Curtain falls on Audience with Coronation Street tour — and by contrast to Street of Dreams, it’s been a triumph…

The first ever Audience with Coronation Street theatre tour concludes tomorrow night (Wednesday 24 Sept) in Glasgow after multiple standing ovations, joyous laughter, never-before heard tales and more than a few tears of nostalgia at each show.

Packed houses from London, Sheffield, Sunderland and a triumphant return to its home turf of Salford brought so many memories, a few surprises and an homage to the man who made it all happen in the very beginning, Tony Warren

If only he could have seen the image of the young man he was beamed out to thousands of theatre goers each night, whilst serial writer and reviewer, Sharon Marshall, paid homage to the powerhouse of a programme he created and the extraordinary chance he gave to northern voices, ignoring the ‘no one wants to see working class people on Television’ comments of the day even though working class people had been seen in Emergency Ward 10 as patients for years.

However, The Street was different – it didn’t have the medical setting with the upper-class tones of doctors easing the pain of ‘common people’ in both medical terms and how much viewers had to ‘cope’ with them getting airtime.

Coronation Street had no gloss, it was common as muck and happily so.

Every night cast favourites walked out on stage to a tune that meant something to them before chatting with Sharon about backstage gossip, their journey onto the cobbles and some wildcard brilliant stories of events that have happened in their lives. It was a one stop shop for any fan of The Street — in fact any television fan — and people have been celebrating in droves.

Audiences have been up on their feet for the legend slot as William Roache and Barbara Knox took their seats, with the iconic return of Amanda Barrie joining the ranks for Sheffield and tomorrow night’s Glasgow show. Then the house went silent like a church as these television stalwarts spilled tales of decades worth of Weatherfield wonder.

Sharon Marshall, the host who held it all together, said it best:

“As a lifelong fan it has been an absolute honour to bring this show to fellow Street lovers, listening to these true TV icons share their memories. I have loved every single second and not wanted it to end. That said, I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s last glorious night of the run in Scotland and looking at our lineup I’ve got my hands full again, it will be a riot. See you there!”

So over to Glasgow to finish the run in true Scottish style, and then everybody back to Salford to race into Christmas on the cobbles and a very, very special start to 2026.

When Coronation Street first attempted to bring its characters to the stage in musical form with Street of Dreams in 2012, hopes were high. The show was ambitious: songs, dancing, a concentration of nostalgic moments, major cast names, West End-style production values.

It even had a massive free promotion on BBC Radio 2 with songs from the production. But it collapsed almost as soon as it opened — the musical ran for just a few performances in Manchester before being postponed, receiving mixed to hostile reviews.

Criticism of Street of Dreams ranged from complaints about the body of the script being “cobbled together” rather than carefully formed, to huge practical problems: actors were said to work with incomplete scripts, some even provided their own costumes; others reported late or non-payment.

In contrast, the Audience with Coronation Street tour has avoided those pitfalls. It has filled theatres, delivered polished performances, maintained good relations with its cast, and earned genuine audience affection — testament to doing fewer things, but doing them well. Something Coronation Street itself could currently possibly learn from.

Street of Dreams proved to be a huge flop for Coronation Street in 2012