A chic new café-bar is taking centre stage at a historic city theatre with its latest reveal during ambitious development work.
The Tyne Theatre & Opera House has opened a new 1867 Hall and Café Bar where its Newcastle customers can enjoy drinks, sweet treats and savouries in smart new surroundings. The new 1867 Hall, whose name references the date of the theatre’s opening year, replaces the former Bistro Bar and the added Café Bar doubles as a box office sales point.
The new attraction marks the completion of the initial phase of the theatre’s ambitious development project and it was finished four months sooner than expected. It had an official opening, performed by North East Mayor Kim McGuinness, and the evening of entertainment showed off the new double-height space which has the ability to be adapted for performances as well as community and hospitality events, all in keeping with the theatre’s aim to keep growing and diversifying.
As previously reported, the Grade I-listed theatre in Westgate Road this year celebrates 10 years as an independent venue and a special production of Jesus Christ Superstar, to mark the anniversary, will open on Tuesday, February 25.
The charity which owns and runs the venue, The Tyne Theatre and Opera House Preservation Trust, is focused upon preserving its heritage and a key part of this, the restoration of its wooden stage equipment, is now almost complete. This Victorian stage machinery – one of few surviving examples in the UK – has, as reported, undergone painstaking restoration and is now in working order.
Just this week, it featured in an episode of BBC series The Repair Shop on the Road which described it as ‘a true hidden gem‘. As part of its aim to prioritise preservation, restoration and maintenance, the trust also set up a subsidiary company and all profits made by the theatre are ploughed back into the building to ‘futureproof’ it for generations to come.
The newly-opened 1867 Hall and Café Bar completes the first leg of its Grand Saloon Development Project and was supported by the Creative Central NCL programme which is funded by the North East Combined Authority and Newcastle City Council. The trust is now applying for funding for the next phase which will further develop the 1867 Hall, on the site of a former Westgate Music Hall, for theatre, events, comedy and talks.
And it seems audiences will be in for another surprise treat. Project director David Wilmore has said: “This is just the beginning of an extraordinary journey to restore our second theatre space – a ‘lost’ theatre buried by a century of sub-divisions and alterations. When fully completed it will provide a magical community theatre space seating 325 with heritage ambience and 21st Century facilities.”
See the theatre’s images below of the work that took place on 1867 as well as the sparkling end-result plus read here about a behind-the-scenes tour of the fascinating theatre.
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