The legendary city centre club saw many famous faces pass through its doors A rare photo captures a moment from a lost Liverpool nightclub that "rose from the ashes" to be burned again. The ECHO previously took a look back at The Shakespeare in the city centre which in its time saw many generations and famous faces pass through its doors. The former Shakespeare Theatre, whose name had been synonymous with variety since it opened in 1888, later became known as the Pigalle Theatre Club and the New Shakespeare.
But in the early 1960s it became the Shakespeare Club, known for cabaret and later housed a casino club inside. Located on Fraser Street, the club affectionately nicknamed 'the Shakey,' boasted a lot of original features and the clientele remembered the olive green, cream and gold theatre with oak panelling and tiered balconies – although the top one was never used. Liverpool’s first ever electric stage that moved up and down also became the dance floor for the theatre, the ECHO previously reported.
But in its life as a club, the building suffered a lot of misfortune. One image, courtesy of our archives, captures a moment outside the venue in the 1970s when a second fire ripped through the site and can be seen from above. Pete Price is photographed in one image, which has not been seen for years, surveying the damage outside the Shakespeare Theatre in 1976.
As we rediscovered this rare photo of the exterior of the club, we've taken another look back at the famous site.