Astoria Theatre
10-17 Gloucester Place,
Brighton,
BN1
10-17 Gloucester Place,
Brighton,
BN1
1 person
favorited this theater
A construction for a local independent consortium, the Astoria Theatre opened on 21st December 1933 with Charles Laughton in ‘The Private Life of Henry VIII’.
It had full stage facilities and a spectacular Art Deco style interior decoration scheme. An illuminated Compton 3 manual organ was installed. It was taken over by Associated British Cinemas(ABC) chain in February 1935.
The stage was infrequently used for live shows up until 1958 when the theater closed for renovations which installed a vast 70mm screen in front of the old proscenium, removed the organ, and curtained the impressive auditorium.
The balcony steppings were altered and a new projection suite constructed at (and into) the rear balcony.
Long runs of such films as “Earthquake” ensued and the cinema continued successfully until just after the other ABC house in town was quadrupled in 1976. The Astoria Theatre closed on 7th May 1977, and became a bingo club.
This lasted until approximately 1996, when it was operated by Gala Bingo Clubs, after which the Astoria Theatre has stood empty and unused.
In 2001, it was bought for around 1 million Pounds, with plans to be restored (not known if to original design) and reopened as a live (mainly concert) venue. However, these have stalled, and the building still sits empty and unused in Summer of 2010.
The Astoria is a Grade II Listed building.
Contributed by
Ian Grundy
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Recent comments (view all 21 comments)
The Astoria was my favourite Brighton cinema, one of two in the town, (the other was the ‘Regent’), which featured Roadshow presentations. I clearly remember seeing ‘Jaws’; ‘The Towering Inferno’; ‘Earthquake’; 70mm version of ‘Gone With The Wind’; and many others. It was a comfortable theatre with a good view of the screen from all seats. I was saddened when it closed, as did the Regent, in favour of the awful ‘multi screen’ conversions.
Chris…in Brighton Tuesday for the closure of the Hippodrome, and found that the scaffolding which seemed to have covered the Astoria for ever (well at least year 2000), has now been removed leaving some fencing to prevent pedestrians being hit by falling masonry. No sign of any other work going on there. Do you know what happened to the Astoria Moving Picture Trust?
Letter: The Astoria will not be lost to dereliction
From the archive, first published Tuesday 11th Apr 2006.
In response to several recent letters concerning the Astoria Cinema on the Old Steine, we do indeed own the building and, despite being hard at work putting a new show together for the Brighton Festival, behind the scenes we are still working on our Astoria plans.
The scaffolding at the front was put there both to protect the building frontage (which is listed, but was deteriorating) and the public, from falling masonry.
No doubt the unsightliness of this is bringing the building to everyone’s attention but, prior to our ownership, it suffered many years of unnoticed neglect.
Before anything else can be done with the Astoria, it needs a new roof and the fascia needs to be renovated and restored.
This vastly increases the expense of restoration and, since there are no grants or lottery funds available to us, we are actively seeking private partners and sponsorship.
In the meantime, while the scaffolding may be an eyesore, behind it lies the potential of a wonderful performance/cinema space.
So, we apologise for the inconvenience, but we are working with architects on new internal designs, making feasibility studies and seeking partners and sponsors to resurrect the Astoria.
Many wonderful theatres and cinemas have been lost to Brighton and to redevelopment, most recently the Essoldo on North Street.
We do not intend to let the Astoria fall into the dereliction/redevelopment trap and will be revealing our plans for the Astoria in the near future.
-Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas, Yes/No Productions, Ship Street, Brighton
This letter was taken from the Brighton Argus. Yes/No Productions are the management organisation for the group known as ‘Stomp’. Should there be any further developments, I’ll post it here.
More photos of the Astoria as a bingo hall and a rare image (scanned) of the original appearance here:–
http://flickr.com/photos/12494104@N00/374507660/
http://flickr.com/photos/12494104@N00/374507655/
http://flickr.com/photos/12494104@N00/374507654/
http://flickr.com/photos/12494104@N00/374507651/
Here is link to a page showing a vintage photograph and a potted history:
http://www.terramedia.co.uk/brighton/Astoria.htm
Here is a recent photo of the Astoria Theater. This is a sad looking building.
In 1963 I went on holiday to Brighton with my father. We went to a number of cinemas including the Astoria, which was showing Mutiny on the Bounty in 70mm. The sound from the six tracks was fantastic and was as good, in my opinion as any modern sound system such as Dolby stereo or DTS.Projecting the 70mm images was the popular Philips DP70s. Before 70mm, Kalee elevens put the pictures on the screen. One of the projectionists was a Mr Ted Jempson, who sadly is no longer with us.The picture and sound at the Astora certainly made an impression on me.
A vintage view of the auditorium in 1958, just prior to conversion into a 70mm/Todd A-O Roadshow cinema:
View link
Threatened with demolition: http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/8353118.Plans_to_demolish_Astoria_in_Brighton/
Following years of neglect it now appears that the former Astoria cinema will be demolished having received permission to do so by the local authority.
Although this will most likely be challenged it is unlikely to reverse the situation. A venue of this nature in a city such as Brighton ought to be a viable business opportunity offering a multipurpose venue that can be financially rewarding. However, with no business plan or vision for alternative use and restoration over a decade or so it is unlikely that the local authority or those listening to any appeal will have a change of thought. It is Very sad indeed.
http://www.brightonandhovefreepress.co.uk/brighton-and-hove-community/brighton%e2%80%99s-astoria-cinema-to-be-demolished/28761
http://www.brighton-society.org.uk/?p=1144