The Grand Theatre, Derby was a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

in the

English Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

. It was opened in 1886, designed in an

Italian renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

style by a Birmingham architect Oliver Essex. It originally had a capacity of 2,500. Shortly after opening the theatre suffered a major fire, in which two people were killed and the building substantially damaged. Rebuilt it became a successful venue for touring companies and

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

. In 1950 the theatre was closed down and was later converted into a ballroom. In 1924 the play '' Dracula'' starring

Hamilton Deane Hamilton Deane (1880 – 25 October 1958) was an Irish actor, playwright and director. He played a key role in popularising Bram Stoker's 1897 novel '' Dracula'' as a 1924 stage play and a 1931 film. Biography Deane was born in New Ross i ...

began its tour in Derby. In 1945 the play ''

A Man About the House ''A Man About the House'' is a British drama film directed by Leslie Arliss and released in 1947. The film is a melodrama, adapted for the screen by J. B. Williams from the 1942 novel of the same name by Francis Brett Young. A theatrical ada ...

'' premiered at the Grand before transferring to the West End.Wearing p.223

References

Bibliography

* Armitage, Jill. ''Derby A History''. Amberley Publishing Limited, 2014. * Browning, John Edgar & Picart, Caroline Joan. ''Dracula in Visual Media: Film, Television, Comic Book and Electronic Game Appearances, 1921-2010''. McFarland, 2014. * Wearing, J.P. ''The London Stage 1940-1949: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. Theatres in Derby Theatres completed in 1886 1886 establishments in England {{UK-theat-struct-stub