Canterbury Music Hall
| File:1856 CanterburyHall.jpg Interior of the Canterbury Hall, shown in a print of 1856. | |
 | |
| Address | 143 Westminster Bridge Road Lambeth, London |
|---|---|
| Owner | Charles Morton |
| Designation | Demolished |
| Type | Music hall |
| Capacity | 1852 700 seated 1854 1,500 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 17 May 1852 |
| Closed | 1942 |
| Rebuilt | 1854, 1876 1912 Frank Matcham |
The Canterbury Music Hall was established in 1852 by Charles Morton on the site of a former skittle alley adjacent to the Canterbury Tavern at 143 Westminster Bridge Road, Lambeth. It was one of the first music halls to be established in London, and Morton came to be dubbed the Father of the Halls as hundreds of imitators were built within the next several years. The theatre was rebuilt three times, and the last theatre on the site was destroyed by bombing in 1942.
History
Establishing the hall
Morton and Frederick Stanley, his brother in law, purchased the Canterbury Arms in 1849. Morton had been impressed with the entertainments at Evans Music-and-Supper Rooms in Covent Garden and decided to offer a harmonic meeting, held on Saturdays, in the back room of the public house. Soon, a Thursday evening programme was added to accommodate the crowds. Entry was free, but the profits from the sale of food and drink allowed the construction of a larger hall on the site of the former skittle alley, next to the public house.
This 700 seat hall took a year to build and opened as the Canterbury Hall on 17 May 1852, described as "the most significant date in all the history of music hall".[2] The hall charged a modest admission and looked like most contemporary concert rooms within public houses of the period. It specialised in programmes of light music and ballads. Professional performers could earn high fees, and this attracted performances of selections from opera, including the first performances of Jacques Offenbach's music in England.[3]
First purpose-built tavern music hall
The venture was profitable, and a new theatre was built in 1856, of unprecedented size, seating 1,500. In order not to interrupt the flow of profits, the theatre was constructed around the walls of the 1852 hall, and when it was complete, the old building within was demolished in a single weekend. This new theatre was the first purpose-built tavern music hall and opened in December 1856, as the New Canterbury Hall.[3]
The building had a grand entrance with extensive windows and a glazed roof that could be withdrawn to let the cigar and pipe smoke out. The bar was installed on a balcony over the hall, reached by ascending a grand staircase. The fittings were luxurious, with chandeliers and painted walls. At the end of the main hall there was a simple stage with a grand piano and harmonium to provide entertainment between the acts. The 'chairman' sat on the stage, introduced the acts, provided his own 'patter' and exhorted the patrons to drink.[4] The entrance fee was 6 pence downstairs, and 9 pence upstairs. Customers sat at small tables, and waiters brought food and drink to them.[5] The 1859 expansion of the viaducts carrying trains to Waterloo railway station separated the theatre entrance from the auditorium, and patrons entered through a long arched tunnel under the railway, entertained by an aquarium.[6] In 1861, Blondin walked a tightrope fixed between the balconies of the hall.[7] Robert W. Paul's Theatrograph was used at the theatre from 27 April 1896, a year after it had first been demonstrated at the Alhambra in Leicester Square. The film programme included Boxers and Lady Gymnast. These early experiments in films were only a partial success.[8]
On Boxing Night 1867, William Holland took over the management and refurbished the hall at considerable cost. When informed that his purchase of a 1,000 Guinea carpet was too good for his clientale, he invited them "to come in and spit on it".[5] George Leybourne was engaged at £20 a week as lion comique, and classical music was removed from the bill.[5]
Enlarged theatre
R. E. Villiers took over the management in 1876 and spent £40,000 to enlarge the theatre. He reintroduced a popular ballet item featuring the dancers Phyllis Broughton and Florence Powell. Topical ballets, such as Plevna and Trafalgar, drew in the crowds, including the Prince of Wales.[5] In 1877, the Queen's theatre in Long Acre and the Canterbury were joined by overhead wires, and public demonstrations of the Cromwell Varley telephone were given. Several simple tunes were transmitted and emitted softly from a large drum-like apparatus suspended over the proscenium.[9]
The hall was rebuilt as the 3,000–seat Canterbury Theatre of Varieties in 1914 by Frank Matcham. About 1922, this theatre came to be used as a cinema and was finally destroyed by bombing in 1942.[3]
References
- ^ Playbills and programmes from London theatre 1801-1900 Center for Research Libraries Chadwyck-Healey Microfiche Edition
- ^ Benny Green (ed) (1986) The Last Empires: A Music Hall Companion, p. 7
- ^ a b c Canterbury Music Hall (Arthur Lloyd) accessed 6 March 2008
- ^ Canterbury Hall (People Play UK) accessed 6 March 2008
- ^ a b c d The Canterbury (Arthur Lloyd) from The Oxford Companion to Theatre accessed 6 March 2008
- ^ The Railway Age (Lambeth local history) accessed 6 March 2008
- ^ Aerial Acts (People Play UK) accessed 6 March 2008
- ^ A Chronology of the World's Film Productions and Film Shows before May 1896 (Who's Who of Victorian Cinema) accessed 7 March 2008
- ^ London and Londoners in the Eighteen-Fifties and Sixties], Alfred Rosling Bennett (1924) Chapter 44 The Drama (The Victorian Dictionary) accessed 6 March 2008
External links
- Charles Morton's Canterbury Music Hall (Arthur Lloyd theatre history site)