafe / Bars and Crush Halls front of house for Patrons. Films were screened using two Enremann projectors in the operating box.

Right - An Advertisement for the imminent opening of the Newtown Palace Theatre - From the Birmingham Daily Mail, January 2nd 1914.

The Birmingham Daily Gazette reported on the opening of the Theatre in their 6th of January 1914 edition saying:- 'A luxuriously-appointed picture palace, accommodating a seated audience of 2,000 was opened by the Moss Empires Ltd., in Newtown-row, Birmingham, yesterday afternoon, with a private exhibition, and the patronage of the general public in the evening suggested that both the site and the inaugural programme had been well selected.

Above - The Auditorium and Stage of the Newtown Palace Theatre, Birmingham when it first opened in 1914 - From The Builder, 26th of June 1914.

The handsome exterior frontage is worked in buff terra-cotta, while the interior design and embellishments, too, are a triumph for the architects, the colour scheme and mural ornamentations being charmingly artistic. The lounge circle accommodates 400 people, and the comfortable seats arranged in the body of the hall number 1,600.

There is a stage measuring 32ft. by 28ft., which can be adapted to music-hall requirements, and the scenic appurtenances are admirable.

The safety of the audience has been extensively provided for by numerous exits, and automatic sprinklers - arrangements which shower jets of water whenever a certain temperature is reached in the building. The lighting arrangements, too, have been studied more than usual by the management.

There are also large waiting rooms for the convenience of patrons, to avoid the uncomfortable necessity of lining in the street queues.

Above - Plans of the Newtown Palace Theatre, Birmingham when it first opened in 1914 - From The Builder, 26th of June 1914.

The programme this week includes among the pictures a dramatic play entitled "The Master Crook," and a domestic tragedy called "Fortune's Turn," as well as a comical production, "The Riot." Interspersed with the pictures are several variety "turns," including Cantereli and Miss Lilly, Continental musicians; Fred Regent, comedian, and Matthews and Haming in a sketch entitled "It". '

Right - A Report on the opening of Newton Palace Theatre, Birmingham - From The Bioscope, 15th January 1914 - Click to Enlarge.

The above text in quotes was first published in the Birmingham Daily Gazette, 6th of January 1914.

Above - The Auditorium and Stage of the Newtown Palace Theatre, Birmingham in 1980 - Courtesy Ted Bottle.

The Newtown Palace Theatre had first opened on the 5th of January 1914 and although it was originally built for Cinema and Variety use it didn't last long as a Variety Theatre. In 1937 the Theatre was taken over by an independent operator who ran it for a number of years as a full time Cinema, but it was eventually closed down in April 1961.

Later the Theatre was for a short time run as an Indian Cinema in 1965 and then used for Wrestling Matches later the same year.

Right - The Auditorium of the Newtown Palace Theatre, Birmingham during its Bingo years in 1980 - Courtesy Ted Bottle.

In 1966 the Theatre was converted for Bingo use as the Newtown Palace of Varieties Bingo Club, which, according to the advertisement shown left also ran Variety Acts on the Theatre's Stage in between the Bingo Sessions.

Left - An Advertisement for the opening of the Newtown Palace of Varieties Bingo Club in 1966 - From the Birmingham Mail, 28th of April 1966.

The final Bingo operator in the building was Ladbrokes who ran it as the Ladbrokes Social Club, but they eventually closed it in 1983 as the Theatre had been requisitioned for a road widening scheme.

Above - A letter from a reader lamenting the closure of the Newtown Palace in 1983 - From the Birmingham Mail, 5th of January 1983.

However, demolition didn't happen straight away as the scheme was delayed and the Theatre then stood empty for a number of years before finally succumbing to its demolition in 1989 for the much delayed road widening scheme.

Ted Bottle, who took the 1980s photographs on this page during the Theatre's Bingo years, said that the Theatre was 'only a mile from the Aston Hippodrome and erected by Moss Empires but it did not last long as a variety hall. The proscenium plaster work was quite ornate and I have often mused on the identity of the lady on the balcony front, shown below. There was a full fly tower and it is surprising that there was no gallery.' Ted Bottle.

Above - A detail of the plasterwork on the Circle Front of the Newtown Palace Theatre, Birmingham in 1980 - Courtesy Ted Bottle.

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