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Hackney Empire
Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in the London Borough of Hackney. Originally designed by Frank Matcham it was built in 1901 as a music hall, and expanded in 2001. Described by ''The Guardian'' as ‘the most beautiful theatre in London’ it is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation. History Hackney Empire is a grade II* listed building. The theatre was built as a music hall in 1901, designed by the architect Frank Matcham. Architecture scholar Nicholas Pevsner described the "splendid Hackney Empire, with its ornate terracotta exterior and sumptuous seventy-seven galleried auditorium" as a key example of Victorian and Edwardian architecture. There is a statue of Thalia, the Greek muse of comedy, on the roof of the theatre: this was removed in 1979, but later reinstalled. Charlie Chaplin, W. C. Fields, Stanley Holloway, Stan Laurel, Marie Lloyd and Julie Andrews all performed there, when the Hackney Empire was a music hall. ATV bought the theatre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Music Hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Britain between bold and scandalous ''Music Hall'' and subsequent, more respectable ''Variety'' differ. Music hall involved a mixture of popular songs, comedy, speciality acts, and variety entertainment. The term is derived from a type of theatre or venue in which such entertainment took place. In North America vaudeville was in some ways analogous to British music hall, featuring rousing songs and comic acts. Originating in saloon bars within public houses during the 1830s, music hall entertainment became increasingly popular with audiences. So much so, that during the 1850s some public houses were demolished, and specialised music hall theatres developed in their place. These theatres were designed chiefly so that people could consume food ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mare Street
Mare Street is a street in the London Borough of Hackney. It has existed since the 15th century, when it was one of the first roads at the centre of the parish. It was then known as ''Merestret''. The word ''mere'' was either the Old English ''mǣre'' meaning a boundary — referring to the boundary with the parish of Stepney — or mere (lake), mere, a large pond which was fed by Hackney Brook. Location Mare Street runs north–south through the centre of Hackney Central, Hackney. It starts at the junction of Dalston Lane with the Lower Clapton Road and runs south to the Regent's Canal. The northernmost section is a largely traffic-free shopping street, known as The Narroway. South of the North London Line at Hackney Central railway station, Mare Street follows the A107 to the canal, where it becomes the Cambridge Heath Road. History Mare Street was established by 1593 when the Flying Horse Inn was a staging post for travellers. By 1720, it was the most populous part of Hackn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marie Lloyd
Matilda Alice Victoria Wood (12 February 1870 – 7 October 1922), professionally known as Marie Lloyd (), was an English music hall singer, comedian and musical theatre actress. She was best known for her performances of songs such as " The Boy I Love Is Up in the Gallery", " My Old Man (Said Follow the Van)" and " Oh Mr Porter What Shall I Do". She received both criticism and praise for her use of innuendo and double entendre during her performances, but enjoyed a long and prosperous career, during which she was affectionately called the "Queen of the Music Hall". Born in London, she was showcased by her father at the Eagle Tavern in Hoxton. In 1884, she made her professional début as Bella Delmere; she changed her stage name to Marie Lloyd the following year. In 1885, she had success with her song "The Boy I Love Is Up in the Gallery", and she frequently topped the bill at prestigious theatres in London's West End. In 1891, she was recruited by the impresario Augustus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles Elton (born 3 May 1959) is an English comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. He was a part of London's alternative comedy movement of the 1980s and became a writer on the sitcoms '' The Young Ones'' and ''Blackadder'', as well as continuing as a stand-up comedian on stage and television. His style in the 1980s was left-wing political satire. Since then he has published 17 novels and written the musicals ''The Beautiful Game'' (2000), ''We Will Rock You'' (2002), '' Tonight's the Night'' (2003), and '' Love Never Dies'' (2010), the sequel to ''The Phantom of the Opera''. His novels cover the dystopian, comedy, and crime genres. Early life and education Elton was born on 3 May 1959 at University College Hospital in Fitzrovia, London, the son of Mary (née Foster), an English teacher from Cheshire, and physicist and educational researcher Professor Lewis Elton. He is a nephew of the historian Sir Geoffrey Elton and a third cousin of singer Oliv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alternative Comedy
Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe content that was an "alternative" to the mainstream of live comedy, which often involved racist and sexist material. In other contexts, it is the nature of the form that is "alternative", avoiding reliance on a standardised structure of a sequence of jokes with punch lines. Patton Oswalt has defined it as "comedy where the audience has no pre-set expectations about the crowd, and vice versa. In comedy clubs, there tends to be a certain vibe—alternative comedy explores different types of material." In an interview with ''The A.V. Club'' after his performance in the 2011 comedy-drama film ''Young Adult'', Oswalt stated: I had come up out of that whole alternative scene, which was all about, "Don’t try it, man. Just go up and wing it. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roland Muldoon
Roland Muldoon was an English Playwright and actor. Life and career Muldoon was born, in between air-raid warnings, in 1941 in Weybridge, Surrey. He left school in 1956 and worked in various jobs, ranging from City clerk to labourer, Brixham fish sorter to chainman on the new Victoria line. He studied Stage Management at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. It was in this city that he teamed up with life-time partner/wife, Claire. In 1963 they joined the Unity Theatre before setting up the legendary underground political theatre group CAST (Cartoon Archetypical Slogan Theatre). Their debut was at the Peanuts Club off Liverpool St set up by Jeff Nuttall. They claimed their work was Agit-Prop, frequently performing on the still existing folk club circuit. Their short fast moving plays would feature Muggins characters who invariable are trying to make sense of the capitalist world. Their anti Vietnam play John D Muggins is Dead played in the Festival Hall and appeared in Peter B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or exposing the perceived flaws of individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society. A feature of satire is strong irony or sarcasm —"in satire, irony is militant", according to literary critic Northrop Frye— but parody, burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all frequently used in satirical speech and writing. This "militant" irony or sarcasm often professes to approve of (or at least accept as natural) the very things the satirist wishes to question. Satire is found in many a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wrestling
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat sports and military systems. The sport can either be genuinely competitive or sportive entertainment (see professional wrestling). Wrestling comes in different forms such as freestyle, Greco-Roman, judo, sambo, folkstyle, catch, submission, sumo, pehlwani, shuai jiao and others. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two (sometimes more) competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position. There are a wide range of styles with varying rules, with both traditional historic and modern styles. The term ''wrestling'' is attested in late Old English, as ''wræstlunge'' (glossing ''palestram''). History Wrestling represents one of the oldest forms of combat. The origins of wrestl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bingo (British Version)
Bingo is a game of probability in which players mark off numbers on cards as the numbers are drawn randomly by a caller, the winner being the first person to mark off all their numbers. Bingo, also previously known in the UK as Housey-Housey, became increasingly popular across the UK following the Betting and Gaming Act 1960 with more purpose-built bingo halls opened every year until 2005. Since 2005, bingo halls have seen a marked decline in revenues and the closure of many halls. The number of bingo clubs in Britain has dropped from nearly 600 in 2005 to under 400 as of January 2014. These closures are blamed on high taxes, the smoking ban, and the rise in online gambling, amongst other things. Bingo played in the UK (90-ball bingo) is not to be confused with bingo played in the US ( 75-ball bingo), as the tickets and the calling are slightly different. In Quebec, this game is called Kinzo. In India, it is known as Tambola. History The game itself, not originally called bin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mecca Leisure Group
Mecca Leisure Group (also known as Mecca Leisure Ltd, Mecca Ltd, and Mecca Dance Ltd) was a British business that ran nightclubs, hotels, theme parks, bingo parlours and Hard Rock Cafes. During the 1960s, Mecca was a centre of entertainment with numerous nightclubs throughout major United Kingdom towns and cities. Mecca ballrooms were used for the BBC TV show ''Come Dancing''. Eric Morley was a general manager of dancing at Mecca Leisure Group and was involved in the Miss World competitions. Notable DJs performing at Mecca nightclubs include Jimmy Savile from 1960 and Pete Waterman. The Coventry Locarno is the subject of the Specials song "Friday Night, Saturday Morning", B-side to ''Ghost Town''. Also, Chuck Berry's live version of " My Ding-a-Ling" was recorded there. History The Mecca Leisure Group has its origins in the Mecca Agency Limited, a company co-founded by Carl L. Heimann and Byron Davies in 1933 to operate the recently created dance hall chain Mecca Dancing.Not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emergency – Ward 10
''Emergency Ward 10'' is a British medical soap opera series shown on ITV between 1957 and 1967. Like ''The Grove Family'', a series shown by the BBC between 1954 and 1957, ''Emergency Ward 10'' is considered to be one of British television's first major soap operas. Overview The series was made by the ITV contractor ATV and set in a fictional hospital called Oxbridge General. Growing out of what was originally intended to be no more than a six-week serial (entitled ''Calling Nurse Roberts''), the series became ITV's first twice-weekly evening soap opera. ''Emergency Ward 10'' was the first hospital-based television drama to establish a successful format combining medical matters with storylines centring on the personal lives of the doctors and nurses. ''Emergency Ward 10'' attracted attention for its portrayal of an interracial relationship between surgeon Louise Mahler (played by Joan Hooley) and Doctor Giles Farmer (played by John White), showing the second kiss on televis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opportunity Knocks (British TV Series)
''Opportunity Knocks'' is a British television and radio talent show originally hosted by Hughie Green, with a late-1980s revival hosted by Bob Monkhouse, and later by previous winner Les Dawson. From its origin on BBC Radio in 1949 the show provided a platform to fame for acts such as Spike Milligan and Frankie Vaughan. One of the most popular shows on British television, in the 1960s and 1970s it had a weekly audience of 20 million viewers. The original radio version started on the BBC Light Programme, where it ran from 18 February to 29 September 1949, but moved to Radio Luxembourg in the 1950s. It was shown on ITV from 20 June 1956 to 29 August 1956, produced by Associated Rediffusion. A second run commenced on 11 July 1964 and lasted until 20 March 1978, produced first by ABC and then by Thames. During this period Bob Sharples was musical director.Bob Sharples obituary, ''The Guardian'', 9 September 1987 p. 34 Green presented a single episode of ''Opportunity Knocks'' for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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