MATCHAM'S MASTERPIECE

THE GRAND THEATRE: THE PRIDE OF BLACKPOOL

Built 1894, Architect Frank Matcham

The Grand Theatre, Blackpool is one of Britain’s premier heritage theatres:

Listed Grade II*, the Grand is in the top 8 per cent of all listed buildings in England, and one of only thirty listed buildings in Blackpool. We are one of only nine large theatres listed Grade II* or above, north of London.

The Grand Theatre is a product and symbol of the late nineteenth-century boom in theatregoing and the expansion of live entertainment at Blackpool, Britain’s biggest show town after London’s West End. This monument to pleasure is a very special form of ‘public space’. More than most theatres of whatever age, the Grand’s post-Baroque neoclassical architecture creates an emotionally charged atmosphere in which over 200,000 theatregoers each year learn about life, culture, politics and romance, through what is shown and implied almost on stage. The popular entertainments, dramas, operas, circuses, ballets, dances, pantomimes and music presented at the Grand represent ideals, possibilities and pitfalls, whilst the opulent Grand Theatre housing them reflects a tangible expression of hope and dreams.

With Blackpool Tower and the Winter Gardens, the Grand Theatre is one the three crowning architectural achievements of Blackpool. The exterior is a visual landmark of the town centre; whilst inside, architect Frank Matcham’s decorations and four-tier 1,100-seat intimate auditorium creates an atmosphere of festive spirit for what is also a cultural landmark. Going to the Grand Theatre is almost as important as the shows people come to see: from the moment theatregoers arrive to collect their tickets, there is a sense of something special, a feeling that to step inside is to enter another time and place...

Today, the Grand is owned by a community organisation, Blackpool Grand Theatre Trust Limited, which reopened the theatre in 1981 following the gargantuan volunteer efforts of the Friends of the Grand who saved the theatre from the brink of demolition. They refused to believe that life in Blackpool would be better without this wonderful theatre.

Since then, restoration work has continued without ever closing the theatre. Significant work to date has included a reinstatement of the cast iron, glazed marquee on the theatre’s entrance, the addition of small shop-kiosks on the west elevation (that provide much needed income), the cleaning and repairing of stonework and the dome, the creation of a new Stalls Bar, covering of Matcham Court to make an all-weather patio, the conversion of the annexe to an 80-seat studio theatre, restoration of beautiful stained glass windows that are now triple glazed, and several interventions to improve disabled access and provide new lavatories. In 1995, the Grand was awarded £680,000 from the Arts Council National Lottery and £63,000 from English Heritage, the majority of these grants being spent on repairs to the structure of the building. Throughout the past twenty-five years, the theatre has been ably assisted by its architects, Mackeith Dickinson & Partners of Blackpool that built the Blackpool Opera House in 1939 and is led today by Gordon Mackeith. Project management has been undertaken in-house by Licensee Neil Thomson.

In 2001, a three-phase Glorious Grand Restoration scheme and public appeal was launched. The generous assistance of the Heritage Lottery Fund, together with the Friends of the Grand and several trusts and foundations propelled the completion of Phase One in 2002: the (partial) renovation of the auditorium, including re-gilding of ornate plasterwork, restoration of ceiling and proscenium arch paintings, and new house curtains. Fundraising for Phase Two of the scheme is now in progress. Funded by further appeals under the umbrella of The Sam Lee Appeal, the work will, we hope, be completed in summer 2007. This will include re-carpeting of the entire house, re-seating of the auditorium, period wallpapers and new access for disabled patrons. For Phase Three restoration, there are more excitements ahead, as we investigate circulation spaces, the original layout of the vestibule and mosaic flooring, the relationship of the theatre to the shops on Church Street, and much more!

A description of the Grand Theatre, 1980

This theatre must rank as one of the finest that Matcham designed and, very fortunately, it survives intact. It cost £20,000 in 1894. The exterior, in brick with stone dressings, is relatively plain, except for the entrance on the corner of Corporation Street. This is in stone and has two main storeys with arched doorways and windows flanked by pilasters. The attic storey is crowned by a dome, clad in copper fishscale tiles, which rises from behind curly gables.

The real importance of the theatre, however, lies in its magnificent auditorium. Few other examples can so well illustrate the vibrant exuberance and intensely theatrical atmosphere of Victorian theatre architecture at its best. The superb plasterwork was carried out by the Plastic Decoration Company of London. These balconies, of six rows each, sweep around towards the stage in a double curve, dipping downwards along the side walls, with the number of rows progressively reducing.

The balcony fronts are thickly encrusted with deeply-cut Baroque plasterwork. The device of reversing the curve of a balcony at the ends enabled Matcham to bring the side seats closer to the stage without impairing sightlines. In this respect he was more successful than C.J. Phipps, whose balconies more often followed a traditional horseshoe plan which, when applied to several rows of seats rather than to rings of boxes, inevitably gave rise to problems with sightlines at the sides.

The balconies at Blackpool are partly cantilevered and partly supported on iron columns. In Matcham's later theatres, when the use of cantilevers had developed, it was possible for balconies to become deeper, with their fronts consequently closer to the stage. In order to maintain good sightlines it was necessary to reduce the curve of the balcony. Although this allowed larger seating capacities without increasing the volume of the auditorium, it proved detrimental to theatrical atmosphere.

At Blackpool the balconies are terminated on each side by an oriel-like stage box at dress circle level. These have splendid canopies which rise up above the gallery front and are crowned by curved pediments which support three cavorting cupids. The proscenium opening has an imposing roundarched frame with openwork plaster 'frills'. The spandrels of the arch contain large paintings of the muses. The oval ceiling is opulently decorated with painted panels of composers by Messrs Binns of Halifax.

- Brian Walker, (ed.), Frank Matcham, Theatre Architect, Belfast,
Blackstaff Press, 1980, pp. 125-126.

For details of other Blackpoool historic buildings, including theatres such as the Opera House and Palace Theatre, see the Blackpool4me project. This has begun digitising the Central Library’s historical photographs and publishing them at www.blackpoolimagegallery.org.uk