Inverness had 4 well-loved cinemas at once, all gone.
A trendy hotel is now located in the busy Empire Theatre on Academy Street, Inverness.
The theater at the center of countless cinematic delights, civic purposes and dramas in the city for approximately six decades before its demolition in 1970.
The Empire grew out of the Central Hall Picture House which opened in 1912, with a small level and 1,100 seats.
It was switched to theatrical use after the Royal Bank Street Theatre was destroyed through a chimney on 17 March 1931.
Will Fyffe, an artist in the Dundee music corridor, at the time one of Scotland’s highest paid artists, mounted a magazine at the Theatre Royal, which behind the fireplace was moved promptly to the Central Hall Picture House.
Other live exhibitions followed suit until the symbol space was nevertheless expanded and reopened in 1934.
Builder of about 19 cinemas, the company Montrose, MM. R Pert
Harry Lauder spearheaded the launch of the venue that would be Inverness’ premier theatre and concert corridor for the next 36 years.
An excerpt from the P
“During his week-long stay in Inverness, he was in the hands of an Inverness masseuse. Sir Harry’s ailments did not save him from performing every night at the Empire Theatre in Inverness.
Sheila Coubrough’s father, Stanley Findlay, in the Empire at the time.
Unfortunately, he recalls, “Harry gave dad his cane, Dad gave it to him. I wonder how much it would have been now.
The theatre has hosted tours of Scottish variety shows, not to mention the Inverness Choral Society, the Operative Society of Light, annual mass network theatre festivals and civic events.
Memories of the Empire are deeply rooted in the DNA of the Invernessians.
Sandy Broderick recalls, “My grandfather Barry Burgoyne used numbers there at the height of the Empire.
“He and my grandmother Ethel took me there in the 60s to see their friends from the 40s and 50s.
“I saw accordionist Will Starr with him around 1968, I was about six years old, and he made a song for me. “
Inverness High alumna Libby Petrie said: “The Empire brings back so many lovely memories, I spent many years playing there. Possibly now it would be a hotel, but the only memories: pulling up the curtain, turning on the lighting fixtures and turning on the show People were beautiful.
Claire Cameron remembers seeing the Hollies there in the ’60s and betting on messenger in Antigone with the Phoenix Theatre Group in The Empire in 1968.
The structure of the theatre was not reliable.
The Hollies’ evening gave an unforgettable impression for singer Graham Nash, who had to be rescued when the orchestra pit collapsed and enthusiasts rushed forward.
Al Williamson says that in the 1950s, everyone went to the Empire for concerts through the Scottish National Orchestra.
“We also saw the film of the ascension to Everest in the year of the coronation,” he adds.
The theater hosted the fight, as John Wilson recalls.
“The old favorites of Saturday afternoon televised wrestling are coming. I enjoyed it.
For Ian Isaacs, see the milestones of Lex MacLean and T Rex with Mark Bolan.
Others that Margaret Firth took her dance school to the Empire – Mary Ramsay attended and calls it “a smart moment”.
Caledonian Cinemas incorporated cinema into its circuit and rented the theatre to Glasgow businessman George B Bowie.
Meanwhile, Lancashire guy John Holdsworth, known as John Worth, gave the impression in Inverness of producing an exclusive exhibition of the Empire in 1951 and ended up staying for over 40 years.
When Bowie resigned from the lease in the 1950s before the television festival, Worth stayed, renting the theatre to Caledonian Associated Cinemas Ltd of Inverness.
He directed the theater to its closure, organizing exhibitions for Jimmy Logan, Stanley Baxter, Andy Stewart, Calum Kennedy, who held the box record in the theater, Alistair Gillies and Bridie Gallagher.
An excerpt from the Aberdeen Evening Express of 21 March 1952 shows the tension that can become the life of a theatre director.
“Mr. John Worth, the director of the Empire Theatre in Inverness, had agonizing week.
“It produces the Tommy Loman display and uses a large drum borrowed from Cameron Barracks for the final scene. Tommy, the comedian, plays the drum with more than just the general pop as a component of the act.
“Mr Worth watched very carefully each and every night, because if Tommy”breaks “the drum, the nursery manufacturer will have to pay five pounds sterling to the Cameron Highlanders for a new skin. “
He also directed The Corries for a time, and they were in the line-up on November 28, 1970 for the memorable final show, with Worth himself in the piano pit.
Bill McCue, Will Starr, Muir of Ord comedian Johnnie Bogan and Margaret Firth and their dancers were on the show.
The dancers made a regime towards the top with spikes, symbolizing the demolition of the building.
Jennie MacKenzie there and remembers the excitement of the night.
“At the end of the show, the audience didn’t need the performers to stop it and didn’t need to leave the venue.
“The curtains remained open while everyone, despite everything, left. “
It was more than one o’clock in the morning before the scene was even though everything cleared up.
John Worth died in 1994.
On their way to St Andrew’s Cathedral, Jimmy Logan, Ronnie Brown of the Corries, Calum Kennedy, Alasdair Gillies, George Duffus and Jim MacLeod were noticed in the crowd.
Funeral stewards had to supply one more vehicle to deal with the mass of floral tributes destined for kilvean cemetery where he is buried.
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