Theatres in Skegness, Lincolnshire
The Embassy Theatre - The Arcadia Theatre - The Tower Theatre / Cinema
The Embassy Centre and Embassy Theatre, Grand Parade, Skegness
Formerly - The Embassy Ballroom
Above - A Google StreetView Image showing the Embassy Centre and Embassy Theatre Entrance, Skegness in July 2016 - Click to Interact.
The Embassy Centre is situated on Grand Parade, on the Skegness Seafront, and has been operating for a hundred years, first opening as the Embassy Ballroom in 1926.
Right - An Advertisement for the Embassy Ballroom, Skegness in 1946 - From Skegness News, 3rd of July 1946.
Originally built as a Ballroom at street level with a restuarant below, it was often used for Concerts and Variety Performances along with being a venue for Dancing and other Events.
In 1982 the venue was altered and a new Theatre was added behind it and on part of the site of a former sea water swiming baths, at a cost of £1 million.
The Embassy Theatre has a large octagonal shaped auditorium, which was capable of seating 1,200 people when it first opened, and is comprised of Stalls and one Circle which surounds five sides of the octagon.
With no fly tower and no orchestra pit, and dressing rooms situated in the basement front of house, it is not the easiest Theatre to run but has been very successful over the years running regular summer seasons since it opened.
You may like to visit the Embassy Theatre's own Website here.
Above - A Google Earth Image showing the Embassy Centre, Skegness and its octagonal Theatre from above - Click to Interact.
If you have any more information or Images for this Theatre that you are willing to share please Contact me.
The Arcadia Theatre, Drummond Road, Skegness
Later - The Arcadia Centre
The Arcadia Theatre was situated on Drummond Road in Skegness and opened in 1911. The Theatre was constructed by J. T. Turner & Son who would be on hand over 70 years later to repitch the roof shortly before it was closed and demolished.
Right - A Poster for the Arcadia Theatre, Skegness with Kenny Cantor on the Bill in the 1970s - Courtesy Maurice Poole.
The Arcadia Theatre presented live shows for most of its life despite being fitted for Cinema use in the 1950s. It was operated by Fred Clements from its opening until 1935 when he sold it, and the nearby Tower Theatre, to the Parade Cinema Company and took on the lease of the Central Cinema in the Town instead, formerly the Central Hall.
When East Lincolnshire Arts took over the Theatre in 1972 they returned it to live theatre use along with film showings by dividing the Balcony to create a small 560 seat cinema called Studio One whilst using the rest of the auditorium for theatre use, it was renamed The Arcadia Centre at the same time, and its official opening was on Wednesday the 13th of December 1972 with a performance of 'Don Giovanni' by The London Opera Group.
Left - A Poster for the Arcadia Theatre, Skegness with Kenny Cantor on the Bill in the 1970s - Courtesy Maurice Poole.
In 1973 the original Dressing Rooms of the Theatre were demolished and a new Block of modern Dressing Rooms was constructed in its place at a cost of £10,000. Along with the new Dressing Rooms a new Wardrobe Room, Backstage Canteen, Orchestra Room, Stores, Toilets, and Showers were also fitted into the new Block making the Theatre fit for modern productions.
In October 1984 the Arcadia Theatre was closed after several years of poor attendances and structural issues with the building. The last performance I can find for the Theatre was The Midlands Dance Company in a production called 'Leaps and Bounds' in September 1984. The Arcadia Centre was put up for sale the following year in 1985.
Above - The Arcadia Centre, Skegness closed and awaiting a new owner in 1985 - From the Skegness Standard, 6th of December 1985.
Despite the Theatre being closed the Cinema continued in operation, and a new roof was installed by the original contractors of the building in July 1986. However, the Arcadia was sold to Alf Jackson for £100,020 later in 1986 and this proved to be beginning of the end for the Arcadia. The building was demolished in 1988 and its site became The Arcadia Car Park.
If you have any more information or Images for this Theatre that you are willing to share please Contact me.
The Tower Theatre, Lumley Road, Skegness
Above - An Early Postcard showing Lumley Road and the Original Tower Theatre, Skegness of 1921 - Postcard reproduced here with a Creative Commons Licence from Mike Blakemore at the Cinema Treasures Website.
The Tower Theatre was situated on Lumley Street in Skegness and first opened on Monday the 25th of July 1921. The Theatre was built for Fred Clements who also operated the nearby Arcadia Theatre in the town, he would sell both Theatres in 1935 however, to the Parade Cinema Company, when he took on the lease of the Central Cinema in the Town, formerly the Central Hall.
Right - An Advertisement for the new Western Electric Sound Installation at the Tower Theatre, Skegness in 1930 - From the Skegness Standard, 31st of December 1930.
On its opening the Tower Theatre was Managed by Arthur Gadsby of Lincoln. The Theatre is Situated close to the well known Clock Tower in Skegness, hence the name, and was built for both live theatre and cinema use, having a small stage and a capacity of around 950 people.
In 1930 the Theatre was equipped for sound to accompany the new talking pictures, an advertisement in the local press shows just how proud the Management were of this achievement, see image right. The Sound Equipment installed was a Western Electric, billed in the advertisement as being 'The Best in the World!'.
Sadly the original building was badly damaged during the war in January 1941 when it was hit by a bomb which destroyed the roof and the front of the Theatre. It never reopened but was instead rebuilt in 1949 to the designs of the Nottingham Architect Alfred John Thraves.
Left - An Advertisement for the Official Opening of the new Tower Theatre, Skegness in 1951 - From the Skegness News, 27th of June 1951.
The new Theatre was larger than the previous one having a seating capacity of 1,200 on two levels, stalls and one circle, and had a larger stage, with a 32 feet wide proscenium opening and a depth of 28 feet, eight dressing rooms for artists were also included in the rebuild. The Theatre officially reopened on the 1st of July 1951 with a Pre-Release Presentation of the Bette Davis Film 'Payment on Demand', see the advertisement shown left.
Above - A Google StreetView Image showing the 1951 rebuilt Tower Theatre, Skegness in November 2008 - Click to Interact.
Perhaps surprisingly the Tower Theatre is still operating today, albeit as Twin Cinema with an Amusement Arcade below. In 1984 the Theatre's Circle was converted into a 420 seat Cinema and the Theatre's Stalls area was converted into the Amusement Arcade. And in 2003 the Circle Cinema was twinned so that today there are two Cinema Screens above the Amusement Arcade but its good to see the building still in entertainment use today.
Above - A Google StreetView Image showing the 1951 rebuilt Tower Theatre, Skegness in August 2022 - Click to Interact.
If you have any more information or Images for this Theatre that you are willing to share please Contact me.