Tag: Shows

Alicia School of Dancing in St Annes

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Alicia’s School of Dancing operated from the 1920s to the 1960s from a studio behind this house at 123 St Andrews Road South in St Annes. It was a dance school offering classes in various styles, including ballet, tap, and modern. The school was active during that period, with students taking lessons and participating in showcases. While the full history beyond this period is not detailed, it represents a part of the local dance scene in St. Annes at that time. It was a place where students could develop their dance skills and participate in stage performances. The school’s presence… Read more »

Brian Woods Starts an Independent Production Company

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Brian Edwards (born 16 March 1963 in Lytham St Annes) is a BAFTA award-winning British documentary filmmaker, who founded and currently runs True Vision, an independent production company, which concentrates mainly on human rights-related subjects. Woods was educated at Cambridge University, where he read Natural Sciences at Fitzwilliam College. In 1993 he started his first independent production company that evolved into True Vision in the fullness of time. This link and the red VISIT WEBSITE button below will take you to True Vision’s website where you can see the full list of films the company has produced. Through the company… Read more »

Cheryl Fergison First Appears in Eastenders

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Cheryl El Jamouni (born 27 August 1965 in London), known professionally as Cheryl Fergison, is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Heather Trott in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, a role in which she starred in from 2007 until 2012. Fergison moved to the Fylde Coast eight years ago (2017) and now lives in Cleveleys with her husband and son. In January 2025 she told her 54.6k followers on social media that she would be singing at the opening night of Dragon Lounge, 120 Victoria Road West, Cleveleys – formerly the Great Fortune House, which… Read more »

Peter Gunn Appears in Brassed Off!

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Peter Gunn, born 13 February 1963 in Lytham St Annes, is an English actor who’s appeared in several TV series and films. He has been married to Julie L. Livesey since July 2000 and they have two sons, George and Tom. On British television, perhaps Gunn is best known as the character Len Cosgrove in the BBC series Born and Bred as well as dozens of guest-starring and recurring roles in other television series and films such as: Brassed Off! (1996), Frost, Heartburn Hotel, and Sunshine. To American audiences, he may be better known for Blue Juice (1995), EverAfter (1998), Hannah… Read more »

Amanda Barrie Comes to Blackpool

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Amanda Barrie (born Shirley Anne Broadbent; 14 September 1935) is an English actress. She appeared in two of the Carry On films before being cast as Alma Halliwell in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, a role she played on and off for 20 years. Between 2003 and 2006, she played the role of Bev Tull in the ITV prison drama, Bad Girls. Barrie has since enjoyed a varied stage and television career. Barrie is a distant cousin of Coronation Street co-star Sally Ann Matthews, who plays Jenny Bradley. Barrie was born Shirley Anne Broadbent in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, to Hubert… Read more »

Hollywood Icon Mae West Lights up Blackpool

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Mae West visited Blackpool on multiple occasions, with a well-documented appearance at the Blackpool Hippodrome in 1947-1948. She also performed at the New Opera House in 1947-1948. The Hippodrome’s archives even list various other performances in Blackpool, including those by “Blackpool Film Festival,” which occasionally screened her films like “I’m No Angel”. Blackpool must have made a terrific impression on her as she was amongst many other celebrity donors who gave to the St Stephens-on-the-Cliffs Church. West’s likeness was used on the front cover of the Beatles’ 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. When approached for permission, West… Read more »

Noël Coward Comes to Blackpool

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Noël Coward had a notable connection with Blackpool, particularly with the Grand Theatre. He first came to Blackpool in October 1942 to present his “Play Parade” featuring “Present Laughter”, “Blithe Spirit”, and “This Happy Breed” at the Blackpool Grand Theatre. This was part of his wartime tour of Britain. Amongst many other things, Coward was also a donor at Blackpool’s St Stephen’s on-the-Cliffs Church. With the outbreak of the Second World War Coward abandoned the theatre and sought official war work. After running the British propaganda office in Paris, where he concluded that “if the policy of His Majesty’s Government… Read more »

Tessie O’Shea Returns to Blackpool to Share Bill with The Beatles

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Teresa Mary “Tessie” O’Shea (13 March 1913 – 21 April 1995) was a Welsh entertainer and actress. She was born at 61 Plantagenet Street in Riverside, Cardiff to newspaper wholesaler James Peter O’Shea, who had been a soldier and who was the son of Irish emigrants, and his wife Nellie Theresa Carr. O’Shea was reared in the British music hall tradition and performed on stage as early as age six, billed as “The Wonder of Wales”. When staying at Weston-super-Mare as a child, she got lost and was only discovered when her mother heard her singing the Ernie Mayne hit,… Read more »

Blackpool’s Harry Moulding Wins Britain’s Got Talent

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Harry Moulding was born in Blackpool and fell in love with magic when he was just 11 years old. Within a couple of months, he started entering magic competitions and taking home winning trophies! His passion for magic continued to progress over time. When he left school, he joined the cast of the Award-Winning House of Illusion Magic and Mystery Theatre Show in Spain. Since then, he has performed in thousands of sold-out shows, including intimate close-up magic to VIPs and hosting to UK and International audiences. On 31 May 2025 he was crowned the Britain’s Got Talent winner after… Read more »

The Borough Theatre & Bazaar is Now a TK Maxx

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The Blackpool Borough Theatre, later known as Bannister’s Bazaar, Feldman’s Theatre, and finally Queens Theatre, had a rich history in Blackpool. Initially housed in the same building as the Borough Bazaar, it opened in September 1877 on Bank Hey Street. The building was sold and renamed Bannister’s Bazaar in 1879, then became Feldman’s Theatre after Bert Feldman purchased it in 1927. Feldman’s Theatre was later renamed Queens Theatre. The theatre was demolished in the 1970s to make way for a C&A store, now occupied by TK Maxx.