A Welshman by birth, Melvyn started his career in theatre aged 16, working in Cardiff theatre to earn extra money during his building apprenticeship.  However, Melvyn’s love of the theatre was too strong, and he decided to pursue a career as a Stage Dayman at the New Theatre in Cardiff.

Since then he has never looked back.  Progressing on to the Welsh Theatre Company, and touring with the Welsh Opera Company’s workshops, Melvyn’s passion for theatre has never come into question.

Melvyn moved to the North East and began working at the Empire Theatre in 1972.  Since then he has become the mainstay of the theatre, epitomising the forward thinking and ambitious nature of Sunderland’s premier theatre.  Overseeing the redevelopment of The Empire as we know it today, Melvyn has been instrumental in “bringing the theatre back to its glory”, as he refers to it.

Melvyn’s enthusiasm and love for The Empire is unrivalled, as Melvyn himself says, “I am passionate about the theatre because it has been my life for the last 33 years, and at last I can see it is being looked after.  The North East has given me such a good life since I moved here.”

Edwardian music hall star, Vesta Tilley laid the foundation stone of the Sunderland Empire theatre on 29 September 1906.  Just less than a year later, she topped the bill at its opening night performance.

South Shields entrepreneur Dick Thornton was the man with the vision and capital to create the Sunderland Empire and by so doing transformed theatre going in the North, making it clean, comfortable and affordable to a wide range of people for the first time.

Over the years, the theatre has hosted many thousands of performances featuring some of British entertainment’s best-known names.

Stanley Jefferson, who grew up in Bishop Auckland and North Shields, appeared at the Sunderland Empire alongside his father in a production they both wrote called ‘Home from the Honeymoon’.  Stanley went on to become better known as Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy fame.

Other famous comics who appeared on stage included Max Wall, Flanagan and Allen and George Formby.  However, it was not just comedians who performed at the Sunderland Empire.  Gracie Fields and Marlene Dietrich starred, as did Charlie Chaplin in a production, which ultimately led him to cinematic fame.

In April 2004, the Sunderland Empire underwent a £4 million redevelopment to create the flagship theatre for the North of England, thus securing a new high profile phase in its history attracting West End shows such as ‘Starlight Express’, ‘Miss Saigon’, ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ and of course ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’!