The Hippodrome was a theatre in the town of Aldershot in Hampshire. It operated as a venue for variety shows, pantomimes,

musical comedies Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

and other shows from 1913 to 1961. When Peter Sellers appeared there in 1948 he complained that the band accompanying his drum act were four bars behind as they were eating their sandwiches while they were playing.

Early years

Located on the corner of Station Road and Birchett Road in Aldershot, and replacing a group of derelict buildings which dated to the late 1850s, the Hippodrome was built for Clarence Sounes and was designed by the leading English theatre architect

Bertie Crewe William Robert 'Bertie' Crewe (1860 – 10 January 1937) was one of the leading English theatre architects in the boom of 1885 to 1915. Biography Born in Essex and partly trained by Frank Matcham, Crewe and his contemporaries W.G.R. Sprague an ...

. It was a sister theatre to the Kingston Empire at Kingston upon Thames, which had opened in 1910. The Hippodrome opened on 3 February 1913 with variety shows twice a night at 6.30 and 8.50 pm. The bill on opening night included Chas Karnac & Co, The Four Debutants, Sisters Jerome, Tom Westwall, Duncan & Godfrey, Chas Kitts and Rhoda Windrum.

Theatre and cinema

The theatre was the largest for miles around with seating for about 1,000 people, which included 449 seats in the stalls, 258 seats in the dress circle, 272 seats in the balcony (originally this was benched) in addition to four boxes which seated four people in each. The

proscenium A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...

was 24 feet wide, and the stage was 30 feet high and 22 feet in depth. The theatre was equipped with bars on all levels and eight dressing rooms. By March 1914, the Hippodrome was showing Kinemacolor films alongside the variety acts and, by the end of the 1920s, cinema shows were occasionally also being shown there. The Hippodrome was taken over by Kingshot Theatres in 1930 who refurbished it in 1931 with a "Grand Re-Opening" on 6 April 1931, when it began to show twice nightly cine-variety including the screening of "Pathé Super Sound Gazette", part of Pathé News.The Hippodrome on the Cinema Treasures website
/ref> By 1953, in addition to the twice-nightly variety shows the Hippodrome also staged pantomimes, circus acts, plays and

.The Hippodrome Theatre on 'The Music Hall and Theatre History Website
/ref>

Notable performers

The Hippodrome played host to many famous artists of the day, including: Marie Lloyd,

Neville Kennard Neville Kennard (born Lord Nevil Brown; c. September 1900 – 30 December 1963) was an English actor, comedian and writer, most active in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. He was a prolific writer of sketches and a specialist in variety entertainme ...

, The Western Brothers,

Tom Leamore Thomas Leamore (probably born Henry Samuel Lee; 22 September 1866 – 6 September 1939) was an English music hall and variety comic performer, dancer and singer. Life and career He was born in Shoreditch, London, in 1866. There is some uncerta ...

, Humphrey Lyttelton, Acker Bilk,

Mike & Bernie Winters Mike and Bernie Winters were an English comedy double act, consisting of brothers Mike Winters, born Michael Weinstein (15 November 1926 – 24 August 2013) and Bernie Winters, born Bernard Weinstein (6 September 1930 – 4 May 1991). The act ...

Eric Delaney Eric Delaney (22 May 1924 – 14 July 2011) was an English drummer and bandleader, popular in the 1950s and early 1960s. Career Delaney was born in Acton, London, England. Aged 16, he won the Best Swing Drummer award and later joined the Bert ...

Chas McDevitt Charles James McDevitt (born 4 December 1934) is a Scottish musician, one of the leading lights of the skiffle genre which was highly influential and popular in the United Kingdom in the mid-to-late 1950s. Biography McDevitt was born in Eaglesh ...

and Nancy Whiskey, Arthur English,

Clapham and Dwyer Clapham and Dwyer were a British comedy duo popular in the 1920s and 1930s, comprising Charlie Clapham (William Charles Conrad Clapham; 6 January 1894–27 July 1959) and Bill Dwyer (William Henry Dwyer; 7 May 1887–11 January 1943). Live ...

Sabrina Sabrina may refer to: * Sabrina (given name), a feminine given name, including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name People * Sabrina (actress), stage name of Norma Ann Sykes (1936–2016), a British glamour model and actres ...

Phyllis Dixey Phyllis Dixey (10 February 1914 – 2 June 1964) was an English singer, actress, dancer and impresario. Her earlier career was as a singer in variety shows in Britain. During World War II, she joined ENSA and entertained the British forces. She s ...

Florrie Forde Flora May Augusta Flannagan ( Flannagan; 16 August 187518 April 1940), known professionally as Florrie Forde, was an Australian popular singer and music hall entertainer. From 1897 she lived and worked in the United Kingdom. She was one of the ...

Gracie Fields Dame Gracie Fields (born Grace Stansfield; 9 January 189827 September 1979) was an English actress, singer, comedian and star of cinema and music hall who was one of the top ten film stars in Britain during the 1930s and was considered the h ...

, Terry Scott, Arthur Askey,

Harry Champion William Henry Crump (17 April 1865 – 14 January 1942), better known by the stage name Harry Champion, was an English music hall composer, singer and comedian, whose onstage persona appealed chiefly to the working class communities of Ea ...

Leon Cortez Leon Cortez (27 May 1898 – 31 December 1970) was a British musician and actor who appeared regularly on stage and in films and television in a career that spanned five decades. Biography Leon Cortez was born in London as Richard Alfred Chalklin ...

Ella Shields Ella Shields (27 September 1879 – 5 August 1952) was a music hall singer and male-impersonator. Her famous signature song, " Burlington Bertie from Bow", a parody of Vesta Tilley's " Burlington Bertie", written by her manager and first husba ...

Tommy Fields Tommy Fields (28 June 1908–3 June 1988) was a British actor, variety entertainer and music hall performer. He was the younger brother of Gracie Fields. Early life Fields was born Tom Stansfield, the youngest of four children and only son of ...

Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...

Hylda Baker Hylda Baker (4 February 1905 – 1 May 1986) was an English comedian, actress and music hall performer. Born and brought up in Farnworth, Lancashire, she is perhaps best remembered for her role as Nellie Pledge in the Granada ITV sitcom ''N ...

, Arthur Lucan and

Kitty McShane Kathleen "Kitty" McShane (19 May 1897 – 24 March 1964) was an Irish actress, best known as the wife and acting partner of Arthur Lucan, with whom she appeared in a series of ''Old Mother Riley'' stage shows and films from the 1930s to the ...

in their famous ' Old Mother Riley' act, Ivor Moreton and Dave Kaye, Joe Loss and his Orchestra, Lonnie Donegan, Chris Barber and his Jazz Band,

Johnny Dankworth Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Variant ...

and

Cleo Laine Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth (born Clementine Dinah Bullock; 28 October 1927)Primo Scala Henry Bidgood (29 August 1898 – 15 November 1957), was an English composer, dance band leader and musical director for films. Born in West Ham,1911 Census London, England in 1898,. his father was music teacher and composer Thomas Bidgood. The ...

and His Accordion Band, Jimmy James and Eli Woods, Wee Georgie Wood, George Robey, Cicely Courtneidge,

Tommy Trinder Thomas Edward Trinder CBE (24 March 1909 – 10 July 1989) was an English stage, screen and radio comedian whose catchphrase was "You lucky people!". Described by cultural historian Matthew Sweet as "a cocky, front-of-cloth variety turn", he was ...

, Jack Haig, George Martin,

A. E. Matthews Alfred Edward Matthews (22 November 186925 July 1960), known as A. E. Matthews, was an English actor who played numerous character roles on the stage and in film for eight decades. Already middle-aged when films began production, he enjoyed inc ...

, Chrystabel Leighton-Porter as 'Jane', Robertson Hare, Peter Jeffrey,

Clive Dunn Clive Robert Benjamin Dunn (9 January 19206 November 2012) was an English actor. Although he was only 48 and one of the youngest cast members, he was cast in a role many years his senior, as the elderly Lance Corporal Jones in the BBC sitcom ' ...

, Geoffrey Lumsden and Max Miller. In October 1918 Ellen Terry appeared at the theatre for five evenings as Mistress Page in scenes from ‘’

The Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

‘’ alongside a full Variety bill. Peter Sellers appeared at the Hippodrome in February 1948 as a drummer and was billed as "Britain's answer to Gene Krupa". Sellers later described his appearance at the theatre: "I had a crushing defeat in Variety in Aldershot — a terrible thing it was." His complaint was that the band accompanying him were four bars behind as they were eating their sandwiches while they were playing.Lewis, Roger. ''The Life and Death of Peter Sellers'' – Arrow Books (2004) pg 144
/ref> According to some sources the actor

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...

made his stage début at the Hippodrome on 23 November 1931 playing Prince Felix Yusupov in a touring performance of ''Rasputin the Rascal Monk''.Sweeney, Kevin. ''James Mason: A Bio-bibliography''
– Greenwood Press (1999) pg 5 '' Google Books''James Mason – Career Milestones – Turner Classic Movies website
/ref>James Mason Obituary
– '' The Glasgow Herald'' – 28 July 1984 pg 8 –

Google News Google News is a news aggregator service developed by Google. It presents a continuous flow of links to articles organized from thousands of publishers and magazines. Google News is available as an app on Android, iOS, and the Web. Google rel ...

Other sources, however, claim that this may have happened at the nearby Theatre Royal.

Decline and demolition

With ever-increasing numbers of people going to the cinema or watching television as an alternative to going to the theatre, audiences began to dwindle in the 1950s when the theatre shifted more towards nude revue. This proved rather lucrative as the nearly all-male audience preferred to sit in the more expensive seats near the stage. Partly refurbished in 1953, the Hippodrome reopened fitfully under a number of managers until about 1960 and was demolished in 1961 after an unsuccessful campaign to save it. The last show performed there was a repertory production of ''Dry Rot''. The 1960s office block Hippodrome House occupies the site today.

References

External links