Stockport

[Michele Monro]

The Plaza first opened its doors to the public on 6th October 1932, with a charity show for Stockport Infirmary. The films shown were “Jailbird”, starring Laurel and Hardy, and “Out of the Blue” with Gene Gerrard and Jessie Matthews. Ticket prices ranged from 7d (3p) to 2/- (10p).

During construction, no expense was spared on the interior of The Plaza. The Super Cinema contains rich plaster decoration throughout the foyers, auditorium and large first floor café, which still has its own entrance and can be opened independently of the theatre.

The Plaza began a programme of entertainment never seen before in Stockport with a mix of cinema and live performance. Shows included a silent newsreel, accompanied by The Plaza orchestra, featuring the Compton organ played by resident organist, Mr Cecil Chadwick. The site, in Mersey Square, Stockport, was previously occupied by a row of small terraced cottages, backing onto the sandstone cliff that form one side of the Mersey gorge. The site was chosen because of its great commercial potential, with all Stockport’s buses and trams terminating in the Square. However, it presented a huge technical challenge. 10,000 tons of rock had to be removed to make room for the new Super Cinema and buildings on each side had to be shored up during the massive excavation work. Despite its extensive frontage, most of The Plaza is actually underground with 12 dressing rooms forty feet below street level, most of which are accessed from a corridor which runs full width underneath the stage.

The original decoration included gold and silver glazes, glowing with colour generated by a complex Holophane lighting system, which was a three circuit arrangement that could be adjusted to produce any colour of the rainbow. The central dome was lined with silver foil, which cast multicoloured light down into the auditorium from the 1000 lamps around its base.

A full height fly tower extends across the front third of the stage. The rear two-thirds runs underneath the street at the back of the building, making the Plaza larger inside than out! A massive riveted lattice steel beam, across the stage, supports the back wall of the building and the street.

One of the greatest assets of The Plaza is its organ, which has survived intact and in full working order. The organ was built by John Compton Organ Co. Ltd. and was one of the first Compton Theatre Organs to be built with decorative glass panels, illuminated in various colours. It was instruments, like The Plaza organ, that encapsulated the spirit and atmosphere of 1930’s Super Cinema.

The Compton organ is a three manual instrument of special design with a unique 150 stopkey layout plus 42 toe and thumb pistons. It has 11 ranks of pipes situated in 2 chambers, one over the other, concealed behind the decorative grill in the wall to the right of the stage. There is no electric amplification, as the magnificent sound is produced straight from the organ pipes. The organist controls the volume by the swell pedals, which open and close the shutters in the grill. Positioned on a lift, the organ rises out of the floor and fills The Plaza with sound before shows, during silent movies, variety acts and musical interludes between films. Apart from the orchestral sounds of traditional instruments, the organ can supply a vast range of effects from sleigh bells to aircraft and sea sounds.

In 1965 the Plaza was sold to the Mecca Leisure Group for conversion to a Bingo hall. The switch to bingo was fought by Stockport Council but Mecca appealed to the Government and won their case. The Plaza's final show was on 31st December 1966 and featured Jerry Lee Lewis in “Three on a Coach” and Audie Murphy in “The Texican” and William Starr at the organ. Rank Leisure sold the Plaza to Stockport Plaza Trust in March 2000 and, after massive community and volunteer effort, audiences took their seats for the opening show on 7th October 2000.

These are the main reasons Matt loves this theatre so much. It is beautiful and still stands proud against modern society. Another reason that it stands out so much is that the theatre is completely run by volunteers and there remains the same faces year after year and always with a big warm smile to greet you. There are not many venues that can boast of that sort of welcome.

In fact Sally who is the theatre's RSM (Resident Stage Manager) became a close friend of Matt's after his first appearance there several years ago. It was indeed fortuitous then that she was able to help us out with the merchandise last night for there was no sign of Pam or Paul!! The problem was that although the staff were happy to sell the merchandise Matt had to bring it all in from the car and set it all up himself, he wasn't that thrilled especially as it was storming badly outside and the elements were definitely unkind.

Normally we might not have bothered but most of the stock is produced especially for the tour and cannot be bought elsewhere. If it is not in plain sight people get upset, more so once they find out Matt comes out after the show to sign their photos, brochures and CD's and at this time of year gifts are wanted for Christmas.

The show was once again very rewarding and it was especially nice to see Stephen Garner, a friend from the BBC who has been very helpful to me in writing the book. One friend who was scheduled to come was photographer Harry Goodwin but it is possible that the weather deterred him as it was spewing gale force winds on the roads.

Matt has agreed that THE hat will stay in the show for the while. Once he got over the fact that no one thought he looked silly, he felt better about wearing it. What most people don't realize is that deep down Matt is quite shy and he is wary of anything new in case the audience don't approve, but he needn't have worried last night - it went down a storm.

There was one person who didn't enjoy the show, poor Danny, our trumpet player was suffering from a stomach problem and he really was not well. At one point he snuck off the stage while Matt was talking to the audience and made a quick trip to the bathroom. We hope you feel better soon Danny.

I must admit I did feel slightly sorry for my brother when he rang me at midnight to tell me he had only just finished packing up all the merchandise - by himself. Luckily Sally felt sorry for him and has volunteered to travel up to Glasgow with Matt today and take care of the stand tonight, so that takes some of the pressure off. This is a good thing as it was more than a five hour journey yesterday and another three today although because of the gale force conditions on the road it will probably take Matt much longer. I hope the show is worth it because tomorrow the whole day will be spent making the eight hour trip back ready for Hayes on Wednesday.

Till tomorrow
Toodles

[mariana44]

Poor Matt is really going through it this tour, isn't he?

I guess hardly any of those watching know what he has been through, and what he has had to do , on top of performing.

That is pure dedication.

[Marian]

We hope Matt has a safe and uneventful journey back from Glasgow today. It was really horrendous on the roads yesterday.
Marian