Wilmslow Road - Theatres and Cinemas

Theatres and Cinemas

The Prince's Theatre was a theatre in Oxford Street from 1864 to 1940. It was built on a site on the corner of Lower Mosley Street by the architect Edward Salomons for the theatrical manager Charles Calvert. This theatre was the scene of a series of public-spirited dramatic enterprises, including those remarkable Shakespearean revivals organised successively by John Knowles and Charles Calvert. Later it became famous for its pantomimes, from the mid 1890s until 1914. By the 1930s it was in some financial difficulty and closed in 1940. After demolition and many years of delay the office block of Peter House was built on the site.

The Hippodrome on the corner of Great Bridgewater Street (the site on which the Gaumont was built after the Hippodrome had been demolished in 1935).

The Palace Theatre on the junction of Whitworth Street.

Cinemas which have existed in Oxford Street are:

• The Odeon Cinema (derelict), originally the Paramount, 1931, in its later period converted to a multi-screen cinema. It once had a fine theatre organ.
• The News Theatre on the corner of Hall Street (the Manchester Film Theatre from 1967 to 1973).
• The New Oxford Cinema built by Provincial Cinematograph Theatres on the corner of Chepstow Street, opened in 1911. The opening programme on 15 December 1911 included footage of Captain Scott's Antarctic expedition. On the next day the cinema opened to the public and before long became known as the Oxford Picture House and in 1927 was renamed first the Oxford Theatre and four months later the New Oxford Theatre. When Uncle Tom's Cabin was shown the cinema claimed it was the first exclusive one fully equipped for sound outside the United States. By 1930 it was owned by the European Motion Picture Company Ltd and in 1949 was acquired by the Buxton Theatre Circuit. A wide screen was installed in 1954 and after a period of stiff competition with the two Rank cinemas in the street the New Oxford was taken over by the Rank Organisation in June 1960. After Rank introduced two and then three screens to the Odeon the New Oxford closed on 25 October 1980. After closure part of the ground floor was converted into a McDonald's fast food restaurant.
• The Gaumont Cinema (1935?) next to the New Oxford, the grandest of Manchester's cinemas, also had a fine theatre organ. After its eventual closure it was converted into a nightclub operating under several names. It has since been demolished and been replaced by a new building.
• Cornerhouse at no. 70 either side of Station Approach; Cornerhouse 1 was a news theatre and afterwards an Essoldo and Classic cinema before the establishment of Cornerhouse in 1985.