Opened in 1922 and initially called the Broadway, this cinema was built by A W Pell, owner of the Earlsdon Imperial and several other Coventry cinemas. Every innovation was considered for the comfort of patrons, though it was built in the age of the silent film. Patrons climbed pink marble steps into an elegant foyer with oak-panelled walls, big oak settees, a gas fire, large candelabra and potted ferns. With ‘Variety, Pictures and Music’ the Broadway soon became very popular.
In 1929 it was sold to the Tottenham Pavilions of London, who installed the new ‘talkies’ and resold it to the Orr brothers in 1933. At this time it became the Astoria and joined the Coventry Five Star Circuit of cinemas, which in turn were sold to Odeon in 1939. The Astoria struggled through the war years and finally fell victim to television in the 1950s, closing its doors as a cinema on 1 November 1959.
For many years the building was used for a variety of commercial purposes until its sympathetic restoration and eventual sale to Nexus, the music college, who now use the building as a music education centre — continuing the building’s long tradition of providing entertainment and culture for the Earlsdon community.