The Hippodrome was a theatre in the town of

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

in Hampshire. It operated as a venue for variety shows,

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

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, movement ...

and other shows from 1913 to 1961. When

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...

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 Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...

, 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 (, ) is the virtual 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 itself, which serves as the frame ...

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 Kinemacolor was the first successful colour motion picture process. Used commercially from 1909 to 1915, it was invented by George Albert Smith in 1906. It was a two-colour additive colour process, photographing a black-and-white film behind ...

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 Pathé News was a producer of newsreels and documentaries from 1910 to 1970 in the United Kingdom. Its founder, Charles Pathé, was a pioneer of moving pictures in the silent era. The Pathé News archive is known today as "British Pathé". I ...

. By 1953, in addition to the twice-nightly variety shows the Hippodrome also staged

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

acts, plays and

Notable performers

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

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 ...

, Neville Kennard, The Western Brothers, Tom Leamore,

Humphrey Lyttelton Humphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton (23 May 1921 – 25 April 2008), also known as Humph, was an English jazz musician and broadcaster from the Lyttelton family. Having taught himself the trumpet at school, Lyttelton became a professional ...

Acker Bilk Bernard Stanley "Acker" Bilk, (28 January 1929 – 2 November 2014) was an English clarinetist and vocalist known for his breathy, vibrato-rich, lower-register style, and distinctive appearance – of goatee, bowler hat and striped waistco ...

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. He studied drumming with Max Abrams. Aged 16, he won the Best Swing Drum ...

Chas McDevitt Charles James McDevitt (born 4 December 1934) is a Scottish musician who was 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 ...

and

Nancy Whiskey Nancy Whiskey (born Anne Alexandra Young Wilson, 4 March 1935 – 1 February 2003) was a Scottish folk singer, best known for the 1957 hit song, "Freight Train". Life and career Nancy Wilson was born in Dalmarnock, Glasgow, Scotland, and learn ...

Arthur English Arthur Leslie Norman English (9 May 1919 – 16 April 1995) was an English television, film and stage actor and comedian from the music hall tradition. Early life English was born at 22 Lysons Road in Aldershot,'Arthur English, ''Aldershot H ...

'Monsewer' Eddie Gray Edward Earl Gray (10 June 1898 – 15 September 1969), who performed as Monsewer' Eddie Gray, was an English stage comedian. He appeared in music halls as a solo act and also as a member of the Crazy Gang. Gray was apprenticed to a juggler at ...

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). Liv ...

Sabrina Sabrina may refer to: People and fictional characters * Sabrina (given name), a feminine given name, including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Hafren, known in English as Sabrina, a British princess in Welsh mythology ...

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 ...

Florrie Forde Florrie Forde (born Flora May Augusta Flannagan;16 August 187518 April 1940) was an Australian-born British vaudevillian performer and popular singer, notable in music hall and pantomime. From 1897 she lived and worked in the United Kingdom, wh ...

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

, Tommy Fields,

Terry Scott Terry Scott (born born Owen John Scott; 4 May 1927 – 26 July 1994) was an English actor and comedian who appeared in seven of the '' Carry On films''. He is also well known for appearing in the BBC1 sitcoms '' Happy Ever After'' and '' Terr ...

Arthur Askey Arthur Bowden Askey (6 June 1900 – 16 November 1982) was an English comedian and actor. Askey was known for his short stature (5' 2", 1.58 m) and distinctive horn-rimmed glasses, and his playful humour incorporating improvisation an ...

Frankie Howerd Francis Alick Howard (6 March 1917 – 19 April 1992), better known by his stage-name Frankie Howerd, was an English actor and comedian. Early life Howerd was born the son of a soldier Francis Alfred William (1887–1934)England & Wales, Deat ...

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 Chalkli ...

, Ella Shields,

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 eight 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 ' ...

Arthur Lucan Arthur Lucan (born Arthur Towle; 16 September 1885 – 17 May 1954) was an English actor who performed the drag act Old Mother Riley on stage, radio and screen, with a series of comedy films from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Early life ...

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 Old Mother Riley is a fictional character portrayed from about 1934 to 1954 by Arthur Lucan and from 1954 to the 1980s by Roy Rolland as part of a British music hall act. Old Mother Riley (full comedy name: Daphne Bluebell Snowdrop Riley) is a ...

' act,

Ivor Moreton and Dave Kaye Ivor Moreton and Dave Kaye were an English musical variety double act who were known for performing syncopated piano duets together from the 1930s to the 1950s. The duo consisted of pianists Ivor Arthur Moreton (born Arthur Lethbridge; 18 March ...

Joe Loss Joshua Alexander "Joe" Loss (22 June 1909 – 6 June 1990) was a British dance band leader and musician who founded his own eponymous orchestra. Life Loss was born in Spitalfields, London, the youngest of four children. His parents, Israel an ...

and his Orchestra,

Lonnie Donegan Anthony James "Lonnie" Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002) was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the " King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotland and brought ...

Chris Barber Donald Christopher Barber (17 April 1930 – 2 March 2021) was an English jazz musician, best known as a bandleader and Trombone, trombonist. He helped many musicians with their careers and had a UK top twenty trad jazz hit with "Petite Fleur ...

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. Varian ...

and

Cleo Laine Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth (born Clementine Dinah Hitching; 28 October 1927) is an English singer and actress known for her scat singing. She is the widow of jazz composer and musician Sir John Dankworth and the mother of bassist Alec D ...

Primo Scala Henry Bidgood (28 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. T ...

and His Accordion Band, Jimmy James and

Eli Woods Eli Woods (born John Casey; 11 January 1923 – 1 May 2014) was an English comedian and comic actor, born in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, possibly best known for his work with stage comedian Jimmy James (in reality his uncle), and particu ...

Wee Georgie Wood George Wood Bamlett OBE (17 December 1895 – 19 February 1979), known professionally as Wee Georgie Wood, was a British comic entertainer and actor who appeared in films, plays and music hall revues. He had a lengthy career of over fifty year ...

George Robey Sir George Edward Wade, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (20 September 1869 – 29 November 1954),James Harding (music writer), Harding, James"Robey, George" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University P ...

Cicely Courtneidge Dame Esmerelda Cicely Courtneidge (1 April 1893 – 26 April 1980) was an Australian-born British actress, comedian and singer. The daughter of the producer and playwright Robert Courtneidge, she was appearing in his productions in the West End ...

Tommy Trinder Thomas Edward Trinder (24 March 1909 – 10 July 1989) was an English stage, screen and radio comedian whose catchphrase was "You lucky people!". Described by Cultural history, cultural historian Matthew Sweet (writer), Matthew Sweet as "a cocky ...

, Jack Haig,

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...

Malcolm Sargent Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (29 April 1895 – 3 October 1967) was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated include ...

conducting the

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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 incr ...

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as 'Jane',

Robertson Hare John Robertson Hare, Order of the British Empire, OBE (17 December 1891 – 25 January 1979) was an English actor, who came to fame in the Aldwych farces. He is remembered by more recent audiences for his performances as the Archdeacon in the p ...

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and Max Miller. In October 1918

Ellen Terry Dame Alice Ellen Terry (27 February 184721 July 1928) was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London, and toured ...

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.

appeared at the Hippodrome in February 1948 as a drummer and was billed as "Britain's answer to

Gene Krupa Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973) was an American jazz drummer, bandleader, and composer. Krupa is widely regarded as one of the most influential drummers in the history of popular music. His drum solo on Benny Goodman ...

". 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. 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 nominated for three Academy Awards, three Golden Globes (winning once) and two ...

made his stage début at the Hippodrome on 23 November 1931 playing

Prince Felix Yusupov Knyaz Felix Felixovich Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston (; – 27 September 1967) was a Russian aristocrat from the House of Yusupov who is best known for participating in the assassination of Grigori Rasputin and for marrying Princess Irina ...

in a touring performance of ''Rasputin the Rascal Monk''.Sweeney, Kevin. ''James Mason: A Bio-bibliography''
– Greenwood Press (1999) p. 5, ''

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

''James Mason Obituary
– ''

The Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'' – 28 July 1984 p. 8 –

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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 A repertory theatre, also called repertory, rep, true rep or stock, which are also called producing theatres, is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom ...

production of ''Dry Rot''. The 1960s office block Hippodrome House occupies the site today.

References

External links