One of the most prolific British directors, Frears has made his reputation with films as diverse as ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’, ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ and ‘The Queen’. With ‘Tamara Drewe’ he casts his gaze on the English middle classes and the resulting portrait is not a flattering one, despite the pastoral setting and ravishing lead actors.

Momentum Pictures have generously agreed to donate all ticket sales to the Centenary Restoration Project.

Tickets are now on sale for £9 / £6 concessions. Read more about the film and book tickets on the event page.

Well so much for my twice weekly updates hey.  Apologies for not writing as often as meant to six months ago.  I’ve been surprised, nay overwhelmed, by the sheer volume of work we’ve had to do during the closure. Because we’d sorted out almost all of the big issues; the plans, the funding, the permissions etc we expected to be keeping busy with sorting out the details but not quite as busy as we have been.

Anyway, you don’t want to hear excuses, you want to hear some news, right?  Well here’s some news; we reopen on Friday 10th September.

And that’s not all.  Because Stephen Frears will be at the cinema for a Q&A session with the first screening on our first day back. The 6.15pm show of Tamara Drewe.  It’s a really exciting way to re-open the cinema and we’re delighted that Stephen could be here.  Our thanks also to Momentum Pictures for offering all the proceeds to go towards the Restoration Project.  You can get your tickets here.

So what’s been going on in the building since my last missive?  You should see it, and soon you can.  The auditorium is almost finished, covered in a rich red colour with a fantastic new lighting scheme, new speakers, a new set of doors into the auditorium (which are push-pad operated for wheelchair users) and wonderful restored art-deco panels.  It makes me smile everytime I set foot in there.

The bar is really coming together, if you’ve walked past the cinema recently you may have noticed the glass balustrading on the front of the new terrace.  It’s going to be great place to sit and watch the world go by.  The equipment for the bar and kitchen has arrived this week, including the cappuchino machine – finally great coffee at The Phoenix.  The colour scheme is a lovely combination of cream, yellow and orange – honestly it just looks great.  With a hardwood floor and wonderful art-deco style lights to set off the room.

The external walls should be having their final coat of paint next week and then the remaining scaffold will come down.  Like a butterfly breaking out of its chrysalis.

We’re moving back into our new office over the weekend and it’s going to be great to finally have a properly planned space to work from.

As you can tell I’m pretty excited about it all.  Can’t wait to see you here.

Paul

Additionally, we’re looking for an able assistant for Ian. Duties include collecting scores, tallying up the places of teams and occasionally being his substitute as a quizmaster. Payment includes a free pint of your choice and the undying respect of fellow quizgoers.

Interested parties should respond to management@phoenixcinema.co.uk

Welcome to the brand new Phoenix Cinema website.

For the past couple of months – in parallel with our Centenary Restoration Project – we’ve been working on completely revamping The Phoenix website. The aim has been to make the site easier to use, simpler to navigate and easier for us to update.

What’s Changed

We’ve moved the whole site to a content management system, which means that we can make changes to the whole site much more quickly. The new site integrates with our ticketing system, meaning that the film details you see on the site are always accurate and up to date. You’ll be able to book online for any screening just by clicking a button.

New Blogs

Because the new site is built around a highly customised version of WordPress, we can bring all our blogs together in one place. You’ll find it all in the Phoenix News section.

You’ll be seeing a lot more behind the scenes post from Phoenix staff in the future, so why not take a moment to subscribe to our RSS feed right now.

Phoenix Calendar

As well as our comprehensive new What’s On page (somewhat empty until we reopen!), we’ve introduced a new way to find out what’s coming up right from your desktop!

If you use calendaring software such as Apple’s iCal or Google Calendar, you can now have it automatically show every performance at The Phoenix in the next seven days. All you need to do is subscribe to our iCal calender at:

http://www.phoenixcinema.co.uk/whatson/?output=ical

We’ll be adding a comprehensive guide on how to do that in a range of different software soon.

Found A Problem?

The site is very new, so there may be the odd teething problem, but if you do spot anything out of the ordinary, or just want to give us feedback on the new site, please get in touch.

Finally, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, add us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel. We keep them all updated regularly and we’d love to see you there!

Cinema manager Cassie tests paint in the under-work foyer. The foyer will have a new colour scheme upon reopening.

Test strips of the interior colour palette. The orange displayed here is no longer being used.

A worker paints the historic barrel-vaulted ceiling of the cinema. The colour is very close to one that a paint historian has determined is the original colour used in the 1930s.

Intricate birdcage scaffolding criss-crosses the auditorium. This allows workers to restore the classic barrel vaulted ceiling.

The Mollo & Egan panels have been reinstated at the rear of the auditorium.

The Phoenix's ceiling is being patched and mended prior to a fresh coat of paint.

The removed levers of the vintage lighting panel lie on the floor after being removed. A new electronic lighting system is being installed. These artefacts are being given to The Cinema Museum.

The rear of the old lighting panel, after being partially disassembled. It will soon be removed.

The projection booth at The Phoenix. The projector would normally be shining through the large window on the left hand side.

Two workmen create a cavity in the read side of the cinema. It will contain the first new exterior doorway since the 1930s.

The air handling and air conditioning units sit on a cement base.

A new door at the rear provides direct access to valuable storage space. It is also the first step in making the cinema more friendly to visiting VIPs.

The last two Mollo & Egan panels are cleaned before being attached to the rear wall. They've lain unseen since the auditorium was shortened.

This original gas lamp was found behind a radiator.

Chief Executive Paul Homer surveys the progress made in the auditorium.

This contraption is the motor that opens and closes the curtains. A similar machine moves the matting to accommodate differing film aspect ratios.

A view inside the scaffolding that lines Fairlawn Avenue.

A detail of scaffolding in front of The Phoenix frames a blossoming tree. The good weather has energised the spirits of the labourers on the six month project.