Birmingham Hippodrome, Birmingham Overview

Best known for featuring Birmingham Royal Ballet, Birmingham Hippodrome is a grand theatre located in Birmingham, England. The theatre showcases a large variety of performances from numerous ballet and opera companies, touring West End theatrical shows such as The Lion King, Grease, and Matilda, drama, and pantomime. Being the United Kingdom’s busiest single theatre, Birmingham Hippodrome houses more than 500,000 people annually and also is the busiest venue outside London with regards to dance.

Located at Hurst Street in the Chinese Quarter of Birmingham in England, Birmingham Hippodrome is just the perfect place for all the theatre lovers. The theatre features a single large auditorium in which a mixed program build of 400 performances are featured including exceptional opera, ballet, touring musicals, international dance, drama, comedy and the biggest Pantomime of the world. Other than the single auditorium, the space of Birmingham Hippodrome is also shared with a restaurant, Patric Studio, and immense events facilities.

Qdos Entertainment is behind the production of the Christmas pantomimes that take place at the theatre and has over the years attracted many stars including Julian Clary, John Barrowman, Keith Harris, Lesley Joseph, Lee Mead, Steve McFadden, John Partridge, and Andrew Ryan, among others. Matt Slack, the famous comedian, has also returned ever since 2013 due to high public demand.

The theatre through Hippodrome Projects Programme also provides remarkable opportunities to schools and colleges across the city and showcases spectacular outdoor events. Therefore, if one is visiting the beautiful city of Birmingham and is looking to have a night full of laughter, music, ballet, or drama, Birmingham Hippodrome is the perfect place to visit.

Tickets for Birmingham Hippodrome Shows

The tickets for shows featuring in the theatre are sold by Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre Trust Ltd for the benefit of event organizers, promoters and producers. The prices of these tickets are subjected to change at any time and the seating area, discount offers and ticket prices adapt by demand.

Discount offers for shows at Birmingham Hippodrome vary but is usually provided to full-time students (with valid ID), people aged 18 years and below or 65 above, group of more than 8 or 10 people, people with disabilities and occasional early-bird special discount offers.

History of the Birmingham Hippodrome

Glass facade amalgamated in the architecture of the Birmingham Hippodrome in 2001 — Source

The history of this site goes back to 1895 when it was used as a building with several assembly rooms. Four years later, the venue was redesigned by F.W. Lloyd, a local architect, and a circus ring and stage were added along with the Moorish Tour (which was effectively removed in 1963). This enterprise came to be known as ‘Tower of Varieties’ which was changed to ‘Tivoli’ in 2000 when it was rebuilt into a traditional variety theatre. Under the ownership of the 19th-century British entertainment impresario and entrepreneur, Thomas Barrasford, the theatre finally came to be known as ‘The Hippodrome’.

The current single auditorium featuring neo-classical architectural style was designed in 1924 by Mitchell and Burdwood. After the nearby Smallbrook Queensway was constructed, the tower and the entrance building were destroyed in 1963 paving the way for a new modern entrance. There was a time when the name changed to ‘Birmingham Theatre’, and the plain facade of the theatre was transformed with mock-Victorian plasterwork. A new glass facade, supplementary performing space, and harbour for the Birmingham Royal Ballet were essentially rebuilt in 2001 by Law and Dunbar- Nasmith and Associated Architects.

Restaurants and Bars at Birmingham Hippodrome

Muffins on di\splay at Hippodrome Coffee Bar — Source

Birmingham Hippodrome also accommodates a number of in-house catering services so that one can quickly grab a quick bite before a show.

The Circle Restaurant can be visited for dessert, drinks, and coffee alike, two hours before the performance is supposed to begin.
The extravagant and premium Qdos Lounge on Level 1 at Birmingham Hippodrome enable visitors to seek advantage of washroom facilities, private cloakroom, and the lounge’s very own bar that serves a wide variety of Champagnes, beers, wines, along with exotic deli platters and soft drinks.
Situated on the Front Circle Foyer, Coffee Bar is just the right place for someone if they are in the mood to munch on some light snacks during the interval or prior to when their show is about to begin. From mouth-watering hot and cold drinks to a number of homemade sandwiches, sweet treats, paninis, wine and bar, one can be sure that they will have a lot of options to choose from.
There are also some bars at the theatre’s foyer that serve an array of wine bottles/glasses, delicious cocktail that is prepared with Hippodrome theatrical twists and even a kiosk can be found in the foyer that serves ice creams, and chilled drinks.

Visitors can pre-order their drinks at the bar so that they have their drinks prepared by the time the show is scheduled to begin.

Upcoming Shows at Birmingham Hippodrome

Annie The Musical UK starring Jodie Prenger performed at the Birmingham Hippodrome — Source

The theatre features close to 400 performances in a mixed Hippodrome program and the shows that take place at the theatre keep on changing with time. Some of the ongoing and future shows that will be performed in Birmingham Hippodrome are as follows:

Annie The Musical (23 Jul - 11 Aug 2019 with tickets from 24 GBP)
Grease the Musical (13 Aug - 24 Aug 2019 with tickets from 16 GBP)
West Side Story (29 Aug - 31 Aug with tickets from 15 GBP)
Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet (10 Sept - 14 Sept with tickets from 20.50 GBP)
Willy Russel’s Blood Brothers (30 Sept - 12 Oct with tickets from 23 GBP)

Summer in Southside Festival at Birmingham Hippodrome

Performance by Leap Ensemble’s extremely talented musicians at Summer in Southside 2019 — Source

Summer in Southside is a free family festival that takes place on a weekend in the summer on the streets of Southside surrounding the theatre. Summer in Southside 2019 took place on 13-14 July 2019 which explored the spectacle of the outer space through some mind-blowing performances, antics, and installations. Fantastic street food, pop-up performances, picnic parks, retro games, face painting, craft workshops, and family activities are some of the reasons why people should consider wandering to the Southside streets during the weekend of this festival.

Frost Fair at Birmingham Hippodrome

Choir performing at the Front Circle at Birmingham Hippodrome, England — Source

Frost fair is another free family festival that takes place on the Hippodrome foyers in the spirit of Christmas. The foyers remain buzzing with some incredible performances by choirs and local musicians adorning red Christmas caps on their heads. There is also a vast indoor market put up in the foyer from which visitors can buy Christmas gifts for their loved ones. Some other activities that one can expect to take place at Frost fair at Birmingham Hippodrome are festive storytelling sessions, DIY decoration workshops, face painting, and serving of seasonal food and drink items.

Interior of Birmingham Hippodrome

The single auditorium at the Birmingham Hippodrome, England — Source

This independent theatre features beautiful neoclassical architecture and houses a 1900 seat single auditorium, newly established Patrick studio with 200 seats and rear stage area, a centre of research and treatment of dance injuries, restaurants, and bars. The small and flexible Patrick Studio is home to one of the most prominent dance schools of the city - DanceXchange. The studio is used for rehearsing, researching, and creating new opportunities for professional and educational development. It is the perfect venue to prepare a small-scale production for touring or to hire the studio for presentations, banqueting or business meetings that will involve close to 200 people.

Birmingham Hippodrome Tickets information and Timings

The opening times of the ticket office at the theatre are from 10 AM to 8 PM on performance days and 10 AM to 6 PM on non-performance days from Monday to Saturday.
The ticket office is usually closed on Sundays unless there is a performance, in which case, the ticket sales are closed post half an hour of the curtain up.

How To Reach Birmingham Hippodrome

Being very centrally located and well-connected to car parks and public transport options, Birmingham Hippodrome can be reached through trains and buses other than walking by foot or using cars.

By Train: Visitors can take a train to either Moor Street Station or New Street Station as they require at most a 10-minute walk to reach the theatre.

By Bus: Bus lines 4, 5, 6, 61, 63, and 16 W can also be taken in order to reach the bus stop near Birmingham Hippodrome.

One can easily spot the massive ‘H’ well away from the theatre which will help them find their way to the place easily.