Millfield Theatre

Last updated

Millfield Theatre
Millfield Theatre - Bruce Forsyth Auditorium.jpg
Millfield Theatre
Millfield Theatre
Location Edmonton
London, N18
United Kingdom
Coordinates 51°36′59″N0°04′43″W / 51.6165°N 0.0787°W / 51.6165; -0.0787
Public transit Overground roundel (no text).svg National Rail logo.svg Silver Street
Owner London Borough of Enfield
Capacity 362
Construction
Opened1988;36 years ago (1988)
Rebuilt2009
Website
www.millfieldtheatre.co.uk

Millfield Theatre forms part of Millfield Arts Centre, which encompasses Millfield Theatre and Millfield House in Edmonton, and The Dugdale Centre in Enfield Town. The theatre is owned, managed and funded entirely by London Borough of Enfield. It has 17 full-time staff working on site at the theatre, and employs many more casual staff. Ushers at the theatre are all volunteers. The 18th Century Millfield House houses the theatre's administration and contains rooms which are available for hire, and also plays host to a number of educational classes and workshops for children and adults.

Contents

History of Millfield Theatre

The opening of the Sir Bruce Forsyth Auditorium 6 October 2009 Sir Bruce Forsyth opening The Sir Bruce Forsyth Auditorium at Millfield Theatre on October 6th 2009 2014-08-10 12-29.jpg
The opening of the Sir Bruce Forsyth Auditorium 6 October 2009
Millfield Theatre's first production Humpty Dumpty Humpty Dumpty Millfield Theatre 1988 2014-08-10 12-40.jpg
Millfield Theatre's first production Humpty Dumpty

Millfield Theatre opened on 15 December 1988 in the grounds of Millfield House on Silver Street in Edmonton, North London. It was the first new theatre built in London after the National Theatre in 1976 and seats up to 362 in a variety of stage layouts.

The first production was the pantomime Humpty Dumpty starring Bobby Crush and set the trend of producing an annual Christmas pantomime that continues today.

The Millfield Theatre was built largely thanks to Councillor Lionel Genn who was the Mayor of the London Borough of Enfield from 1972-1973. In recognition of this the theatre auditorium was named the Lionel Genn auditorium in 1989. [1] However shortly after this, an Investigative News Television Programme implicated Mr Genn in a financial scandal and his name was removed from the theatre.[ citation needed ]

The theatre was re-opened on 6 October 2009 by the performer Bruce Forsyth following significant refurbishment, [2] gaining a new cafe bar, performance space, toilet block and box office. The main auditorium was renamed the Sir Bruce Forsyth Auditorium because Forsyth was born in Edmonton.

Programme

Millfield Pantomime Millfield Theatre Pantomime - Mother Goose 2012.jpg
Millfield Pantomime

Millfield Theatre plays host to comedy, musical, drama, dance, children's and music shows throughout the year. Most shows at the theatre are professional shows which the management bring in for a fee, or a split of the ticket sales. The venue also hosts productions by local Amateur Theatre Companies and local Dance Schools throughout the year. When hired, the venue offers the ability to sell tickets through its own box office.

Transport

The theatre is located close to the Great Cambridge roundabout, where the North Circular and A10 meet. The nearest railway station is Silver Street, and the following London Bus routes serve the area:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Borough of Enfield</span> London borough in United Kingdom

The London Borough of Enfield is a London borough in Greater London, England. The main communities in the borough are Edmonton, Enfield, Southgate and Palmers Green. Enfield is an Outer London borough and forms part of North London, being the northernmost borough and bordering Hertfordshire to the north and Essex to the northeast. The local authority is Enfield London Borough Council, based at Enfield Civic Centre. The borough's population is estimated to be 333,794.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Forsyth</span> British entertainer and presenter (1928–2017)

Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson was an English entertainer and television presenter whose career spanned more than 70 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Palladium</span> West End theatre in London

The London Palladium is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in Soho. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1910. The auditorium holds 2,286 people. Hundreds of stars have played there, many with televised performances. Between 1955 and 1969 Sunday Night at the London Palladium was staged at the venue, produced for the ITV network. The show included a performance by the Beatles on 13 October 1963. One national paper's headlines in the following days coined the term "Beatlemania" to describe the increasingly hysterical interest in the band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Opera House</span> Performing arts venue in London, England

The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a historic opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. The first theatre on the site, the Theatre Royal (1732), served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented. A year later, the first season of operas, by George Frideric Handel, began. Many of his operas and oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buxton Opera House</span> Opera house in Buxton, England

Buxton Opera House is in The Square, Buxton, Derbyshire, England. It is a 902-seat opera house that hosts the annual Buxton Festival and the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival, among others, as well as pantomime at Christmas, musicals and other entertainments year-round. Hosting live performances until 1927, the theatre then was used mostly as a cinema until 1976. In 1979, it was refurbished and reopened as a venue for live performance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmonton, London</span> Town and District of London, England

Edmonton is a town in north London, England within the London Borough of Enfield, a local government district of Greater London. The northern part of the town is known as Lower Edmonton or Edmonton Green, and the southern part as Upper Edmonton. Situated 8.4 miles (13.5 km) north-northeast of Charing Cross, it borders Enfield to the north, Chingford to the east, and Tottenham to the south, with Palmers Green and Winchmore Hill to the west. The population of Edmonton was 82,472 as of 2011.

Tonight at the London Palladium is a British television variety show that is hosted from the London Palladium theatre in the West End. Originally produced by ATV for the ITV network from 1955 to 1969, it went by its original name Sunday Night at the London Palladium from 25 September 1955 until the name was changed to The London Palladium Show from 1966 to 2 February 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Wimbledon Theatre</span> Theatre in London, England

The New Wimbledon Theatre is situated on the Broadway, Wimbledon, London, in the London Borough of Merton. It is a Grade II listed Edwardian theatre built by the theatre lover and entrepreneur, J. B. Mulholland, who at the time was also owner of the King's Theatre in Hammersmith and had owned the Theatre Metropole in Camberwell in the 1890's. Built on the site of a large house with spacious grounds, the theatre was designed by Cecil Aubrey Massey and Roy Young. It seems to have been the only British theatre to have included a Victorian-style Turkish bath in the basement. The theatre opened on 26 December 1910 with the pantomime Jack and Jill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riverfront Arts Centre</span> Arts centre in Newport, Wales

The Riverfront is the principal and newest theatre and arts centre in the City of Newport. It is located on the west bank of the River Usk on the Bristol Packet Wharf in the city centre. Designed by architectural firm Austin-Smith:Lord, the centre was opened on 23 October 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alhambra Theatre, Bradford</span> Theatre in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England

The Alhambra Theatre is a theatre in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, named after the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain, which was the place of residence of the Emir of the Emirate of Granada. It was built in 1913 at a cost of £20,000 for theatre impresario Francis Laidler, and opened on Wednesday 18 March 1914. In 1964, Bradford City Council bought the Alhambra for £78,900 and in 1974, it was designated a Grade II listed building. It underwent extensive refurbishment in 1986. Today it is a receiving house for large-scale touring theatre of all types and the main house seats 1,456.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epsom Playhouse</span> Theatre in Epsom, Surrey

Epsom Playhouse is the main theatre in Epsom and Ewell, Surrey, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hackney Empire</span> Theatre on Mare Street in the London Borough of Hackney, London, England

Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in Hackney in the London Borough of Hackney. Originally designed by Frank Matcham it was built in 1901 as a music hall, and expanded in 2001. Described by The Guardian as "the most beautiful theatre in London" it is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Hexagon</span> Multi-purpose arts venue and theatre in Berkshire, United Kingdom

The Hexagon is a multi-purpose theatre and arts venue in Reading, Berkshire, England. Built in 1977 in the shape of an elongated hexagon, the theatre is operated by Reading Borough Council under the name "Reading Arts and Venues" along with South Street Arts Centre and Reading's concert hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium</span> Performing arts venue and cultural facility in Edmonton, Canada

The Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium is a 4-million-cubic-foot (110,000 m3) performing arts, culture and community facility, located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Millfield House</span>

Millfield House is a Grade II* listed building located in Silver Street, Edmonton, London. Previously a private house, it has been used as an arts centre since 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Millfield Arts Centre</span>

Millfield Arts Centre comprises Millfield Theatre and Millfield House in Edmonton and The Dugdale Centre in Enfield Town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal & Derngate</span> Theatre in Northampton

Royal & Derngate is a theatre complex in the Cultural Quarter of Northampton, England, consisting of the Royal Theatre, Derngate Theatre and the Northampton Filmhouse. The Royal was built by theatre architect Charles J. Phipps and opened in 1884. Ninety-nine years later in 1983, Derngate, designed by RHWL, was built to the rear of the Royal. Whilst the two theatres were physically linked, they did not combine organisations until a formal merger in 1999; they are run by the Northampton Theatres Trust. The Royal Theatre, established as a producing house, has a capacity of 450 seats and since 1976 has been designated a Grade II listed building; Derngate Theatre seats a maximum of 1,200 and is a multi-purpose space in which the auditorium can be configured for a variety of events including theatre, opera, live music, dance, fashion and sports. The Northampton Filmhouse, an independent cinema built to the side of the complex, opened in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Dugdale Centre</span>

Dugdale Arts Centre (DAC) is situated in the centre of Enfield Town. It contains a 150-seat studio theatre, the Museum of Enfield, workshops and small-scale performance spaces and an award-winning cafe restaurant specialising in locally made and sustainable food.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orchard Theatre, Dartford</span>

The Orchard Theatre is a 1025-seat receiving theatre in the centre of Dartford, Kent. It was built by Dartford Borough Council and opened by The Duke of Kent on Thursday 14 April 1983. The theatre hosts a range of popular music, comedy, family, dance, drama, classical music and variety events, as well as an annual pantomime.

References

  1. http://www.elods.org.uk/programmes/Chicago_1989.pdf.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. Baluch, Lalayn (31 March 2009). "Millfield Arts Centre begins £2.5m revamp". News. The Stage Newspaper. Retrieved 11 August 2010.