The Tivoli Theatre is one of Aberdeen’s most remarkable buildings. Grade A Listed, it has stood unused and neglected since 1997. The Tivoli Theatre Company Ltd. aims to restore the building and return it to full use. The theatre was founded in 1872 as Her Majesty’s, designed by James Matthews and C.B. Phipps, and improved and redeveloped in 1897 and 1909 by renowned theatrical architect Frank Matc
ham. Re-opening in 1910 as the Tivoli, the building continued to cater for theatre-going audiences until 1966, when the main auditorium began use as a bingo hall, remaining so until 1997, when the Tivoli finally closed its doors to the public. This popular Aberdeen landmark has since fallen into such disrepair that it is now listed on the Scottish Civic Trust’s Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland. As a theatre, the Tivoli hosted some of the country’s best-known performers. These included Andy Stewart, Tony Hancock, Frankie Vaughan, Lex McLean and George Formby. Internationally renowned performers such as WC Fields confirmed the Tivoli as a theatrical venue as popular and loved among performers as it was with the audience. The Tivoli Theatre’s Grade A listing is owed partly to the local and national significance of its designers. James Matthews designed Aberdeen’s Grammar School, Music Hall and Palace Hotel, rooting the theatre in a fine local architectural heritage, while the involvement of Phipps and Matcham endows the building with a national significance. Matcham’s other theatres include the London Palladium, the London Coliseum, the Victoria Palace, and the Hackney Empire; that such a well-known and globally renowned architect should have had such close involvement with the shaping of this building is testament to its significance and the pressing need for its preservation. The project to regenerate the Tivoli aims to create a new mixed-use venue for Aberdeen, which will ensure that the theatre entertains a whole new generation. In recent months the area around the Tivoli has seen huge investment, from the Green Townscape Heritage Initiative’s project to regenerate this historic part of town to the new Union Square shopping complex. The whole area is being given a new lease of life, and so this is the perfect time to do the same for the Tivoli.
