Odeon London Covent Garden
135 Shaftesbury Avenue,
London,
WC2H 8AH
135 Shaftesbury Avenue,
London,
WC2H 8AH
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Showing 26 - 41 of 41 comments
Just because I was trying to find the date of “the ABC management buy-out which brought back the ABC name again”, it was around May 1996.
The condition report is an interesting read – love the photo of the abandoned bar area looking very 1960s/70s!
Just what we don’t need is 4 tiny cinemas that don’t really add to the programming although if the Curzon goes I may eat my words… Give us more genuine arthouse / repertory screens that keep people interested in movies not screens that just add capacity!
Plans currently submitted to covert it into a Hotel. Four tiny Cinemas in basement with a two story roof addition. See camden council planning website for details.
Exterior photos from April 2008.
A set of vintage photographs of the ABC Shaftesbury Avenues here:
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exterior night time shots march 2009
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/3337496767/
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A better view of the original shot on this listing here:–
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A recent (August 2006) photograph:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zonca/214891039/
3 2004 exterior views of the Odeon Covent Garden here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/persia2004/40892556/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/persia2004/40892470/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/persia2004/40892597/
Great loss as a Theatre. But as previously stated there is the Beatle connection and for those interested the stage can be seen in use with the fab four on it including house Tabs if you watch the Beatles “Hello GoodBye” video on the anthology set.
While Mr Leslie Scott Slaughter may have worked on the design of the Saville Theatre, official records show that the consulting architect was Bertie Crewe, the builders were Messers Gee, Walker and Slater and it was designed by architects T. P. Bennett & Son.
It opened as the Saville Theatre on 8th October 1931 with 1,426 seats. It closed in 1970 and was converted into a twin screen cinema (architects William Ryder & Associates). It is a Listed Grade II building for its facade which features a sculptured relief frieze by Gilbert Bayes representing ‘Drama Through the Ages’. Nothing remains internally of the original features of this art deco building.
The Odeon is not renovating, it is open as a 4 screen cinema.
The Saville’s architect was Leslie Scott Slaughter (1898 – 1938). He was an Associate Member of the British Institute of Architects, and worked with Sir Geoffrey Jellico and TP Bennett. He was my grandfather.
Not a success? The Saville Theatre was leased by Brian Epstein in the 60s and is where the Fab Four filmed the videos of Hallo Goodbye.
Jimmi Hendrix, Fats Domino, The Bee Gees, The Who, Pink Floyd, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Elton John, The Beatles, Chuck Berry….. have all played at the Saville. As have Sir Harry Secombe and Leonard Rossiter…
When it was converted from the Saville the auditorium was virtually gutted to form two cinemas and the same has happened in 2001 when the entire space has been redesigned to form four screens. Now called the Odeon Covent Garden – though this is confusing as the site is not in Covent Garden!