“THE discovery of concealed entrances, blocked-in shafts and hidden cavities have all made possible a complete transformation in the interior of the Opera House,” the Evening Post reported on Wednesday 18 February 1959.
Sixty-six years ago, the historic venue was also undergoing refurbishment but on this occasion it was being turned back into a theatre after its time as a cinema.
The last film showing had taken place on 20 December and, in the six weeks since, new owner Tommy Swanson had, in the words of the EP, “supervised alterations which many considered impracticable”.
On Saturday 21 February, the not-quite-completed Opera House was due to open its doors to the public for a boxing tournament and then the following week a Jersey Green Room Club production was to be staged. Then there would be a month’s break for the works to be finished.
“Theatre-goers will at first be struck by a feeling of extra space,” the EP said of the new-look venue. “The blending of five darker colours on a background of mist-blue gives height as well as width to the auditorium. The original centrally suspended chandelier has been removed to show the high dome, which has been finished in geranium red, gold, silver lilac, and midnight blue. These colours are those that predominate in the entire scheme.”
The biggest structural alteration was the introduction of 16 boxes using previously unavailable space, including the “blocking up of an unnecessary exit on ground level”.
Mr Swanson had major plans for an indoor relaxation and entertainment centre, of which the Opera House was only one part. He also envisaged transforming the buildings either side in Gloucester Street and Seaton Place to provide extensive bars, clubroom facilities and a ballroom, but these were not expected to be completed before the season of 1960.
“Noted for its acoustics and a stage which, when originally built, could take the largest scenery then used at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, the Opera House stands upon a site where a place of entertainment has stood for nearly a century,” the EP continued. “Two fires have since made alterations necessary. None, it is thought, succeeded quite as well as this recent remodelling.”
It went on to describe the new maple-wood floor for the stage, improved lighting and a “sub-illuminated gangway” around the orchestra pit for dancing girls to come out into the auditorium.
An illustrated lecture on trans-Atlantic balloon flight had been booked in for 19 February but was cancelled at short notice owing to “unforeseen circumstances” so it was the Green Room Club which got the Opera House going again as a theatre with their “riotous comedy” Sailor Beware starring Eileen Marshall and Beryl Hanning.
“You can’t criticise this play, you can only sit back and enjoy it,” the Evening Post said in its review published on 24 February. “If this Green Room Club production gets the support it deserves then the Opera House has got off to a first-class start in its new career. May every play and show put on this stage be as entertaining as this one.”
After another break to allow the completion of the refurbishment works, the Opera House programme got going again. Next up was The Les Allen Bandshow on Saturday 7 March, promising “two-and-a-half hours of quick-fire variety with a galaxy of sparkling artistes and musicians”.
Then it was the turn of Islanders to show what they could do with the opportunity to compete in a “Television and Radio Talent Contest” offering a “wonderful opportunity for a stage career”. “Can you sing? Can you dance? Have you a skiffle or vocal group? Can you hula-hoop?” the advert in the EP asked.
Sixteen acts made it through to the final on Tuesday 17 March. The judges’ top choice was Miss Gwyneth Williams, described as a typist who had “a very pleasant voice”, who “also scored points for her personality and poise”.
Second was Dick, a comedian, who had the audience shouting for more, with his impressions, singing and playing of the comb and paper. Third was rock ’n’ roll group the Five Aces.
And they were not the only rock ’n’ rollers to appear on the Opera House stage that month. The crowd went wild for teen idol Wee Willie Harris – “the wild man of British rock ‘n’ roll” – when he brought his Package Show to the theatre for one night only on 21 March, with support from The Bachelors and The Rockin’ Rockets. He boasted “the most expensive head of hair in British show business”, his pink quiff being valued at £12,000 (around £240,000 in today’s money).
“If his screaming fans tear it out at the roots, as they sometimes try to do when hunting for souvenirs… Mr Wee Willie Harris collects a big pile of money,” the Evening Post wrote in an interview with the “dynamic pint-sized entertainer”. The 25-year-old former pastry cook from Bermondsey was now receiving 200 fan letters a week, including proposals of marriage from women all over the British Isles. “And it’s not because he is good looking,” the EP observed, “because he definitely isn’t.”
And then it was the turn of the Green Room Club again to cement the Opera House’s return as a theatre with a production of The Merry Widow, running from 28 March to 4 April, starring Jean Askew and Vincent Williams, with choreography by Lois Dodwell.
