Annals of the Liverpool Stage, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time
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ajorttcU Hmoeraitg ffithrarg FROM THE BENNO LOEWY LIBRARY COLLECTED BY BENNO LOEWY 1854-1919 BEQUEATHED TO CORNELL UNIVERSITY Cornell University Library PN 2596.L5B86 Annals of the Liverpool stage. 3 1924 026 123 822 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924026123822 ANNALS OF THE LIVERPOOL STAGE ?'f .^i^ , . I . ,'/. ''f ,-V. , M. , , , i THE THEATRE ROYAL. Reduced fac-sitnile of the original front elevaiion. from a drawing by Robert Chaffers, May iz, 1773. By kind permission of Mrs. L. E. Thompson, Union Hotel, Liverpool. ANNALS OF THE LIVERPOOL STAGE FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE PRESENT TIME TOGETHER WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE THEATRES AND MUSIC HALLS IN BOOTLE AND BIRKENHEAD R. J. BROADBENT AUTHOR OF 'STAGE WHISPERS' 'A HISTORY OF PANTOMIME' ETC. WITH ILLUSTR^TIOD^S LIVERPOOL EDWARD HOWELL ,^o8 PREFACE It is not a whit surprising that although the annals of most of the other provincial theatres of importance have long been published, no one hitherto has written any record of the Liverpool stage. The difficulties of the task lie in the fact that data are at once too sparse and too abundant. Owing to the incompleteness of the collection of playbills in the I,iver- pool Free Library, there are many gaps in the story of the I/iverpool Theatres which it is weU-nigh impossible to fill- This is all the more regrettable as the remoter period in the annals of our local drama is much more individual and char- acteristic than the record of the last half century. Of the era which came in with the dawn of the touring system data are superabundant ; on the whole the period is colourless and unpicturesque, and its records call for rigid compression and deft selection. It has been my aim to take a rapid bird's-eye viewjof the whole panorama, noting everjrthing vital, and preserving vivid colour where it presented itself. I cannot hope under the serious limitations of matter and space to have fully succeeded in my labour of love. My fellow-towns- men must take the wiU for the deed. Ample acknowledgment must be frankly and freely made to those who lent a willing hand in furtherance of the task. My gratitude is due to that learned stage historian, Mr. W. J. Lawrence, for his great assistance in kindly furnishing a mass of valuable material, as well as for his expert advice on many moot points. I also extend my thanks to Mr. Ronald Stewart-Brown, Mr. E. R. Dibdin, Mr. Peter Entwistle, Mr. George T. Shaw, and to Mr. Peter Cowell and the assistant librarians of Ipie Liverpool Free Library, for much help kindly and courteously given. R. J. BROADBENT. LivERPOOi,, November, 1908. CONTENTS PAGE The Early Theatrical History of Liverpool I The Cockpit Yard Theatre 12 The Blackberry Lane Theatre i6 The Old Ropery Theatre ; i6 The Drury Lane Theatre 20 The New Drury Lane Theatre 35 The Theatre Royal 52 The New Theatre Royal io8 The Olympic Circus and Adelphi Theatre 177 The Liver Theatre 206 The Sans Pareil Theatre 215 The Amphitheatre and Royal Court 220 The Hop 252 The Zoological Gardens Theatre . 255 The Prince of Wales Theatre (Vauxhall Road) 256 The Penny Hop 256 The Royal Colosseum and Queen's Theatres 257 The Bijou Opera House 262 The Royal Park Theatre 267 The Prince of Wales Theatre 268 The Rotunda Theatre 294 The Alexandra Theatre (afterwards the Bmpi Theatre) 303 The Sefton Theatre 323 The Royal Victoria Theatre 325 The Shakespeare Theatre . 325 The New Theatre Royal (Breck Road) 331 The Stanhope Theatre 331 The Lyric Theare 332 THE CONCERT HALLS- The Music Hall 334 The Portico Rooms 334 Hime's Music Hall . 335 The Royal Assembly Rooms 335 The Philharmonic Hall 336 The Concert Hall 336 . CONTENTS THE VARIETY STAGE. PAGE ' The Free and Easies ' and Concert Rooms . 338 The Star Music Hall and Theatre 343 The Parthenon Music Hall 346 St. James's Hall and the New Tivoli Palace of Varieties 349 Hengler's Cirques and the Royal Hippodrome 353 Master Humphrey's Clock 359 The Malakoff Music Hall 359 The Royal Casino 359 The Apollo Music Hall 359 The Liver Music Hall 360 The Eagle Music Hall 360 The Vine 360 The Casino 360 The Royal Alhambra Music Hall (Kirkdale) 3^1 Bell's English and American Hippodrome and Circus 361 The Oxford Music Hall 361 The Alhambra Music Hall 362 The Cambridge Music Hall 362 The Constellation Music Hall 363 The Gaiety Theatre 363 The London Music Hall 365 The Continental Music Hall 365 The Pembroke Hall 365 The Haymarket Music Hall 366 The Westminster Music Hall 367 The Paddington Palace 368 Xieman's Olympia Hippodrome and Circus 368 The Roscommon Music Hall 368 The Park Palace 369 The Olympia 369 The New Pavilion Theatre 370 The Theatre Royal, Garston 371 BOOTLE. The Royal Muncaster Theatre 372 The Royal British Circus 375 BIRKENHEAD. The Music Hall 378 The Theatre Royal 379 Theatre The Argyle of Varieties . 38S The Theatre Metropole 38s .. II.LUSTRATIONS PAGE The Theatre Royal Frontispiece The Oldest Known Liverpool Playbill (1756) 26 George Mattocks as Leander in The Padlock 40 Blizabeth Farten, Countess of Derby . 64 Miss Walstein 102 The New Theatre Royal 108 John VandenhofE 128 Reduced facsimile of the Original Playbill for the I<eigh Hunt Benefit Performance 162 The Addphi Theatre (1863) 198 The Rotunda (afterwards the Sans Fareil Theatre) 216 The Royal Amphitheatre 224 The Royal Court Theatre 248 The Queen's Theatre 262 The Prince of Wales Theatre 268 Sir Henry Irving in 1865 278 The Royal Alexandra Theatre (1870) . 306 The Shakespeare Theatre 326 The Music Hall, Bold Street 334 The Star Theatre 344 The Parthenon Music Hall 348 Hengler's Circus, Dale Street (1859) 3S4 The Royal Hippodrome 356 The MalakofE Music Hall 358 The New Theatre Royal, Birkenhead . 378 Annals of the Liverpool Stage THE EARI.Y THEATRICAI, HISTORY OF LIVERPOOI,.. Ivong before the Norman Conquest there stood at West Derby, I^iverpool, an ancient castle, whose origin is lost in antiquity. Probably it was there when the Danes were driven out of Lancashire by Athelstane and Edmund, the grandsons of Alfred the Great. The site of this old castle, and of the manor house which succeeded it in the reign of Henry III, can yet be identified. It is on the north side of the lane—^now known as Meadow Lane—leading from West Derby Village towards Croxteth Hall. Curiously enough, the ground upon which the old castle was built is known to this day as ' Castle Field.' To the Castle of West Derby during Danish, Saxon, and Norman times, doubtless, came wandering minstrels, who sang to their own accompaniments stirring songs of chivalry. There, also, in all probability, the jester played his merry pranks, • and with his ' quips and quiddities ' caused the old oaken rafters to ring again with the loud laughter of the Baron and his re- tainers. A few years after the Norman Conquest, Earl Roger de ' Poictiers (according to Camden's Britannia ') is said to have erected in 1073, on a portion of the site now occupied by the Queen Victoria Memorial, a baronial castle. There is no evidence to support this assertion. It seems more feasible to infer that the castle occupied (but not erected) by Roger de Poictiers was that of the ancient Castle of West Derby. ' It was, probably,' says Baines,* * the chief place in the district during the Danish as well as the Saxon domiaion '; and, I may add, during the early part of the Norman period. Here Earl Roger, doubtless, kept his minstrels, and in imitation of his royal master, a jester. The Conqueror's life. Liverpool,' • ' History of the Commerce and Town of p. 54. — 2 ANNALS OF THE LIVERPOOL STAGE when Duke of Normandy, was saved by his jester, Goles. The accounts of the housdiold expenses of our kings contain many pajrments and rewards to jesters, both foreign and domestic. These early disciples of Thalia excited the mirth of kings and beggars—^the hovel of the villein and the castle of the baron were exhilarated by their jokes. The names of many of these buffoons are still preserved ; for they were associated with the English court down to a late period. The religious mystery series of plays—out of which grew our English drama—inaugurated in the year mo by the monks of this country to bring home with dramatic effect to untaught minds the solemn truths to be deduced from that unique and grand inspirational tragedy enacted on the hill of Golgotha, were, for several centuries, given in the neighbouring city of Chester. It is not unlikely that these performances were largely attended by the inhabitants of Catholic Liverpool and neighbourhood, for their spiritual welfare. That this was so, is highly probable, as for many years, the Priors of Birken- head Priory* sat in the Parliaments of the Earls of Chester, and the monks had considerable intercourse, both commer- cially and otherwise, with Liverpool town.f Again, the monks of St. Peter and St. Paul, Shrewsbury, had continuous asso- ciation with Walton, for at one time they held the advowson of that place. Evidence of their connection with Wavertree and Childwall can also be traced. Be it noted, also, that through Liverpool pilgrims journeyed to the shrine on Hilbre Island, and that Liverpool's first known ecclesiastical building St. Mary's del Key—^was of monastic origin.