Please note that Jan Hunt's show 'The Magnificent Music Hall' has been moved to October 30th. See the Alexandra Palace website for details.
Jan Hunt is embarking on her very own Spring Tour around the country - see flyer for details
Meanwhile, our regular Chairman Clive Greenwood is also touring with "Hancock's Half Hour" - see the Apollo Theatre Company website for details about the show as well as tour information.
The British Music Hall Society pays its annual all-day visit to the Seaside on Saturday June 1st Its star-spangled list of over 20 artistes includes our very own Peter John and Julia Sutton.
For more information, see the BMHS website
Regular Players' guest artiste Andy Eastwood has just published his tour dates for the next few months on his website, including several of his own productions.
Of particular interest might be 'Those Were The Days' at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch on 22 March and 'The Magnificent Music Hall' at London's Alexandra Palace Theatre on 10 April.
Marie Lloyd, the 'Queen of the Music Hall', was born Matilda Alice Victoria Wood in London on 12 February 1870. She first appeared at the Eagle Tavern in London aged 15 as Bella Delmare, singing 'My Soldier Laddie'. By 1885 she had become Marie Lloyd with her hit song 'The Boy I Love is Up in the Gallery'. She was a huge success and topped the bill at the West End music halls.
Marie received both criticism and praise for her use of innuendo and double entendre during her performances, but enjoyed a long and prosperous forty-year career. She is remembered for several classic music hall numbers, including 'My Old Man (Said Follow the Van)' and 'Oh Mr Porter What Shall I Do'.
In 1912 she was omitted from the Royal Variety Performance for fear of offending the Royal party, but in true style rented another theatre for the same night and played to sell-out audiences.
Her reputation for being socially unacceptable came partly from her stage act but also from her private life. She had three unsuccessful and very public marriages. In 1913 she was refused entry into the USA because she had shared a cabin with her new boyfriend on the voyage, despite still being married to her first husband. In 1922, she gave her final performance at the Alhambra Theatre, London, during which she became ill on stage. She died a few days later at the age of 52.
A number of Marie Lloyd's songs can be found on YouTube, eg:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nseowyVw5ms&showinfo=0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq6LKARJYZc&showinfo=0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bALc3o0y5Kc&showinfo=0
'The music hall ...had no place for reticence; it was downright, it shouted, it made noise, it enjoyed itself and made the people enjoy themselves as well.'
W.J. MACQUEEN POPE
Music Hall lies at the root of all modern popular entertainment. With stars such as Marie Lloyd, Harry Lauder and Dan Leno, it reached its glorious, brassy height between 1890 and the First World War. In the first book on this subject for many years, Richard Anthony Baker whisks us off on a colourful and nostalgic tour of the rise and fall of British music hall.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century people sang traditional songs in taverns for entertainment. This was so popular that rooms started to be added to inns for shows to be staged, and, before long, songs were being specially composed and purpose-built theatres were springing up everywhere. Britain's working class had, for the first time, its own form of public entertainment and its own breed of stars.
The colour and vitality attracted serious writers and artists, as well as the future Edward VII, and music hall became simultaneously the haunt of the working classes and the avant-garde. Including stories of a clergyman who wrote music-hall sketches, a hall in Glasgow where luckless entertainers were pulled off stage by a long hooked pole, and Cockney dictionaries that helped Americans understand touring British performers, this book is a hugely engaging slice of social history, rich in humour, tragedy and bathos.
With the retirement of Frank Taylor in December, our long association with the Royal Oak in Borough came to an end. We said farewell to this wonderful Victorian pub with a real Christmas Shebang!
Laurence Payne got proceedings under way with a singalong, providing us with a terrific song sheet! He was later joined by our very own Lee Taylor, who has left noisy Croydon for the leafy and musical hills of Wales! We’re sure his musical talents are welcomed there but we’re delighted that he is still able to come to our events.
Another of Our Very Own, Miles Jenner, also entertained us royally and we were joined by Romany, a magician, who had come along to ensure Frank got the send-off he deserved! What happened under the large tent is best not dwelt on, but one minute Frank was wearing a red jacket and the next Romany was wearing it! Both looked very pleased with themselves!
We are very grateful for all the support and superb evenings that Frank has given us at the Royal Oak. He has made it clear that he will be supporting us in our new venue - the nearby Roebuck. We wish him a very happy and healthy retirement!
Attached is a fascinating article describing the life of Players' artistes when contributing to The Good Old Days, the long-running BBC music hall show, with which the Players' was closely connected.
Credits: By kind permission of Edward Thomas and The Call Boy
Source: The Call Boy, Autumn 2018, Vol 55, no. 3
The Call Boy is the official journal of the British Music Hall Society and is published four times a year in January, April, July and October. This glossy 36 page magazine is eagerly sought the world over, providing news, views, articles and information on all aspects of music hall and variety.This year’s end of year party will as usual be held at the Royal Air Force Club at 128 Piccadilly and include a two-course supper and a two-half traditional Music Hall show.
As ever, we are assembling a stellar group of artistes and have already signed up:
• Peter John whose “Fairy” is clocking up thousands of hits on YouTube (“She” is much better in the flesh!)
• Eloise Irving, a beautiful singer and harpist
• Martin Milnes – one half of the successful Ferris and Milnes duo
• The established Chairman/accompanist team of Clive Greenwood and Laurence Payne
Event information and booking form
Information for Marylebone Association members
Our forthcoming show on September 7th is attracting plenty of attention and we've been placing a few adverts here and there to help maximise the audience.
Old Time Music Hall in Sherborne
On September 7th, we, (the Players’ Theatre Club) have been invited to pay a return visit to Sherborne. It will be at the Digby Hall, Hound Street. Curtain up 7.00 p.m.
Tickets cost £12.00 from the Tourist Information Centre, Digby Road, or the Players’ website (www.playerstheatre.co.uk). Enquiries about discounts for group bookings may be made by text to 07770 281746.
The Players’ Theatre Club, is the oldest club dedicated to Old Time Music Hall. We featured regularly in the TV show “The Good Old Days”.
On this occasion our company will consist of the traditional top-hatted, waist-coated Chairman; an orchestra consisting of a single, digitally-dextrous pianist; two Victorian ladies; a beautiful singing harpist; a mysterious mentalist; a balladic baritone; and an unfrocked gentleman of the cloth.
Familiar choruses will be sung, which the audience will be encouraged to sing, aided by an extravagantly lyric-filled programme.
All proceeds will be donated to the Weldmar Hospicecare Trust.
Price: £12.00
Bill Halson will be doing a radio interview on Radio Solent on August 31st in Dorchester. Dorset listeners need to tune to 103.8 FM, or Freeview Channel 726.
