High Street West, Empire Theatre

The theatre was listed Grade II* in 1978 with the following description:
'Theatre. 1906-7. By W and TR Milburn with c1989 rear upper bar extension. Ashlar entrance building; rear auditorium and lobbies brick with ashlar dressing; copper dome; slate roof. L-plan. Free Baroque style. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys, 2 windows to High Street West; 3-storey corner entrance tower. Right return 2 storeys; entrance one window, long rear range. Main front: box office entrance at left of shop front. One wide tripartite round-headed window above with upper glazing bars in architrave; canted right corner of this has narrow first-floor window with upper glazing bars. Projecting corner tower has paired Ionic columns supporting ground floor entablature with dentilled frieze; long panels through upper stages have keyed oeil-de-boeuf below cornices on first floor; second-floor aproned moulded sills to small lights under swags with lions' heads; modillioned cornice to top entablature below balustraded parapet interrupted by continuation of panels through to round-headed dormers containing oeil-de-boeuf under long keystones which extend to moulded round cornice. Ribbed dome supports lantern of 4 angled pairs of Ionic columns framing niches, with top open-work sphere supporting statue (replica, the original inside the theatre) of Terpsichore. Right return has blank ground floor, Venetian first-floor window. Brick rear range has shallow canted first-floor bay windows with upper glazing bars. Plaque on right return commemorates laying of foundation stone by Vesta Tilley on September 29th, 1906. INTERIOR: much rich Baroque detail. Main entrance has circular lobby with painted classical scenes, terrazzo floor. Auditorium wide with 2 curved balconies, the lower with side arcades to stairs which rise to balcony from stalls level. Above these lower stairs boxes project in round turrets at second-balcony level, with paired Ionic columns supporting balustraded moulded cupolas with gabled dormers. Rectangular proscenium arch with central raised tablet. Ribbed coved ceiling with stucco decoration in Baroque style. All balconies have richly moulded fronts. A remarkably unaltered interior, carefully restored by the Borough Council. (The Curtains Committee: Curtains: 1982-: 184).'
Originally called the Empire Palace and opened by Vesta Tilley, music hall entertainer and male impersonator. The 90 feet high tower featured a revolving sphere topped by a statue of Terpsichore, the muse of music and dance. The theatre closed in 1959. Sunderland Council bought it and reopened it in 1960 when the Beatles played during their first UK tour. On 26 April 1976 the 'Carry On' actor Sid James suffered a fatal heart attack on stage during 'The Mating Season'. The theatre is said to be haunted by the ghosts of Vesta Tilley and Molly Moselle, assistant manager to a touring company {Kirkup 2009}. William and T R Milburn architects were commissioned by local man Richard Thornton to create the “Empire Palace”. The empire was opened as a partnership between Richard Thornton, Edward Moss and Oswald Stoll. It is a splendid example of Edwardian architecture.
The building is still in use as an entertainment venue and is now the largest theatre in the region. In 2004 it received a £4.6m refurbishment and now has state of the art equipment as well as a luxurious four level auditorium seating 2250. It is in brilliant condition, surpassing even its newly built grandeur. Recent renovations also revealed the original marble walls and paintings which are proudly on show in its original Edwardian interior.