Gaumont Manchester
44-50 Oxford Street,
Manchester,
M1 5EJ
44-50 Oxford Street,
Manchester,
M1 5EJ
4 people
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Everyone seems to be suffering from amnesia with regards to Romanoff’s. I had an office in Canada House, on Chepstow St. The big back windows opened onto the alleyway between the two buildings. From there I watched the beginning of the conversion, including the bricking up of the original stage-door. All of the old interior fittings came out of the scene-dock, and the new fit-out went in the same way. When finished, and fitted out as the Russian themed Romanoff’s night club. I actually got to see inside, when closed to the general public. There is nothing quite so depressing as a theatrical space, of any kind, with just the low-wattage service lighting turned on and all the tackiness all too apparent. Romanoff’s didn’t last long before being restyled, and rebranded as Rotters.
Here is the full link with extra interior pics of the Gaumont’s conversion to a night club and/or retail.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/12494104@N00/364937183/in/set-72057594058986176/
Vintage photographs of the Gaumont, and its Wurlitzer organ:
http://www.ukwurlitzer.co.cc/2189.html
club flyer for the night GAUMONT at Rotters featuring a nightime photo of the Gaumont in its prime
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/90384206/
Rotters really was the pits as far as Manchester clubs went.
daytime shot from the late 80's
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/3457287388/
nightime shot from around the same time, the Pernod sign neon worked until the early 90's
demolition shots (taken in the days before health and safety when you could wander into demolition sites)
remains for the lobby and circle lobby
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/63380105/
auditorium ceiling with big holes punched in it
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/63695446/
sidewall, lower half painted black from Rotters, upper half with original colour scheme
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/4073398788/
two more auditorium shots
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/65274526/
Here’s a photo of the Gaumont Theater above the fake ceiling when the orchestra level was converted into a nightclub. Very similar fate to what happened to the RKO Madison Theater in Ridgewood, NY, and the Varsity Theater in Chicago, Illinois, both in the US.
View link
The 14 rank Wurlitzer had 4 manuals.