Moss Empires was a company formed in Edinburgh in 1899, from the merger of the theatre companies owned by Sir
Edward Moss, Richard Thornton and Sir
Oswald Stoll
Sir Oswald Stoll (20 January 1866 – 9 January 1942) was an Australian-born British theatre manager and the co-founder of the Stoll Moss Group theatre company. He also owned Cricklewood Studios and film production company Stoll Pictures, wh ...
. This created the largest chain of variety theatres and
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 Bri ...
s in the United Kingdom. The business was successful, with major variety theatres in almost every city in Britain and Ireland, and was advertised as the largest group in the world.
History
The group had grown to over 50 theatres when Stoll withdrew his in 1910 to run them as a separate business.
The first
Royal Command Variety Performance
The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal f ...
was planned for Sir Edward Moss's
Edinburgh Empire in the Coronation year 1911 but it burned down and instead was held at the
London Palace Theatre in 1912, owned then by
Sir Alfred Butt
Sir Alfred Butt, 1st Baronet (20 March 1878 – 8 December 1962) was a British theatre impresario, Conservative politician and racehorse owner and breeder. During a fourteen-year tenure as manager of London's Palace Theatre, beginning in 1904, ...
, a competitor of Moss, who later joined its alliance; with many subsequent performances being given at the
London Palladium
The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 an ...
.
In 1932, impresario and producer
George Black oversaw the merging of GTC (General Theatre Corporation) with Moss Empires variety circuit. Black became in charge of the new company Moss Empires Group and controlled a chain of 53 theatres all over the UK. In 1938, Black became the joint managing director of Moss Empires making him one of London's most powerful producers before his death in 1945.
In 1945
Val Parnell
Valentine Charles Parnell (14 February 1892 – 22 September 1972) was a British television managing director and presenter, actor and theatrical impresario.
A former staple of stage production, his career in television started with the launc ...
became managing director of Moss Empires until 1958.
Prince Littler
Prince Frank Littler CBE (25 July 1901 – 1973) born Prince Frank Richeux, was an English theatre proprietor, impresario, and television executive.
Life and career
Littler was born in Ramsgate, Kent, in the south east of England, the elder son i ...
became chairman in 1947 and after some 30 years the Moss and Stoll companies reunited.
The company ended its promotion of music halls during the 1960s, due to increasing competition from other entertainment media.
In 1964, Stoll Moss was acquired by
Lew Grade
Lew Grade, Baron Grade, (born Lev Winogradsky; 25 December 1906 – 13 December 1998) was a British media proprietor and impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a talent agent, Grade's interest in television production began in 1954 ...
; it later became part of his
Associated Communications Corporation
Associated Television was the original name of the British broadcaster ATV, part of the Independent Television (ITV) network. It provided a service to London at weekends from 1955 to 1968, to the Midlands on weekdays from 1956 to 1968, and ...
. ACC was acquired by
Robert Holmes à Court
Michael Robert Hamilton Holmes à Court (27 July 1937 – 2 September 1990) was a South African-born Australian businessman who became Australia's first billionaire, before dying suddenly of a heart attack in 1990 at the age of 53.
A great- ...
in 1982.
The company continues as
Really Useful Theatres, formed from the sale of the Stoll Moss theatres by
Janet Holmes à Court
Janet Holmes à Court, AC, HonFAHA, HonFAIB (born Janet Lee Ranford on 29 November 1943 in Perth, Western Australia) is an Australian businesswoman and one of Australia's wealthiest women. She is the Chairperson of one of Australia's largest ...
to
RUG
Rug or RUG may refer to:
* Rug, or carpet, a textile floor covering
* Rug, slang for a toupée
* Ghent University (''Rijksunversiteit Gent'', or RUG)
* Really Useful Group, or RUG, a company set up by Andrew Lloyd Webber
* Rugby railway station, N ...
Theatres, during January 2000.
Lloyd Webber buys London theatres
/ref> They continue to manage six theatres, the London Palladium
The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 an ...
, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...
, the Gillian Lynne Theatre
The Gillian Lynne Theatre (formerly New London Theatre) is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden. The Winter Garden Theatre formerly occupied the site until 1965 ...
, the Adelphi, Her Majesty's and the Cambridge Theatre
The Cambridge Theatre is a West End theatre, on a corner site in Earlham Street facing Seven Dials, in the London Borough of Camden, built in 1929–30 for Bertie Meyer on an "irregular triangular site".
Design and construction
It was des ...
.
Examples of theatres
England
*Bradford Alhambra
The Alhambra Theatre is a theatre in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, named after the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain, which was the place of residence of the Emir of the Emirate of Granada. It was built in 1913 at a cost of £20,000 fo ...
(1914)
*Liverpool Olympia
The Eventim Olympia (originally the Liverpool Olympia) is a venue in Liverpool, England, situated on West Derby Road next to The Grafton Ballroom.
History
The Liverpool Olympia was built in 1905 For Moss Empires Ltd by architect Frank Matcham ...
(1905)
*Liverpool Empire Theatre
The Liverpool Empire Theatre is a theatre on the corner of Lime Street in Liverpool, England. The playhouse, which opened in 1925, is the second one to be built on the site. It has the largest two-tier auditorium in the United Kingdom and can ...
(1925)
*Newcastle Empire (1890)
*Nottingham Empire Palace (1898)
*Sunderland Empire Theatre
The Sunderland Empire Theatre is a large theatre venue located in High Street West in Sunderland, North East England. The theatre, which opened in 1907, is owned by City of Sunderland Council and operated by Ambassador Theatre Group Ltd, on b ...
(1907)
London
*Empire Theatre of Varieties
The Empire, Leicester Square is a cinema currently operated by Cineworld on the north side of Leicester Square, London.
The Empire was originally built in 1884 as a variety theatre and was rebuilt for films in the 1920s. It is one of several ...
, Leicester Square
Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, itself named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester ...
*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 Lon ...
(1901)
*London Palladium
The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 an ...
(1910)
*Coliseum Theatre
The London Coliseum (also known as the Coliseum Theatre) is a theatre in St Martin's Lane, Westminster, built as one of London's largest and most luxurious "family" variety theatres. Opened on 24 December 1904 as the London Coliseum Theatre o ...
(1904)
*Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...
(1812)
Scotland
*Alhambra Theatre Glasgow
The Alhambra Theatre, Glasgow opened on 19 December 1910 at the corner of Waterloo Street and Wellington Street, Glasgow under the direction of Sir Alfred Butt and was acknowledged as one of the best equipped theatres in Britain, planned to ac ...
(1910–1968) 20% ownership only, ending in 1952
* Empire Palace Theatre, Edinburgh (1892–1963)
*Glasgow Empire Theatre
Glasgow Empire Theatre, known as the Glasgow Palace Empire until the early 1900s, was a major theatre in Glasgow, Scotland, which opened in 1897 on the site of the Gaiety Theatre at 31–35 Sauchiehall Street.
It was one of the leading theatres ...
(1897–1963)
Wales
*Empire Theatre, Oxford Street, Swansea (1900–1960)
Former Moss Empire venues
*O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire
Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was originally ...
(1903)
References
Stoll-Moss Theatres Ltd (company history)
{{authority control
Defunct companies based in London
Defunct companies of Scotland
Companies based in Edinburgh
1899 establishments in Scotland
Entertainment companies established in 1899
Theatre companies in the United Kingdom