Odeon Darlington

The 1885 built Theatre Royal (architect Charles J. Phipps) was operating as a cinema when it closed in 1936. It was being operated by John Maxwell’s company Associated British Cinemas(ABC) and they employed the architectural firm Percy Brown, Son & Harding to build a new super cinema. The building was demolished apart from the side walls of the old theatre which were retained, the facade and stage end were new.

It opened as the Regal Cinema on 31st January 1938 with Spencer Tracey in "Captains Courageous". The seating capacity was for 1,620 in stalls and circle levels. There was no provision provided for an organ.

It was re-named ABC in 1961 and closed in May 1977 for conversion to a triple screen cinema. The ABC re-opened 16th June 1977 with screen 1 in the former circle seating 590 and screens 2 & 3 in the former stalls seating 220 and 149.

It was taken over by the Cannon Group and re-named Cannon in the mid 1980’s, then it became the MGM and later reverted back to the ABC name. It is currently operated by Odeon Cinemas. However there is concern that a new multiplex cinema is planned by Vue Cinemas and this could lead to closure of the Odeon. Current (2008) seating capacities in the screens are; 550, 181 and 123.

Recent comments (view all 5 comments)

lostmemory on August 24, 2007 at 6:31 pm

Here is a photo of the Odeon Darlington.

KenRoe on August 24, 2007 at 10:07 pm

Here is a 1997 photograph when it had been re-named ABC (for the 2nd time):
http://flickr.com/photos/12494104@N00/406838877/

Ian on April 3, 2008 at 1:03 pm

The Odeon continues in April 2008. Despite being done by ABC the tripling preserved much of the art deco detailing of this cinema as can be seen in these April 2008 shots:–

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terry on December 24, 2008 at 10:41 pm

Not all the side walls of the Theatre Royal were retained, as in order to widen the building, it was necessary to demolish the south elevation.

The circle originally seated 628 and was reduced to 590 in 1977 when the built out section from the circle (to accommodate the screen areas of the 2 minis below) encroached upon the sightlines; so the front row of the circle was removed.The 590 seats were reduced to 578 when I was manager there and some larger seats from my former theatre (Newcastle) were installed in the front circle.

Ian on November 25, 2011 at 9:37 am

In November 2011 the Odeon is receiving a major refurbishment, inside and out. The two mini’s have already been finished, the exterior has been repaired and repainted and is still under scaffolding, and the the main screen refurb is due to start shortly.

EXTERIOR

SCREEN

BALCONY