Music Hall and Theatre
Music Hall
The first fully fledged music hall opened in Leicester in 1862. Throughout the second half of the 19th century there were many venues, often changing ownership and names, but occupying the same buildings. In addition, small venues existed in public houses around the city, providing entertainment in ‘free and easys.’ By 1918 the heyday of music hall was in the past, and that was also the case in Leicester, but the tradition persisted.
By 1922 there were four theatres in Leicester itself. (1), The Palace in Belgrave Gate, The Theatre Royal in Horsefair Street, The Pavilion, also in Belgrave Gate, and the Royal Opera House in Silver Street/Cank Street. A fifth, The Empire, still presented a mix of cinema and variety during World War One but, by 1921 at the latest, was simply a cinema, and by then was known as The Hippodrome. By 1938 the same source shows only The Palace and The Royal Opera House were extant, but they had been joined by The Little Theatre in Dover Street. The Playhouse Theatre was also in operation by that time.
The Palace, originally opened in 1901 as The Palace Theatre of Varieties, was, at the time, the largest theatre outside of London. At The Palace “variety continued to interchange with revues and even an occasional play.”(2) Bransby Williams, an actor, comedian and monologist well known from London music hall appearances played the Palace 19 times between 1901 and 1930. During the 1930s it switched to mainly showing films, but post-World War Two would return to variety. The Theatre Royal was a popular venue for touring repertory companies, but still presented variety shows. In 1932, Florrie Forde, a music hall star right from her earliest London appearances in 1897, is known to have performed here. The same Florrie Forde had topped the bill at The Palace in Leicester as early as 1901-02. The Pavilion, remembered as “a little third-rate rowdy-dowdy music hall” (3) was known locally as ‘The Pav,’ and in former incarnations had featured music hall greats such as Harry Champion and Vesta Tilley. There was even an appearance by Harry Houdini. By the late 1920s The Pavilion was a venue for plays presented by repertory companies before finally closing in 1930 to make way for a road widening scheme in the city. The Royal Opera House mostly presented more serious theatre, musical comedies and hosted repertory companies, but some variety shows continued. Tommy Handley, Henry Hall, Elsie and Doris Waters and Arthur Askey are known to have appeared at the Opera House. (4)
By 1939 what we might now recognise as music hall was firmly in the past in Leicester. Variety shows were still a feature of the cultural life of the city though and would continue for some time after the Second World War.
Theatre
The four theatres in Leicester at the beginning of the inter war period offered a mix of opera, musical comedy, plays, revues, and variety performances which were influenced by music hall.
The Royal Opera House hosted mostly repertory companies, performing plays and musical comedies. In 1922 Birmingham Repertory Company gave performances of, amongst others, Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ and Sheridan’s ‘The Rivals.(5). Renowned opera company D’Oyly Carte also visited. Some early performances of the Leicester Drama Society were also staged at the Opera House, during the 1920s, before they had their own theatre. The 1920s and '30s saw appearances by such notable performers as Mrs Patrick Campbell, Cicely Cortneidge, Fred Terry, Sybil Thorndike and Sir Gerald Du Maurier. (6) The Theatre Royal hosted at least three touring repertory companies in 1925 alone. Following a refurbishment in 1934 it was home to a succession of permanent companies up to and beyond the Second World War. Theatre was, then, still the main fare at this venue, but revues and variety were also staged (7). By the 1930s the Association Hall which had hosted performances by the Leicester Drama Society the previous decade was now the Playhouse Theatre with its own professional company, the Morton Powell Players. (8) The Palace focussed on variety and revues in the inter war years, with only “an occasional play”. (9)
Perhaps the most significant development during the inter-war period was the foundation of the Leicester Drama Society (LDS). The LDS was formed in 1922 as an amateur company. At first they had no permanent home and performances were given in either the Royal Opera House or the Association Hall, at that time part of Leicester’s YMCA building. The Society later found a permanent home in the former Dover Street Baptist Chapel. They opened their new theatre in 1930 and it was named the Little Theatre in 1932. The LDS is now past its centenary year and the Little Theatre continues to be a part of the cultural life on the city.
Leicester exited World War One with four operational theatres and, at the onset of World War Two, there were still four, but much had changed. Variety shows continued up to and after World War Two. The Little Theatre and Playhouse were new additions. The growth of repertory companies in the inter war period throughout England was reflected in the provision of theatre within the city.
This page created by Paul Rowe.
References
[1] Kelly’s Directory of Leicstershire and Rutland, 1922
[2] 'The Theatre in Leicester' by Helen & Richard Leacroft, 1986
[3] W E Burton, EMOHA Oral History Collection
[4] 'The Theatre in Leicester'.
[5] Ibid
[6] ibid
[7] The Theatre Royal, Horsefair Street, Leicester at arthurlloyd.co.uk (Accessed 16/10/2023)
[8] ibid
[9] 'The Theatre in Leicester'.