London Hippodrome Theatre

amazing pictures Ian!

the theatre featured on the cover of Talk of the Town by the Pretenders, showing the neon sign in the late 70's
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocad123/402506523/

Further to the above, I had the opportunity to tour the Hippodrome last week, during the rebuilding work. There is now no trace of the stalls projection box, which must have been swept away on conversion to the Talk of the Town in 1958. However there is a large projection box at the rear of the Gallery, not mentioned above. It is difficult to say if this is original or a later addition as much of the plasterwork is missing, however I would GUESS that it is a later, maybe 1920’s or 30’s construction. The portholes are bricked up (again some considerable time ago). Perhaps this was built for the trade and public screenings at the end of the 1920’s?

There is also a charming cartoon mural backstage painted by Rolf Harris after a stint at the venue in 1979!