Grimsby Auditorium is a theatre situated on Cromwell Road, in

Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...

. With a seated audience capacity of 1,200 the Grimsby Auditorium is the largest professional

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 ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, and one of the larger theatres in the East of England. Built in 1995, it is today managed by Lincs Inspire on behalf of its owners North East Lincolnshire Council.

Overview

Grimsby Auditorium was designed as a flexible, multi-purpose venue to host a variety of live events including

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

s, theatre shows, social events, conferences and television broadcasts. The main auditorium houses retractable raked seating, which also permits the use of the auditorium as an

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

style venue and sports hall, with different seating formations. Grimsby Auditorium has a maximum

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 1,215 patrons seated and rising to 2,053 standing, the actual number varies depending on the layout and use of the main auditorium. The auditorium stages a professional

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 ...

once per year, featuring both celebrities and local talent. This was previously produced by UK Productions, Pelé Productions and currently Imagine Theatre. Recent pantomimes have included

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...

Jack and the Beanstalk "Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale. It appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 4th edition On Commons and as Benjamin Tabart's moralized "The History of Jack and the Bean-Stalk" in 1807. Henry Cole ...

and

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

. Notable musicians to have appeared at the auditorium include

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...

Kasabian Kasabian ( ) are an English rock band formed in Leicester in 1997 by lead vocalist Tom Meighan, guitarist and occasional vocalist Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist Chris Karloff, and bassist Chris Edwards. Drummer Ian Matthews joined in 2004. Karlof ...

and

The Stereophonics Stereophonics are a Welsh rock band formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in the Cynon Valley, Wales. The band consists of Kelly Jones (lead vocals, lead guitar, keyboards), Richard Jones (bass guitar, harmonica, backing vocals), Adam Zind ...

. In 2020, it received a £233,000 grant from the UK government to help with mandatory closures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.Grimsby Auditorium handed huge 'lifeline' to secure its future through the pandemic
''Grimsby Live''. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2022.

Technical

The Grimsby Auditorium is most commonly used as a traditional proscenium style theatre. The apron is an area of stage that extends beyond the house curtain and is visible to the audience. The apron at Grimsby Auditorium measures 22 metres in width and 2.5 metres in depth. Extensions can also be constructed to extend the stage further into the

Auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...

, a technique employed to create a thrust style stage or a

catwalk A fashion show ( French ''défilé de mode'') is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase their upcoming line of clothing and/or accessories during a fashion week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the Spring/Summer and Fa ...

for fashion shows. The proscenium is the 'archway' that frames the front of the stage area. In more traditional theatres, the proscenium will be a built in feature of the theatre, however the Grimsby Auditorium proscenium is created using fabric curtains. Due to the design of the theatre, Grimsby Auditrium has a flexible proscenium, which can be set at a minimum of 11 metres in width, but can also be made wider depending on the size of the production being staged. The proscenium has a fixed height of 6.1 metres.

The stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...

is the actual performance area of a theatre. Including the apron, the Grimsby Auditorium stage measures a total depth of 11m, with a measurement of 8.5 metres from the line of the house curtain to the

cyclorama A cyclorama is a panoramic image on the inside of a cylindrical platform, designed to give viewers standing in the middle of the cylinder a 360° view, and also a building designed to show a panoramic image. The intended effect is to make vie ...

or back wall. The width of the stage depends on the size of the production being staged as the curtains which form the proscenium and wings are flexible, meaning the stage can be made to appear wider or narrower. The steel grid holding the lighting rig is suspended above the stage at a height of 8.1 metres. An

orchestra pit An orchestra pit is the area in a theater (usually located in a lowered area in front of the stage) in which musicians perform. Orchestral pits are utilized in forms of theatre that require music (such as opera and ballet) or in cases when incide ...

can be created at floor level in various formations. The removal of the stalls and circle seating can see capacity increased to a maximum of 2,053 people.

External links

Official Forum

Grimsby Auditorium

North East Lincolnshire Council Information Page

Technical Specification

References

{{reflist Theatres in Lincolnshire Performance art venues