In pictures and words: The history of Wolverhampton's much loved Grand theatre which is celebrating its 130th birthday this year
Wolverhampton's Grand Theatre is celebrating 130 years of putting on varied productions from musicals to comedy gigs, live concerts and of course the ever popular pantomimes.
Designed in 1894 by architect Charles J.Phipps it opened in December that year with a capacity of 2,151 and the first production was Utopia Limited by the world-renowned D’Oyly Carte Opera company on December 10 1894.
Here we provide a timeline to the Grade II Listed theatre which has been a cornerstone of entertainment in Wolverhampton and the wider region for 130 years.
The theatre cost 10,000 to build back in in the 1800’s.
Nine years later at the end of World War One, the victorious PM David Lloyd George launched his election campaign to a packed auditorium.
When it first opened, the auditorium was segregated by class, with the Dress Circle set aside for members of the gentry.
In the early 1900’s people waited for hours to grab a place in the ‘sixpenny gallery’, now the Grand Circle, where there was no advance booking and queues reaching around the building.
The 1900’s saw a core company of 20 repertory actors and crew grace the stage each week, presenting a new play to the packed masses.
In February 1980, the Grand Theatre closed its doors faced with financial difficulties and a very real prospect of permanent closure.
It was saved partly by members of the 'Save the Grand action group, support from Wolverhampton Borough Council and a grant from the Department of the Environment which enabled the building to be refurbished.
In December 1994, against all odds the Grand celebrated its centenary with a special, one-off performance from the very same D’Oyly Carte Opera Company who appeared there on its opening night.
Another major refurbishment costing £8m in 1998 cemented the Grand’s reputation as one of the country’s leading regional theatres.
In 2017, the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre made a return to producing theatre in-house at the venue. The first in-house production in forty years, Brassed Off, which played from 23 August to 2 September, starred Jeffrey Holland as Danny and featured both professional actors and actors from the local community.
After the theatre received a £2 million expansion grant from the government in 2023, they announced they would purchase the former music venue the Slade Rooms to expand.
The 2023-24 season production, Snow White, was the first fully in-house pantomime at the Grand. It was was also written in-house by panto stars Tam Ryan and the theatre's resident dame Ian Adams.
In May this year it was announced Jamie Christian-Johal aka Giant from the BBC's Gladiators, will star in the upcoming pantomime Beauty and the Beast, making his pantomime debut.
