The Athenaeum Liverpool

The Athenaeum Film Night
2019-11-13 18:15 - 22:00 (Europe/London) | The Athenaeum Liverpool, Church Alley, Liverpool, L1 3DD, United Kingdom
Wednesday 13 November—The African Queen
In Africa during World War I, a gin-swilling riverboat captain is persuaded by a strait-laced missionary
to use his boat to attack an enemy warship. 1951—Directed by John Huston, starring Humphrey
Bogart, Katharine Hepburn and Robert Morley.

Theatre Group
2019-11-16 14:00 - 17:00
Saturday 16 November—Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
2:00pm or 7:30pm at the Playhouse-£22.00 per person
An eighteen-year-old girl, Mary Shelley, dreams up a monster
whose tragic story will capture the imaginations of generations
to come. A young scientist by the name of Frankenstein
breathes life into a gruesome body. Banished into an indifferent
world, Frankenstein’s creature desperately seeks out his true
identity, but the agony of rejection and a broken promise push
him into darkness. Dangerous and vengeful, the creature
threatens to obliterate Frankenstein and everyone he loves, in a
ferocious and bloodthirsty hunt for his maker.
Rona Munro’s brilliant new adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Gothic
masterpiece places the writer herself amongst the action as she
wrestles with her creation and with the stark realities facing
revolutionary young women, then and now.
Tickets to be collected from the Athenaeum
£22.00 per person—booking deadline Wednesday 6
November 2019

Saturday Opening
2019-11-16 14:00 - 17:00, 2020-02-01 12:00 - 19:00
The Club will be open between 12:00pm and 7:00pm on each of the Saturday’s listed (except Saturday 14 September),
with Newsroom services available throughout. Whether you are attending the matinee or an evening show, guests are encouraged to take part in lively discussion at the Athenaeum.

The Film Group
2019-11-20 14:00 - 16:00
HMS Defiant – (UK 1962). 1797; the country is at war with Revolutionary France, and they depend upon the Royal Navy. A captain (Alec Guinness) takes possession of his new ship Defiant, at a time when there are mutinies as Spithead and the Nore. He also has to deal with a cruel and despotic First Lieutenant (Dirk Bogarde) and a potential mutiny led by the Bosun (Anthony Quayle). This is one of the best portrayals in film of life in the Royal Navy at this era. Directed by Lewis Gilbert, this is a really good yarn. (101 minutes)

Cookery Demonstration with Russell Hough
2019-11-21 18:00 - 20:00
Full Details to Follow in due course.

The History Group
2019-11-27 14:00 - 15:30, 2020-01-22 14:00 - 15:30
details TBC

The Literature Group
2019-12-04 15:00 - 16:00
wed 4th December. ‘Bring Your Own – Christmas’. If you can, please bring along a poem or piece of prose on a seasonal theme to read to and discuss with the group.

The Athenaeum Film Night
2019-12-06 18:15 - 22:00
Friday 6th December—The Bishop’s Wife
An angel in human form enters the life of a bishop in order to help him build a new cathedral and
repair his fractured marriage. 1947—Directed by Henry Koster, starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young
and David Niven.

Saturday Opening
2019-12-07 12:00 - 19:00
The Club will be open between 12:00pm and 7:00pm on each of the Saturday’s listed (except Saturday 14 September), with Newsroom services available throughout. Whether you are attending the matinee or an evening show, guests are encouraged to take part in lively discussion in the Athenaeum.

Theatre Group
2019-12-07 19:30 - 22:00
Saturday 7 December—Miracle on 34th Street
7:30pm at the Playhouse-£17.00 per person
Conjure up the perfect Christmas. Think of tinsel and tingles, whispers and wishes, those thrilling hours when childhood dreams take flight. Now imagine if Christmas was all common sense. No whispers, no secrets. Just cold hard facts wrapped in paper destined for the bin.
That’s Christmas for sensible six-year-old Susan and her mother. But as New York’s cash tills ring out their money-making chimes and shoppers join a race that lasts from Thanksgiving until New Year, an old bearded gentleman turns their rational world – and the city’s cut-throat commercial spirit – upside down.
Tickets to be collected from the Athenaeum
£17.00 per person—booking deadline
Wednesday 27 November 2019

The Christmas Carol Concert
2019-12-11 18:00 - 23:00
Wednesday 11 December—6:00 for 6:30pm
The Christmas Carol Concert
Our Annual Carol Concert. Festive hits in the Newsroom will follow a supper in the Dining
Room. Mince pies and mulled wine will be available during the evening.
£25.00 per person, including supper and refreshments.

Saturdays Opening
2019-12-14 12:00 - 16:30
The Club will be open from 12:00pm for Members, with the Club’s Christmas Ball taking place in the evening. Food will be available in the Newsroom until 4:30pm with the Ball commencing at 7:00pm that evening.

The Christmas Ball
2019-12-14 19:00 - 23:00
Saturday 14 December—7:00 for 7:30pm
The Christmas Ball
Dress: Lounge Suits Ticket Price: £50.00
The main event of the Christmas season is The Christmas Ball. This will be a special occasion to enjoy The Athenaeum in its Christmas splendour. A gourmet Christmas carvery buffet will be accompanied by music provided by the Phil Shotton Big Swing Band.

The Christmas Lunch
2019-12-16 12:30 - 14:00
Monday 16 December—12:30 for 1:00pm
The Christmas Lunch
We enter the Club’s last week before the Christmas period with the Annual
festive lunch. Christmas jumpers optional!
£25.00 per person, including three-course lunch.

The Film Group
2019-12-18 14:00 - 17:00
Wednesday Dec. 18th 2019 at 2.0 p.m. SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS,(1937). Dir. by David Hand. You can probably remember the marvellous images and storyline of this film, but had you forgotten the terrific songs as well, Hi Ho, Whistle while you work, and so on? The perfect Christmas film. (Running time about 90 minutes)

The Roscoe (Christmas Dining Evening)
2019-12-19 19:00 - 23:00
Thursday 19 December— Service from 7:00pm
The Roscoe (Christmas Dining Evening)
We finish 2019 in relaxing fashion with informal Christmas dining. There are no
speakers – just good food, company and wine. You may wish to bring along
family and friends with you or join one of our larger club tables. Please specify
this on booking. A three course a la carté menu will be on offer for guests to
choose from. Merry Christmas and Bon Appétite!
£25.00 per person, including three-course dinner.

Ladies Evening
2020-01-08 17:30 - 20:00
Wednesday 8 January, 5:30 for 6:00pm
Dress: Smart Casual Ticket Price: £15.00
The next in a series which previously featured the Fragrance Evening and Givenchy Evening. We are still finalising the details for this special evening which will be sent around shortly! Gentlemen, you are also welcome to attend!

Cheap & Cheerful Supper
2020-01-10 18:30 - 20:00
Friday 10 January, 6:30 for 7:00pm
Dress: Lounge Suits Ticket Price: £14.00
The brainchild of the Athenaeum stalwart, the late Frank Moran, this Club favourite begins the year in convivial fashion with a two-course supper that does exactly what it says on the tin

The Film Group
2020-01-15 14:00 - 16:00
Wed. Jan 15th 2020 at 2.0 p.m. ARGO ​ (USA 2012) In November 1979 the American Embassy in Iran was stormed and its diplomats taken hostage. However, a few of the staff managed to escape and were given shelter in the Canadian Embassy, The pressure was then on the Americans to extract them, before the Iranians discovered them. Argo is how they did so. Ben Affleck is both director and lead actor and handles both roles extremely competently. Also starring Geoffrey Rush and Alan Arkin, the film is funny and exciting and well deserves its Best Picture Oscar.
(Running time: 2 hrs 10 mins.)

The Athenaeum Film Night
2020-01-15 18:15 - 22:00
Wednesday 15 January— Pygmalion
A phonetics and diction expert makes a bet that he can teach a cockney flower girl to speak proper
English and pass as a lady in high society. 1938—Directed by Anthony Asquith and Leslie Howard.
Starring Leslie Howard, Wendy Hiller and Wilfrid Lawson. Written by George Bernard Shaw.

Ferrari' Dinner with John Pogson
2020-01-17 18:30 - 23:00
It was whilst negotiating the purchase of a ‘Ferrari red’ MG TD recently, that life-long ‘Petrolhead’ Athenaeum Proprietor David Cox met and became friendly with Six times Champion Ferrari Racer John Pogson. Although living his life mainly in the fast lane on four wheels, John had always had a soft spot for the Avro Vulcan bomber, admiring its sheer power and performance. David Cox in a previous life just happened to have piloted the Vulcan on many occasions. So with a few contacts still in and outside the RAF, David arranged a Vulcan Experience for John at Doncaster Airport, a day John says he will always remember. Returning the ‘favour’ John Pogson has kindly agreed to regale Athenaeum Proprietors and their guests with anecdotes of his ‘Petrol Powered’ life and times, which will be illustrated with contemporary images.
John Pogson is the founder of Ferrari independent specialist, Italia Autosport based in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire.
The Huddersfield born engineer trained at Ramsden Technical College in the early 1970s and in 1975 he got his first job at Huddersfield Garages, a Mercedes and Ferrari dealer, Outlane and was lucky enough to get his hands on some of the first Ferraris in the North. From there John’s love of Ferrari grew and after training at the Italian company’s famous Maranello headquarters he eventually launched his own business in 1991. With customers coming from not only all over the UK but also internationally as far away as Australia, John claims the success of his business is down to decades of experience and doing things the old fashioned way. Claiming that today in 2019 it’s almost impossible to get a Ferrari skilled mechanic that will work to John’s level, this garage’s success is down to old fashioned standards.
John and his team also are well known for the restoration work they carry out on these cars, taking pride in the patina and originality, and have gone on to win first place at many Concours d’Elegance events. The attention to detail and amount of passion that goes into Italia Autosport restoration work is recognised far and wide. John’s opinion on the matter is; “A Ferrari will never die, you can wreck it, it can be rusty, we restore it. We restore automotive art!”
But John’s passion for Ferraris isn’t just limited to the workshop. He is also an international racing driver and has notched a host of titles and trophies at tracks including the Nurburgring, Monza and Donington. Winning 6 Championships driving cars like the Ferrari 355 and Ferrari F40, John has many a ‘campfire story’ to tell of battling alongside other drivers in the fight for first place. “We don’t go racing to come in 2nd place!” he’ll tell you. The life of a racing driver came about through a client who was going away to America and suggested John race his car at the famous Spa circuit in Belgium. John went to Spa and won both races over the weekend, caught the bug and went on to develop an incredibly successful racing career; 6 Championships and a 47% race entered to win ratio.
More recently, John has used his wealth of knowledge of classic cars to create a set of online videos, each starring a different vehicle, with John’s no-nonsense narration; they have been quite a success.
For John, this is not just a job, but a way of life. He lives and breathes Ferrari and with a rich career not only in the hands-on, mechanics of these beautiful machines but also at the heights of success racing the cars, he certainly has a story or two to share!
The evening will be accompanied by a champagne reception and a two-course dinner.

Library & Archive Group
2020-01-23 11:00 - 13:00
Thursday 23 January: 11:00am
Meeting & Lunch—£12.50 per person

Burns Night
2020-01-24 19:00 - 23:00
Friday 24 January—Burns Night- 7:00 for 7:30pm
Dress: Black Tie Ticket Price: £37.50
We celebrate the life of Robbie Burns, with all his associations to The Athenaeum, at our black-tie event. A piper, the haggis, the Immortal Memory and whisky galore!

Theatre Group
2020-02-01 19:30 - 22:00
Saturday 1 February—The Woman in Black
7:30pm at the Playhouse-£17.00 per person
A lawyer obsessed with a curse that he believes has been cast
over him and his family by the spectre of a Woman in Black
engages a sceptical young actor to help him tell his terrifying
story and exorcise the fear that grips his soul.
It all begins innocently enough, but then, as they reach further
into his darkest memories, they find themselves caught up in a
world of eerie marshes and moaning winds. Join the millions of
theatregoers worldwide who have experienced “The most
brilliantly effective spine-chiller you will ever encounter” (Daily
Telegraph)
Tickets to be collected from the Athenaeum
£17.00 per person—booking deadline Wednesday 29th January 2020

The Literature Group
2020-02-05 15:00 - 16:00
Malcolm Lowry’s ‘Under the volcano’, with Diana Lane

The Athenaeum Film Night
2020-02-13 18:15 - 22:00
Thursday 13 February— The Cruel Sea
The next of our classic film showings accompanied by supper and interval refreshments is The Cruel Sea.
Despite his guilt over a recent harrowing sea battle in which many of his men were lost, Lt. Cmdr. George Ericson is assigned to helm the new H.M.S. Compass Rose with the help of steadfast seaman Lt. Lockhart. When the small vessel is sent to escort convoys of ships fighting German U-boats in the North Atlantic, the mettle of the novice crew is tested by the weather, the turbulent sea and enemy attacks — one of which nearly destroys the Compass Rose.

Valentines Day Dinner
2020-02-14 19:00 - 23:00
Valentines Day Dinner
Friday 14 February , 7:00 for 7:30pm
Dress: Smart Casual Ticket Price: £49.50

The Film Group
2020-02-19 14:00 - 15:30
Wed. Feb. 19th 2020 at 2.0 p.m.
ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (US 1944, dir. by Frank Capra.)
Mortimer (Cary Grant) is a drama critic, and has two delightful maiden aunts. Except that they take such pity on lonely old men that they poison them and bury them in the cellar. Mortimer’s brother (Raymond Massey) is even more sinister, and has an incompetent assistant (Peter Lorre). Nevertheless, Arsenic and Old Lace was a huge success as a farce, and is one of the funniest screwball comedies you can see. (Running Time 118 minutes)
