It was welcome news to hear that a new chapter in Theatre Elli’s history is to begin. The plans look innovative and exciting and with potential for the first luxury cinema in Wales will bring the building back to the height of cinema luxury that was the intention of Oscar Deutsch when the Odeon chain became prominent in the UK of the 1930’s.
Taken over by the J Arthur Rank organisation the Odeon decor designed by Harry Weedon was recognisable in over 200 cinemas in the United Kingdom. The Llanelli Odeon was no exception and this impressive building had been the hub of film and later live entertainment for all those years. Now tired looking and surrounded by scaffolding it will be good to see this buiding come to life again.
The ‘Odeon’ is fondly remembered by generation of children mainly for the Saturday morning film shows. From childhood to the teenage years many a romance began by meeting outside the ‘Odeon’. I remember well one of my then slightly inept friends – the date was arranged, the girl he’d had a crush on bought a ticket for the circle and he promptly bought one for the stalls.
Needless to say it was not the romance of the year! Following the ‘buy a brick’ campaign of the seventies by then renamed ‘The Classic’ it was bought for the community and since then its contribution as a venue for the dramatic and musical talents of our town has been immeasurable.
I suppose we can all be allowed to have a little nostalgia at times. It’s an emotion that has to do with fondness and memories of the past. It can, however, be a negative one if that’s all it is.
Then again there’s a tendency in us all to embrace the status quo because that’s where we feel the most secure. Life, however, is meant to be lived to the full and in trusting and believing that God is with us we can venture confidently into the future, follow our dreams grasping each new opportunity that comes our way.
In the words of the great Missionary William Carey ‘Attempt great things for God, expect great things from God’
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