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Birthday bash at cinema where Beatles played

Caroline Densleyand
Hattie McCann,in Plymouth
News imageBBC/Harry Goodwin Sounds of Liverpool at the BBC. The Beatles backstage at Top of the Pops. The black and white images features (left to right) Paul McCartney, George Harrison, John Lennon and Ringo Starr in black suits and ties with white shirts and their signature bowl hair cuts.BBC/Harry Goodwin
The Beatles once performed at the cinema when it was known as The Royal

Campaigners hoping to restore a former cinema where The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John and Morecambe & Wise performed are set to throw a pavement party to mark its 88th birthday.

The Reel cinema, originally known as The Royal, on Derry's Cross in Plymouth, has been closed since 2019.

The Save The Royal campaign is seeking to restore the premises as a live music venue, with two cinema screens and a rooftop cocktail bar.

Campaign chairman Karl Parsons said: "It would be a serious loss to the city if it was knocked down."

News imageHattie McCann/BBC Caroline Blacker and Karl Parsons are standing across the road from the front door of the old cinema. There are small posters plastering black boarding in front of the doors. The marquee, which is the display board where removable letters spelt out the names of the films, is just above the door. The words 'Reel cinema' are in the centre of it. Caroline has blonde hair and is wearing a white short-sleeved top and Karl has a white short-sleeved shirt with a red design on it.Hattie McCann/BBC
Caroline Blacker and Karl Parsons are set to host a pavement party to celebrate the venue's history

Parsons said: "It's a wonderful survivor of the golden years of cinema, those glory days of the 1930s when cinema was an escape from a very sort of grey world into this glamorous haven."

He said the Art Deco building had "always been this wonderful building and it's been much loved by generation upon generation".

The party is being held from 13:00 BST to 18:00 on Saturday.

Parsons added: "If we don't save it now, I think it's in grave danger of being demolished and lost forever."

The cinema, which opened in 1938, was slightly damaged in March 1941 during air raids on Plymouth.

Parsons said it gave people "that small escape" from the horrors of World War Two.

It later had a third screen and a bingo hall added.

Volunteer Caroline Blacker said, as part of an oral history project to preserve stories of the venue's past, the campaign group wanted to record people's "memories attached to this building, particularly when they were teenagers and they went to see the live music" there.

News imageRingo Star and John Lennon meet the press at the venue, then known as the ABC, when they performed there. This black-and-white image comes from BBC video footage. It shows Ringo in the centre of the image with distinctive sideburns. Jon Lennon is to his right.
The Beatles were greeted by fans and the media when they performed at the venue

Of the venue, Blacker said: "There's so much we can do with it and it will be a real community space for so many different groups, so many different ages groups in the city."

Plans for the building include a performance space for theatre groups and amateur dramatic groups, gallery space, a cafe, restaurant and workshops.

The team said it also wanted to transform four dressing rooms into accommodation, so people could stay in rooms where performers prepared before going on stage, Blacker said.

The pavement party was also due involve a film quiz and a free gig with Jon Fazal, organisers said.

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