Empire Theatre
Red Lion Square & Market Street,
Heanor,
DE75 7ET
Red Lion Square & Market Street,
Heanor,
DE75 7ET
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Located in the centre of the small Derbyshire town of Heanor on a triangular site, bounded by Red Lion Square, Market Street and Fletcher Street. The Empire Theatre was opened in 1911. It was designed for both stage and film use. The proscenium was 26 feet wide, and there were six dressing rooms. It was operated by Midland Empire Theatres of Nottingham. In later years it was operated by the Nottingham based Eskay circuit.
The Empire Theatre was closed in 1983 with Brigitte Bardot in “Legend of Frenchie King”. The building was demolished in 1989 and a block of flats known as Empire Court has been built on the site.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Ripley & Heanor News, 14 Mar 2003: Built in 1911, in its heyday it was fully equipped as a theatre to seat 733. In its early years, famous artists trod the boards included Gracie Fields, Arthur Tracy, Sandy Powell and Jack Warner. Charity concerts were regularly staged and during the 1920s and 30s, Heanor Operatic Society presented Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. The first ‘talkie’ film to be shown at the Empire was ‘The Singing Fool’ in August 1930 and from then on the building became a cinema showing films rather than live performances. Several factors contributed to the decline of cinemas in the 1970s and 80s particularly competition from television. It finally closed in 1983 and the building was boarded up until its demolition six years later.