Majestic Cinema
Quebec Street,
Leeds,
LS1 4DS
Quebec Street,
Leeds,
LS1 4DS
6 people
favorited this theater
Showing 22 comments
Grand opening ad posted.
Bikerpeter do you remember any more names from that time?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-47779148
Announced today building will be Channel 4’s New Leeds headquarters.
article about conversion to office space. The rendering show 2 statues on the exterior will reappear.https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/construction-work-begins-on-40m-redevelopment-of-leeds-city-centre-landmark-1-9006462
January 2015 update. The auditorium interior has now been completely removed, along with the remains of the roof, leaving just the outside walls. Difficult to see from outside, but it looks like at least part of the balcony has also been demolished. Photos:–
MAJESTIC CINEMA
MAJESTIC CINEMA
MAJESTIC CINEMA
A few videos of the fire.
http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/video/news/leeds-majestyk-nightclub-fire-3814897528001
http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/top-stories/leeds-majestyk-fire-glorious-dome-lost-forever-says-heritage-chief-1-6870789
Sad to see the fire at the Majestic Leeds. My grandad Andrew Roberton came from Newcastle to open and manage the Majestic in 1921.
bikerpeter here again.
Re Tez contribution. During my time at the Majestic during the run of Sound of Music which was still running at capacity houses at every performance I cannot recall there being Saturday mornings kids shows because we just wouldn’t be able to do so alongside The Sound of Music. Indeed it was very early into the extended run that the box office accountancy was in serious trouble and in consequence inevitable serious deficits. Apart from myself,the other assistant and Lee Prescott the General Manager no one else had a working knowledge of road show advance ticketing which was then quite complex, each and every book of ticket stubs including sold, unsold and half price had to be counted daily and I would guess we were taking advance bookings at least a month ahead of performance dates so chaos was inevitable. The only aid to accountancy we had was an Olivetti hand crank operated adding machine which we bought from the theatre’s 12/6d pw sales deficit allowance. Always drawn but never dipped into because kiosk and ice cream sales were tightly controlled and instead spent in the nearby pub). A pretty useless bit of kit because it was quicker and more accurate to do our sums mentally. No help whatsoever was ever forthcoming from the hierarchy of course, the corporate expression of the day being “The ball’s in your court”, in other words, your problem you sort it. Referring back to the kids matinées, there couldn’t have been live performances by pop groups simply because there were no stage facilities whatsoever, The huge deeply curved Todd-A-O screen was immediately behind the screen tabs and the stalls balustrade, probably a meter at most, with no room whatsoever for even a raised dais. Not withstanding my recall of the period which I believe is accurate any relevant comment will be appreciated of course.
They used to run great Saturday morning Matinees during the Sound of Music run.
I saw the Three Stooges, Old Mother Riley, Norman wisdom and many other classics. Batman cliffhanger series too.
A kids pop band would entertain us at half time. I remember stamping my feet to Bits and Pieces by the Dave Clarke Five. Great memories :–)
AT LAST…. Found It.. Interior picture of theatre found.. Have done my best I can for clarity..
I’ve always loved the cinema experience, not just to see films but to absorb the atmosphere and decor. Still a teenager, my first experience of big screen presentations was South Pacific in the fifties at the Majestic which “flicked my switch”. A few years later I got a job with Rank as trainee assistant manager and subsequently deputised for managers rest days at various cinemas in Yorkshire and Lancashire. My last base was at the Majestic Leeds at the start of record run of Sound of Music. Lee Prescott was the General Manager and the staff were a friendly hard working brigade.Every morning arriving for work with queues already formed at the Advance booking office on Wellington Street. I took every opportunity to stand at the back of the stalls under the projection booth to take in the opening sequence as the camera panned down onto Julie Andrews and the accompanying enveloping sound system. So sad to see the venue close and absolutely horrifying to see the gross vandalism of the massive dome as can be seen on Flickr. Still all is not lost, the restorers have done a magnificent job and are to be congratulated wholeheartedly and I look forward to the venue’s renaisance.
My mother used to work at the Majestic , not sure of the years she worked there but , she used to talk about when the Rolling Stones appeared there and Judy Garland, as well as seeing the big blockbuster movies of the time such as The Sound Of Music over and over again as an usherette.
The former Majestic has now been converted to – at the time of writing – unlet retail space with a possible separate live music venue in the basement. Most surviving internal features have been retained but additional windows have been punched through at ground floor level. Two photos from October 2012.
MAJESTIC CINEMA
MAJESTIC CINEMA
PS – can the name of this entry be changed back to Majestic now please?
Some Todd-AO / 70mm Roadshows at the Majestic:
SOUTH PACIFIC – 21st Sept 1958 to 27th June 1959 (40 weeks)
THE SOUND OF MUSIC – 18th April 1965 to 30th Sept 1967 (128 weeks)
DOCTOR DOLITTLE – 24th Dec 1967 to 27 April 1968 (18 weeks)
STAR! – 21st July 1968 to 23rd Nov 1968 (18 weeks)
OLIVER! – 22nd Dec 1968 to 26th April (18 weeks)
an exterior from a few years ago showing the scale of the building and the stage house
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At the intersection of Wellington Street and Quebec Street.
saw , the sound of music, here. What a great screen…sadly missed
Bingo was initially played during afternoons in the Majestic Ballroom from 1961.By 1967 it had taken over the ballroom completely.In 1969, Rank closed the former Coliseum/Gaumont which was now on Top Rank Bingo and moved the entire bingo operation into the Majestic Cinema.The final film shown at the Majestic was Clint Eastwood in ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’ on 10th July 1969.
Only ever went to Leeds Majestic once and that was to see a re-run of ‘The King And I’ in 70mm. Another fine Leeds cinema no longer in use for that purpose.
A few shots – including interior – from 1986 here:–
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A 2007 shot of the exterior – the nightclub has now closed, and the Majestic is rumoured to become a Casino, this may well involve restoring the interior.
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An interior shot of the partitioned-off balcony showing the domed ceiling and part of the frieze here:–
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