'The Quiet Little Englishman' Set for October Premiere
The director is Paula Simms who reports that the production's premiere will be on October 16th, with a likely preview on the 15th. The venue is going to be an old cinema called the Park Palace which is located in Mill Street in the Dingle area of Liverpool.
It has quite a history, having been designed by architect J H Havelock-Sutton and built on the site of an old coach works at a cost of £5,000. It opened in December 1893 as a music hall called Park Palace of Varieties with a seating capacity of 1100 and in Kelly's 1894 directory was described as:
"...an
edifice of brick with an imposing front
panelled red bricks and terracotta. A
large sunlight hangs from the
ceiling.
The
building is supplied with ample entrances
and exits and is ventilated to the latest
principles."
The Park Palace (pictured left in 2004) finally closed its doors in March 1959 as its attendances were hit hard by the popularity of television.
Zho are turning the old building into a temporary venue for the event and the company are also making a documentary drama film about its history with contributions from the local community as Paula explains:
"Many of the people we have been interviewing remember it well and talk about the early days of cinema with great fondness. It's a great project to work on and a lot of people have told us that although it was a bit of a flea pit it was the preferred cinema because it had the best sound, so it seems right to do it there."
The BBC have
also been filming at the old building and
have approached this website for
photographs of George for a forthcoming
broadcast piece. Zho have just appointed
a marketing and press coordinator and
with a
recent article in the
St.Helens Star, it looks
like George Groves' achievements are
about to be given even more exposure.
Watch this space for more on this
exciting project!
