Regent Theatre

William E. Trent designed it as a cinema for the Hanley of 1929, with a Wurlitzer and a programme of cine-variety; it became the Gaumont in 1950, a three-screen Gaumont Film Centre in 1974 and an Odeon two years later, by which time water was coming through the dome. Twenty-three million pounds and a full restoration brought it back as a live theatre on 22 September 1999, opening with the touring production of Annie, with a formal royal opening that October. Run now by the Ambassador Theatre Group on behalf of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, it takes musicals, national tours and pantomime, and serves as the northern base of Glyndebourne's touring company — which is how Tosca and the rest of the standard operatic repertoire reach the Potteries.