Brighton Hippodrome holds first performance in 60 years to mark the start of major refurbishment
Brighton Hippodrome has held its first performance in 60 years to mark the start of an extensive refurbishment.
The historic venue held an open day with entertainment from the Singing Barber - to give people a chance to view the building before the two-year restoration.
It follows a 10 year campaign to get the venue, which once hosted the Beatles - reopened.
Simon Lambour, Director of Matsim said: "We've been battling away for the last three and a half years to bring forward the proposals.
"Great news is we finally got the planning last month, and that means we're now full steam ahead with the works.
"We just wanted to take the opportunity to get the general public in here one last time before the full works effectively shuts the building until the grand opening.
Simon Lambor, of Matsim
"We've got an awful lot of work left, effectively two years, just under two years, hopefully.
"We've already done a lot of the time-consuming stuff - put a new roof over the auditorium.
"We've fully restored the Frank Matcham fibrous plaster ceiling, that took an awful lot of work.
"We had Artisan Plastercraft helping us with that, one of the few specialist contractors in the country that deal with ceilings like this.
"At some point in 2026, it's going to be in excess of 2,000 people!
"With modern fire regulations, we've heard about 4,000 attending the Beatles with lots of screaming girls in 1964, but things have changed slightly since then, but we can't wait to see it back open and buzzing with energy again."
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