Bertie Crewe

Bertie Crewe (died 10 January, 1937 in London) was one of the leading theatre designers of the UK in the boom of 1885 to 1915

Biography

Partly trained by Frank Matcham, Crewe and his contemporaries W.G.R. Sprague and Thomas Verity, were together responsible for the majority - certainly more than 200 - of the theatres and variety palaces of the great building boom which took place in Britain between 1885 and 1915, peaking at the turn of the century Crewe became known as one of the most dynamic architects of the 1890s-1900s, specialising entirely in theatres and later cinemas.

Crewe trained in Paris and London, where as a young man he was a frequent visitor to Frank Matcham’s home. Up to the mid 1890s Crewe collaborated with Sprague, producing the Lincoln Theatre Royal as well as a number of theatres around London. It was after he branched out on his own that he developed what was to become his characteristic Baroque-influenced style. His work around the turn of the century was marked by horizontal balconies tied to ranges of stage boxes and elaborate ornamental features.

Crewe's last project, joint with Henry G. Kay was the Regal, Kennington Road (opened 17 November 1937) by the Arthur O’Connor circuit. Designed as split theatre-cinema, the Edwardian Kennington Empire would have been in decline by the time of building .

After death

After World War II, those theatres that were not destroyed by bombing were in the way of redevelopment. Film and television were the future, while live theatre was dead on its feet. The idea of listing and preserving any of these useless old relics would have been considered laughable. The great building boom of 1885 to 1915 was matched between 1950 and 1975 by the greatest theatre demolition. In that 25-year period, in Greater London alone, 35 theatres were demolished. Of these, 20 were by Matcham.

Along with the rehabilitation in the last 20 years of Matcham, Crewe has re-established himself. In 2004, the Palace Theatre in Redditch (built 1913) completed a record £3.7 million face lift. A now rare example of Edwardian theatre, the theatre was successful in bidding for a Heritage Lottery Fund grant. Experts reckon the Grade II-listed theatre is one of only six examples that can be fully attributed to Bertie Crewe .

Trainees

• Cecil Masey - designs include Stanford Hall Theatre, Loughborough. Trained in Crewe’s office working on the large theatres and music halls that Crewe designed before the First World War, and in the early 30s had worked for Sydney Bernstein on the creation on the Granada cinema circuit, including the famous Tooting Granada. At Stanford, the interior design was by J. E. Redding & Smith; and the safety curtain and various interior mural works by Beatrice MacDermott .

Theatres

His list of theatre designs include:

Theatre	Location	Build Date	Original Seating Capacity	Screens	Status	Notes
Royal Court Theatre	London	1888	642			as sub to Walter Emden. Next to the Metropolitan railway station (now Sloane Square tube). Reconstructed in 1952 and 1980. An unimpressive auditorium, whose sight-lines could be improved, is the strangely antique setting for modern drama that generally preaches change
Theatre Royal	Lincoln	1889				Website inc. Present Program
Olympic	London	1890			Demolished	with W.G.R. Sprague
Euston Theatre of Varieties	Euston	26 December, 1900	1,310		Demolished 1960	with Wylson & Long. In use as a Cinema from the mid 1930's to 1950, then renamed the Regent Theatre
Sadler's Wells	London	1901			Fifth theatre demolished 1996	Remodelled
Liverpool Royal Hippodrome	Liverpool	1902	4,000		Demolished 1984	The first of the Barrasford halls. The ceiling was painted by Secard, depicting flying cupids upon beds of clouds. From 1931-1967 it was a cinema
Lyceum	London	1904	2,000		New Auditorium	Built behind Samuel Beazley's original facade and portico
Pavillion	Strathclyde, Glasgow	1904	1.499			Although dilapidated, the theatre is a remarkable original survivor as a commercial theatre
Palace	Gorbals, Glasgow	1904	2,000		Demolished 1976	Cine-variety from 1914, sold to H Maitles. Bingo from 1962
Theatre Royal	Bury St Edmunds	1906			Alterations	Designed by William Wilkins it opened on 11 October, 1819. Redesigned by Crewe in 1906. Greene King purchased the freehold in 1920, but closed in 1925 and used as a barrel store. Air Vice-Marshal Stanley Vincent raised over £37,000 to restore and re-open the Theatre Royal in 1965, and leased to the National Trust in 1975 on a 999 year lease
Sheffield Hippodrome	Sheffield	23 December 1907
Royal Hippodrome	Belfast	1907	1,156		Demlished, now a Car Park	Became cinema in 1935, Odeon in 1961, and New Victoria Cinema in 1974. Bingo Hall in approx 1987 with occasional theatre use. Closed 1988. Demolished 1997
Nottingham Hippodrome	Nottingham	28 September, 1908				The last Hippodrome to be erected by Tom Barrasford
Hippodrome	Plymouth	1908			Destroyed by bombing and fire in 1941	Remains purchased in May 1958 by Plymouth Council for £4,000, building demolished
Hoxton Hall	London	1909			Internal Alterations	Built 1863 by James Mortimer, now an Arts Centre
Kinston Empire	Kingston on Thames	1910			Converted to a pub and offices in 1956	with C J Bourne. Converted to a cinema in 1930, with Neon lighting was introduced to light the dome, the second theatre in the country to do this (the first being the London Coliseum)
Stoll	London	1911	2,600		Demolished 1958	for Oscar Hammerstein, sold to Oswald Stoll in 1913. 1916 renamed the Stoll Picture Theatre as a Cine-Variety. From 1952 solely as a theatre, including the London premiere of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess on 9 October 1952
Shaftesbury	London	26 December 1911			changed to the Shaftesbury in 1963	originally Prince’s, it opened with the play The Three Musketeers
London Opera House/Peacock	London	1911			Owned by the London School of Economics, a lecture theatre by day and home of Sadler’s Wells’ West End programme by night	Designed for Oscar Hammerstein, transformed into a cinema by Oswald Stoll in 1916. 1957 rebuilt as part of an office block to fulfil London County Council requirements, reopened as a theatre in 1970. Presented the Paul Raymond revues
Empire Burnley	Burnley	1911	1,200		Auditorium reconstructed	Built 1894 under G.B. Rawcliffe. Converted to a cinema in 1938, now a Gala Bingo
Golders Green Hippodrome	Golders Green	1913	3,000		Abandoned	Former home of the BBC Concert Orchestra
The Holm	Regents Park	1911	Private House			First villa to be erected in Regents Park. Designed in 1816-18 by Decimus Burton aged 18 for his father,James Burton. Further wings were added in 1911 by Bertie Crewe. More alterations were carried out in 1935
Palace Theatre	Manchester	1913			Auditorium Reconstructed. Now leased to Apollo Leisure	Built in 1891 by Alfred Darbyshire & F B Smith as the Manchester Palace of Varietie. The first computerised box office system in Europe was installed. Owned by the Palace Theatre Trust
Palace	Redditch	1913	399		£3.6M refurbishment and extension	Relatively small, it was used as a Bingo Hall from 1954-1971. Purchased by the council, converted to a theatre
Coliseum Theatre	Dublin	1915	3,000		Destroyed in the Easter Rising of 1916	with R.F. Bergin
Théâtre Mogador	Paris	1919	1,800		Since the nineties the Théâtre Mogador is also used as a concert hall	1913 Sir Alfred Butt rents an area in Paris. Built during World War I in the year 1913. The inauguration guests include President Wilson, in France to negotiate the Treaty of Versailles
Birmingham Hippodrome	Birmingham	1899	1,817		Internal Changes	Originally the Tower of Varieties and Circus, it is still a theatre as the Birmingham Theatre
Piccadilly	London	1928	1,400			with Edward A. Stone as a private theatre for Edward Laurillard. Interior decoration by Marc-Henri Levy and Gaston Laverdet
Phoenix	London	1930				designed with Giles Gilbert Scott and Cecil Masey, with Theodore Komisarjevsky as Art Director. Hosted the opening production of Noel Coward's Private Lives, starring Coward, Gertrude Lawrence, Laurence Olivier and Adrienne Allen
Saville	Covent Garden	1931	1,426		Converted to a twin screen cinema in 1970, now a quad screen	with Leslie Scott Slaughter. Builders were Messers Gee, Walker and Slater and it was designed by architects T. P. Bennett & Son. Leased by Brian Epstein in the 60s and is where The Beatles filmed the videos of "Hello, Goodbye". Jimi Hendrix, Fats Domino, The Bee Gees, The Who, Pink Floyd, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Elton John, Chuck Berry, Harry Secombe and Leonard Rossiter
New Bedford Theatre	Camden	1898		1	Demolished	Closed 1950
Capitol Cinema	Southgate, London	1935		1	Demolished September 1982	Odeon opened on 16 October, 1935 with Edward G. Robinson in "Passport to Fame"
Century Cinema	Kings Cross	1900		1	Demolished	closed on 4 April 1968 with David McCallum in "The Heroin Gang" and Deborah Kerr in "Eye of the Devil". Purchased by Camden Council, an extension to the Town Hall was built on the site
Gaumont	Southend-on-Sea			1	Demolished
Olympia Theatre	Shoreditch	1889	2,170	1	Demolished 1939	assisted by W.G.R. Sprague
Victoria Theatre	Salford	1900		1	Bingo Hall from 1973	Grade 2 listed
Regal Cinema	Kennington	1932	2,000	1	Presently boarded up, it is to be converted to flats, 2006	with Henry G. Kay, consultant for Duchy of Cornwall estate: Louis de Soissons. Probably Crewe's last project - he died the year it opened. Converted to a cinema in 1961

References

• Theatre London: An Architectural Guide, Edwin Heathcote, ISBN 1-84166-047-7

External links

• Corporation of London page on Bertie Crewe
• List of London Theatres and their history
• Theatre Trust dBase
• London Theatreland History
• Ireland Theatre history Index
• List of British Theatre Architects
• Royal Court theatre
• Article on conversion of the Regal, Kennington Crewe's last project