Liverpool Olympia CIC Launch Day Review
DISCLOSURE – THIS EXPERIENCE WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST/S FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW.
Reviewed by Dottie Rood
I was invited along to one of the many beautiful buildings in Liverpool, The Olympia Theatre, to attend the launch day for Liverpool Olympia’s CIC (Community Interest Company) day.
A little bit about the history of the Olympia:
The Olympia Theatre was built in 1903 by a renowned theatre architect/designer of the time Frank Matcham who had designed and refurbished over 150 theatres. It was originally designed as a purpose-built indoor circus and variety theatre and was famous for its elephant house in the basement that not only housed the elephants it also had a mechanical contraption that would bring the elephants up onto the stage, WOW!
It also had many other purposes over the years including a cinema (it was one of the first cinemas outside of London to upgrade from silent movies to ‘Talkies’ in 1929), Royal Naval Depot, Mecca dance hall (The Locarno) and then the Mecca bingo after which it sadly closed down (1980). In 1990 the building next door, the infamous Grafton, was bought by the current owner, Chris Zorba’s dad, he continued to run The Grafton as a successful nightclub. After some extensive renovations to the Olympia theatre next door, it was re-opened with a live boxing show in 2000 and has been run ever since as a music, sports and comedy venue plus it has provided many filming locations for T.V shows, films, advertisements and music videos.
The Olympia has been famous for many well-known acts and artists over the years, these have included Harry Houdini-1909, The Beatles-Valentines night 1963, Little Richard, Echo and the Bunnymen and even Robbie Williams-February 2026. In 2020 Elvis Costello did a performance (that was standing only) in which his 92-year-old mum had insisted on coming to see him. Sadly, this was the last time they saw each other face to face due to COVID. So, it has had a very long and very interesting history and background.
The Launch Day:
The launch day told us lots of the history of the Olympia and even had some circus performances, magic shows, a very exciting light show and an elephant! We were given a tour of the building and even got to see the elephant pits, all very impressive.
So, what next?
As mentioned above this historic Liverpool Olympia venue has now taken on Community Interest Company status. What does this mean?
The Olympia is hoping to build on and further its ambitions to offer cultural and educational opportunities to the local community and will hopefully extend this by applying for not only local but regional and national funding. Chris Zorba, Liverpool Olympias managing director, is quoted as saying, “I’m proud to collaborate with Liverpool CIC to preserve the 120-year heritage of this iconic building and ensure its future, both as an entertainment venue and as a community hub. Our vision is to continue providing artistic and community programmes, which will now be delivered and developed by the CIC. But we also see ourselves as custodians of this local asset and want to protect the heritage of the building”.
CIC is different from other charities as they serve the community to reinvest any profits to offer arts, education, training and engagement activities to enhance and serve the community, so watch this space as we expect to see lots of different events at this beautiful venue. I would also highly recommend any visits that will hopefully be offered in the future as it is a very interesting building and history that needs preserving and bringing back to its former glory.
Rating: 5/5
Liverpool Olympia CIC Theatre Address: West Derby Road Liverpool L69BY
For Additional Information call: 0151 263 6633 visit www.liverpoololympia.co.uk or email info@liverpoololympia.co.uk