Prince's Theatre

Located in Preston, Lancashire on Tithebarn Street at the corner of Crooked Lane. The site was originally the 2,000-seat New Gaiety Palace of Varieties which opened on 28th August 1882. The stage end and dressing rooms were destroyed by a fire on 27th April 1900.

It took 15 weeks to rebuild and refurbish the New Prince’s Theatre which opened on 22nd December 1900. Alterations had been made to the auditorium to the plans of local Preston architect W. Munford and interior decorations were by Goodall & Co. of Liverpool. The total capacity of the theatre was 2,500 people. The proscenium was 23ft wide, the stage 40ft deep and eight new dressing rooms has been built. In July 1913 it was screening films as part of the programme and was operated by Hugh Rain (stage name Will Onda of the Onda Brothers acrobatic act). This continued into the late-1920’s when it was known as Prince’s Theatre and Opera House.

By 1934 it had converted into full time cinema use, as the Prince’s Theatre. It had been equipped with an AWH sound system. The Prince’s Theatre was closed in October 1959. There were discussion on what its future would be, but as the years passed it deteriorated badly and was demolished in 1964. A new development on the site included a brand new Buckingham Bingo Club and St. John’s Shopping Centre. The bingo club still operates in 2021.

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