The roar of the greasepaint, the smell of the crowd!

15 August 2020

shutterstock 157890434 1 min

The development of Wimborne offers a great location in the historic Dorset town, only a short and level walk from the centre. There is lots to do there, with an array of shops and restaurants, but perhaps the jewel in the crown of Wimborne is its very own theatre and cinema, The Tivoli Theatre, a beautiful shrine to Art Deco, built in 1936 and saved from destruction in 1979 by volunteers.

From the original chrome and Bakelite door handles to the atmospheric auditorium, The Tivoli Theatre is a wonderful bonus of living in Wimborne. It was faced with demolition in 1979 for a road building scheme which was later abandoned, and then fell into disrepair when it closed the following year. But its doors did not close for the last time. Local volunteers decided the building and the theatre had to be saved and after a lengthy campaign, restoration finally began in 1993. Big audiences were always a fixture at The Tivoli and when the theatre reopened to the public in November 1993, the 483 seat auditorium once again filled to enjoy quite a roll call of acts including The Searchers and Acker Bilk and comedians like Al Murry and Eddie Izzard.

Carrying on the tradition for showing live stage shows and films, locals still can enjoy the latest releases with full surround sound and The Tivoli is now home to Wimborne Musical Theatre and Wimborne Drama Productions, which stage three productions each year. Both welcome new members should any owners at Fleur-de-Lis Wimborne wish to try their hand at treading the boards or helping out backstage.

Artists and audiences love the venue and luckily, The Tivoli now has a permanent team who give their time to ongoing maintenance and further improvement of the facilities.

Like all entertainment venues the Tivoli theatre has had to close its doors during the pandemic. Largely staffed by volunteers, the theatre is entirely funded by the revenue from ticket sales and merchandise which, of course, has disappeared in recent months and so an appeal was launched for the public to support them via donations. The Appeal has now reached £34, 692, 66% of their target £50,000. Follow the link to support the Tivoli Wimborne Appeal.

--

If you’re interested in setting your own scene at the development of Wimborne, our sales offices are now open for pre-booked appointments. You can book yours now by contacting our sales team on
01202 618 052 or [email protected]. Prices start from £270,000 for a one-bedroom home.