In February 1953 the Rushden Operatic Society presented Waltz Without End at the Ritz, in College Street, Rushden. It ran from the 23 to 28 February, and on the 27 February the Rushden Echo and Argus reported on the show.
The programme for Waltz Without End
It was a musical comedy romance set to music from the works of Frederic Chopin and of the seven shows given by the Operatic Society the Echo and Argus thought it was the best. They reported that the orchestra and the Rushden Ballet girls rose to the quality of the music, and the romantic songs and duets by Pauline Farey (Countess Wanda) and Sam Houghton (Chopin) were received with much enthusiasm.
The Corps de Ballet
Some of the cast
Kathleen Dent, William Clarke and George Johnson were praised for the comedy, and John Tee and Victor Garlick for the character performances. There was also a ‘riotous special feature in the form of a village band recruited from Rushden Temps.’
The Ritz, College Street, Rushden.
At the end of the run Mr. W. A. E. Sherwood, chairman of the committee, announced that although box-office receipts were not quite so high as the previous year it was hoped to cover expenses “fairly comfortably.”
The Ritz Cinema opened in November 1936, showing “Trail of the Lonesome Pine.” There was seating for 721 downstairs and 470 upstairs. It became Flutters Bingo in 1991, and that closed in December 2022. The future of the building is undecided.