Page 13 - The Palace @ 100

A Dynamic Architect

The Theatre Trust's 'Guide to British Theatres Redditch Arts Council
1750-1950' tells us that……. Newsletter July 1969
1924-26

‘……Crewe specialised entirely in theatres and,
‘At this time, the Palace
subsequently, cinemas. One of the most dynamic
was more or less as it was
architects of the 1890s-1900s, with a florid, at times
built. An operating box
almost wild splendour, coloured by a mannerist
had been built at the back
Baroque, probably the influence of his time in Paris. of the circle,restricting the
His early work with Sprague was tepid by number of seats behind the
comparison with his later extravagance (e.g. rear gangway to what was
Lyceum, Glasgow Palace, Shaftesbury). Crewe's appropriately known as
work is typified by horizontal balconies tied to the ‘Jury-Box’, but the
ranges of stage boxes set in a frame, the whole entrance to this was from
making a gorgeous and elaborate frontispiece. His the circle. The building in
decorative features are completely three-
fact had no frontage on
dimensional, stunning caryatids, giant elephant
Grove Street at all; the
heads, seated gods - an invigorating atmosphere for
houses there ran right up
the music halls and melodrama houses which his
to the corner.
theatres invariably were. At the Stoll, he designed
an opera house, more dignified than his music halls, The circle had no centre
but exuberantly magnificent in the best Continental gangway. The rows of
mode, with borrowings from American giantism. seats ran right across
Unlike Matcham, whom in many ways he resembles, from one side gangway to
Crewe could produce really competent facades the other. This was
which were convincing in both theatrical and probably true of
architectural terms. After the First World War he
‘downstairs’ as well.
went on to design many cinemas and a few theatres,
There was certainly a
but his manner became lame and he dwindled into
solid two and a half foot
the rounded banalities of the Odeon style. After
high partition from one
Crewe's death in 1937, his partner, Henry Gordon side to the other, cutting
Kay, continued in practice for some years.’
off the stalls, approached
from the foyer, from the

From: The Theatre Trust “Guide to British Theatres 1750 – pit, which was for rude
1950” First Published 2000 by A & C Black. people who paid at a
ISBN 0-7136-5688-3
separate pay-box.’

1920s
Page 7