New Empire Theatre
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The New Empire Theatre was built in 1896 by theatre impresario Frederick Marlow. He had owned the Public Hall previously on the site, and converted it to The Empire Theatre in 1892. However, a fire on Boxing Day 1895 destroyed the building. Marlow took it upon himself to rebuild a bigger, better theatre, with five floors and electric lighting.
[edit] Overview
The theatre was the first of its kind in Southend, and was called 'the prettiest theatre outside of London' by local press at its opening in 1896. Marlow presented a varied programme of musicals, opera, concerts, plays, variety and music hall. He remained at the theatre until 1905 when it was taken over by the Southend-on-Sea Theatre Company Ltd. The following fourteen years the theatre was run on a leasehold basis by various people, including an illusionist known as "The Great Rameses", a successful magician and music hall entertainer who spent some time pursuing theatre management as a career.
By 1919, the advent of moving pictures had brought about many changes in Southend, and the theatre closed its doors, making way for an enlarged and magnificent cinema, The Rivoli. From 1921 to 1962, the Rivoli thrived as a cinema, in 1929 installing sound equipment to facilitate the talking pictures. Many residents of Southend have fond memories of Saturday mornings and Saturday nights at the Rivoli. In 1962, the Rivoli was taken over by the ABC chain and underwent further refurbishment, including the addition of a Marine Bar underground, making use of the old Empire passageways. The cinema continued for another 20 years, and in 1982 was twinned to create a second, smaller cinema at the old Rivoli Mezzanine level.
By 1998, the popularity of cinema as a whole had diminished, and one of many casualties in Southend was the ABC. In February 1998, it showed its last film, and the venue was once again closed.
[edit] Restoration
In August 1998, a local family and a group of volunteers took over the then derelict building, and using their own money and donations from the local community, along with a lot of elbow grease, grit and determination, refurbished and transformed the dilapidated site into a new community theatre. To start with, a bit rough around the edges but nevertheless functioning, the theatre presented a plethora of shows, whilst using any income from tickets to slowly but surely improve the building and facilities, building the stage, pros arch, installing seating, electrics, flying, dressing rooms, lights and sound. Over the years, the volunteers have proven that without any external funding, a theatre can survive and continues to this day to present shows for the local community, providing a venue for all including amateur societies, dancing schools, bands, music groups and schools. The rent alone each month is crippling to the family and volunteers, who would love to own the building and spend more money on its upkeep and maintenance as well as further improvements. In 2001, the New Empire Theatre Fund was founded with the aim of raising enough money to buy the building from the owners, and they continue to work towards this goal.
