Easter Sunday will see the first show at the Epstein Theatre in almost two years when the venue reopens in a £1m relaunch for its first test event ahead of a full autumn season. Tony McDonough reports
Audiences will be welcomed back to the Epstein Theatre in Liverpool on Easter Sunday in the first show at the venue since it closed in June 2023.
It was thought then the Hanover Street theatre was closed for good. But new investors are to spend £1m reviving the venue with the first test event on Easter Sunday, April 20. A full autumn season of shows will be launched with a gala night in September.
Easter Sunday will see the staging of Dancing in the Aisles. This afternoon cabaret show will be a recurring slot at the Epstein, with the first show being hosted by popular Liverpool actor and comedian Lindzi Germain.
The line-up will include singer-songwriter, musician and playwright Asa Murphy, Scouse stage and screen star Crissy Rock, LiverBird Victoria Jones and vocal trio The Livertones. Tickets, which include a welcome drink, are now on sale on www.epsteintheatre.com
Further events will take place over the next few months, including visits by cult stage comedy Beating Berlusconi! on May 24, Laughterhouse Comedy and an extra Liverpool date for the new touring stage show Something About Lennon – The John Lennon Story.
Beating Berlusconi! stars Paul Duckworth and is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Liverpool’s historic Champions League win in Istanbul. It was inspired by a real-life encounter inside the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in May 2005.
Laughterhouse Comedy’s line-up includes Paul Sinha (The Chase), Tom Stade (Live at the Apollo) and Scott Bennett (Royal Variety Performance), Laughterhouse Comedy will also be a regular monthly show at the Epstein, with more big names to follow.
Something About Lennon, which comes from Liverpool’s Something About Productions, will mark the end of its inaugural nationwide tour with a special date at the Epstein Theatre on Sunday, July 6.
The Epstein has also revealed a partnership with Liverpool performing arts and creative media institution LMA which will take over the auditorium from May 6-23 and 27-30 to present its degree shows in acting and musical theatre.
A full autumn schedule will be launched with a special Gala Night on Friday, September 19 – Brian Epstein’s birthday – which will feature local acts and celebrities.
In June 2023 it was announced the theatre would close for good after operator Epstein Entertainments said it had been unable to secure financial support from Liverpool City Council.
The theatre has been able to reopen its doors due to a transfer of the head lease from the former leaseholders to JSM Company Group, which holds a portfolio of properties in Liverpool and is now responsible for Hanover House, the theatre’s home. Liverpool City Council retains the freehold.
JSM has leased the Epstein Theatre to Theatrical Times, a partnership between investors Joseph Roe and Anthony M Sheedy. Anthony Proctor, who was Epstein’s theatre manager and programmer from 2022-23, returns as general manager and theatre director.
Anthony said: “We’ve had an overwhelming response since the news broke that the Epstein Theatre was reopening its doors – it’s obvious the venue is much-loved in the city and has been much-missed by both audiences and performers.
“I’m very pleased we’re now able to announce our first test event in the auditorium. Dancing in the Aisles is the perfect Easter Sunday afternoon treat, and we’ve got a great line-up of Liverpool talent to entertain our first audience in almost two years. The show is aimed at audiences aged 16 and up, and tickets are already selling fast.”
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A Grade II-listed building, the Epstein started life in 1915 as the Crane Concert Hall, situated above the Crane brothers’ music emporium in Hanover Street.
It was renamed the Crane Theatre in 1938, and in 1967 the lease was taken over by the then Liverpool Corporation. Following refurbishment of the auditorium, including the stage, it reopened the following year as the Neptune Theatre.
The venue was closed in 2005 due to health and safety concerns. When it reopened its doors in 2011, following a £1.2m upgrade, it gained its current name – the Epstein Theatre – in honour of the late Brian Epstein.