On a sunny afternoon at the Opera House, remembering Waterloo Sunset and of things to come

Now the painting of the Opera House Peter told me was “inspired by the billboard that said Sunny Afternoon and the fact that it was pouring down.........” which of course is always a good start to a story.

The Kinks have always been one of my favourite groups not least because like Terry and Julie I regularly met Kay “under the clock every Friday night” in Waterloo Station. So the idea of going to see the musical Sunny Afternoon appealed, added to which I have always had a fond spot for the Opera House.

It opened as the New Theatre in 1912, was renamed the New Queen’s Theatre in 1915 and finally the Opera House in 1920.

It closed in 1979 and for five years was a bingo hall but five years later was acquired by the Palace Trust and in 1990 by Apollo Leisure and has become a venue for large-scale musicals.

I remember going once and sitting fairly high up and looking down at the stage which seemed miles away.

More often today we end up in one of the restaurants facing Hardman Square that bit of open space which is dominated by the tall buildings of the Spinneyfields developments.

And for those with a keen sense of history Peter’s painting has also captured the new build on the corner of Byrom Street and Quay Street.

Location; Manchester

Painting; the Opera House Manchester, © 2016 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures, Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk