Weston's Music Hall was a

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 Br ...

and

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

that opened on 16 November 1857 at 242-245

High Holborn High Holborn ( ) is a street in Holborn and Farringdon Without, Central London, which forms a part of the A40 route from London to Fishguard. It starts in the west at the eastern end of St Giles High Street and runs past the Kingsway and S ...

in London, England. In 1906, the theatre became known as the Holborn Empire.

History

Early years

The theatre was constructed on the site of the ''Six Cans and Punch Bowl Tavern''. Edward Weston, nephew of the previous licensee of the pub, bought the former Holborn National Schoolrooms immediately behind the pub and rebuilt it as a music hall in six months. This purpose built hall was his response to the success of Charles Morton's Canterbury Music Hall in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area e ...

. In 1861, Morton struck back by opening the Oxford Music Hall, nearby in

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and ...

; a development Weston opposed on the grounds there were already too many music halls in the area.Weston's Music Hall, at Arthur Lloyd music hall history
31 Mar 2007 The theatre was renamed the ''Royal Music Hall'' in 1868, and then changed names again in 1892 under the management of Arthur Swanborough and George Burgess, becoming the ''Royal Holborn Theatre of Varieties''. So successful was it in that decade it began to rival Morton's Canterbury Theatre, which was the most popular and profitable in London. The hall's early and most influential years were presided over by an exacting chairman and master of ceremonies, W. B. Fair, famous for the song ''Tommy, Make Room for Your Uncle''. He chose the acts, warmed the audience up for each succeeding performance, and encouraged them at all times to interact with the performers throughout the evening. Fair was thus responsible for introducing to the London stage some of the most famous music hall acts, including

Bessie Bellwood Bessie Bellwood (born Catherine Mahoney; 30 March 1856 – 24 September 1896) was a popular music hall performer of the Victorian era noted for her singing of 'Coster' songs, including "What Cheer Ria". Her onstage persona was that of an abra ...

and JH Stead.British Library on Weston's
accessed 31 Mar 2007 The theatre became moribund at the beginning of the 20th century, but was rescued by George Cray, with sketches such as ''The Fighting Parson''.

Holborn Empire

In 1905 the theatre was bought by the variety impresario Walter Gibbons and in 1906 he had the theatre auditorium remodelled by

Frank Matcham Francis Matcham (22 November 1854 – 17 May 1920)Mackintosh, Iain"Matcham, Frank" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, accessed 7 July 2019 was an English architect who specialised in the design o ...

at a cost of £30,000; the theatre was renamed the Holborn Empire. The Holborn Empire was the last surviving variety theatre in the West End, also performing special theatrical matinees. 1907 Music hall strike poster

On 22 January 1907, a long brewing dispute between artists, stage hands and managers of the theatres came to a head at the Holborn Empire. The artists, musicians and stage hands went on strike. Strikes in other London and suburban halls followed, organised by the Variety Artistes' Federation. The strike came to be known as the '' Music Hall Wars'', and was against the conditions imposed by the managers. These included sole rights to a star and the ability to include additional matinee performances in the schedule without pay, or notice. Eventually the managements were forced to give in, in the face of solidarity by major stars like

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 " T ...

, and additional payments for matinee performances were introduced. The theatre premièred the first full-length feature film in 1914, ''The World, the Flesh and the Devil'', a 50-minute

melodrama A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exce ...

filmed in Kinemacolor. In 1926, comedians

Flanagan and Allen Flanagan and Allen were a British singing and comedy double act most active during the 1930s and 1940s. Its members were Bud Flanagan (1896 – 1968, born Chaim Weintrop) and Chesney Allen (1894–1982). They were first paired in a Florrie Ford ...

were booked by Val Parnell for a début at the theatre, and

Margaret Lockwood Margaret Mary Day Lockwood, CBE (15 September 1916 – 15 July 1990), was an English actress. One of Britain's most popular film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, her film appearances included ''The Lady Vanishes'' (1938), ''Night Train to Munich' ...

made her first stage appearance at the age of 12, in 1928, as a fairy in ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict a ...

''. The Holborn Empire was where Max Miller was taken on by impresario Tom Arnold in 1926, and also where he starred in the George Black revues ''Haw Haw!'' (1939), followed by ''Apple Sauce'' (1940) featuring Florence Desmond, Jack Stanford and

Vera Lynn Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (; 20 March 191718 June 2020) was an English singer and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during World War II. She is honorifically known as the " Forces' Sweetheart", having giv ...

. The theatre was closed as a result of an unexploded time bomb near the stage door, during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

on the night of 11–12 May 1941, and the show transferred to 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 a ...

.''Notable Stage Appearances'' (Miller's the name, lady)
accessed 15 Nov 2007 The building was hit the following night by another bomb and too badly damaged to reopen. It was finally pulled down in 1960.

References

* ''The Oxford Companion To Theatre'' (second edition) (1957)

External links

accessed 31 Mar 2007
Theatre Collection at the University of Kent
{{Authority control Theatres completed in 1857 1941 disestablishments in England Former buildings and structures in the London Borough of Camden Former music hall venues in the United Kingdom Former theatres in London Buildings and structures in Holborn Music venues completed in 1857 1857 establishments in England