Opera House & Winter Gardens

The country’s largest theatre, with a seating capacity of almost 3000, the Opera House is a famous venue which has seen performances from the world’s greatest entertainers and shows, ever since it opened in 1939.

Hollywood stars such as Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and Bob Hope have all graced the Opera House stage. More recently, stars including Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, Ronan Keating, Jim Davidson and Peter Kay have performed to sell-out audiences here.

The Winter Gardens has recently seen a £1.25m refurbishment to the Church Street entrance, Rotunda and Floral Hall along with the stunning interior of the new Café facility covered up since the late 1960’s.

One of the most exciting discoveries during the works was the uncovering of the plasterwork designed by renowned film set designer Andrew Mazzei in the former Floral Hall Bar.
The plaster had been covered up when the space was converted to an amusement arcade but remarkably survived along with its original mirrors almost completely intact. It has now been completely restored and re-painted to form the new Café area serving the Floral Hall and the core of the complex.

The new café is to be operated by the award winning catering company Heathcotes Outside as a coffee shop. This new café area will utilise Mazzei’s unique interior to create a fantastically quirky ambience and a high quality facility to encourage the public back in to the complex. The new Café is to be called Mazzei’s