Thursday 20th November 2014 - Variety Show

Thursday 20th November 2014
Variety Show

The History Of The Music Hall

Song And Supper Rooms - In the 1830s song and supper rooms were popular among the middle-class, they served hot food for the audience and provided them with entertainment until the early ours of the morning. In supper rooms in Covent Garden like "Evans song" singers were paid £1 a week and were given free drinks, the star of "Evans song was Sam Cowell who was famous for his song "The rat catchers daughter".

Music Hall - The music hall originated in 18th century London where workmen gathered at the end of a long work day to socialise. Many of the acts that were performed for these people were about  how the rich exploited the poor, this gave the workmen a chance to express their opinions about their bosses. To control these events there was someone sitting side stage on a chair, this was know as the chairman. Music halls were a difficult place to perform in as the audience often engaged in their own conversations and were loud and disruptive, sometimes the audience even threw things at the performers if they didn't like the act. Things that were thrown included bottles, old boots and even a dead cat. In some halls waiters carried bottles that were chained to trays to prevent them from being stolen or smashed, as well as this the orchestra was protected by steel grilles that were stretched over the pit to make sure that they were not injured.


Green Gate Tavern Theatre - This was a victorian theatre hall on London's city hall, entertainment included comedy and music. This image is from 1854, it shows that not many of the audience seem to be interested in what is happening on stage. This suggests that the entertainment is just used as background noise to their conversations.

The First Music Halls

The Canterbury Hall - Mr Charles Morton, opened the first purpose built music hall called the Canterbury Hall in 1852. It could seat up to 700people and the audience were seated at round tables were food and drink was served during the performances. The performances took place on a platform at one end of the music hall and were watched by the chairman, Mr John Caulfield. The star of the performance was Sam Cowell and the entrance into the Canterbury Hall cost each person a sixpenny. Because of Sam Cowells success Charles Morton built a larger Music Hall which opened in 1856 with chandeliers, a balcony and an art exhibition.

Ladies Thursday - Charles Morton wanted to encourage more women into the music halls, he introduced ladies Thursdays, this is where women could accompany a man to the hall, however this did not have to be the mans wife. These halls developed a bad reputation as there were prostitutes walking up and down the auditorium waiting for the men.

New Music Halls - Because of the success of the Canterbury Hall, many other music halls opened up across London. By 1875 there were 375 music halls in London, this meant that more performers were required to perform on stage, many women wanted to do this as it was a way of being independent for working-class women. Performing at the music halls was a way for making a decent way that they could live off of.

West End Music Halls

As music halls had become a very popular type of entertainment it had branched out into the west end, this then created more of an upper class audience. Music hall entertainment became a night out for the more wealthy people that would behave respectively and dress up in evening gowns and suits. Some of these music halls were managed by Oswald Stoll. 

The Alhambra - This was a west end music hall situated in Leicester square and was among the most famous and biggest music halls these had seating like theatres in rows facing a proscenium stage rather than tables and the bar and refreshments were served in a seperate room. This was to avoid food and drink being thrown at the performers, as well as this it also kept socialising and watching the entertainment separate to avoid the performance from being interrupted or disturbed. 

The Performers

Because music halls were become more and more popular, the main attraction was so that the audience could watch the performers rather than the food and drink that was being served. Some of the performers were so successful that they would perform in a number of different music halls each night, they would cross London in-between appearances. By performing in a range of different venues each night the most popular entertainers earned a lot of money.

Sam Cowell (5 April 1820 - 11 March 1864) - Sam Cowell was born in London  and was brought to America by is father "Joseph Cowell" in 1820, he became a child actor in Boston and starred in many plays. He later appeared in many theatres across America. At the age if 20 he returned to Britain working in Edinburgh before London performing in song and supper rooms. He became popular quickly and was a well known act that performed in music halls around London. In 1860 he returned to America however he suffered with poor health so he was unable to perform, therefore he came back to England in 1862 still with failing health and he was declared bankrupt in 1863 and died in the following March.

Champagne Charlie - This is a music hall song that was popular in the 19th century, it was originally sung by George Leybourne in 1866 in Leeds. This was one of his most famous songs, so much so that he was called "Champagne Charlie" rather than his actual name. He was employed at the Canterbury hall in 1866, he was payed £30 a week, over the next year because of his success his wages increased from this to £120 a week. The theatre manger William Holland told him that he could only drink champagne in public so that customers would recognise him and his song.

The Music Hall Strike Of 1907

Because music hall became so popular, managers decided to introduce contracts for the performers, these became strict, the main clause was the exclusivity clause. This meant that the performers were not allowed to work in another theatre before or after an appearance, this also meant that they were not allowed to work in another theatre that was a certain distance away from their first performance. This limited the amount of money that the performers could earn as they couldn't perform in more than one theatre in the same night as they had previously done before. Most of these contracts included that the performers had to work at least one matinee a week without any additional payments.

On the 22nd January 1907, the performers and stagehands at the Holborn theatre went on strike, these were followed by other music halls in London. These strikes were lead by the "Variety Artistes Federation" who were first formed in 1906. Higher payments were demanded for the extra performances that they had to appear in, the managers tried to keep the music halls open by employing less well known acts or encouraging retired performers to come back. Even well paid performers went on strike too, this was to show their support to the other music hall stars and the "Variety Artistes Federation". Eventually the managers of the music hall agreed to give the performers additional wages for extra performances.

Types Of Acts

Aerial Acts - These are performed on ropes above the audience, one example of a performer who did these is "The Great Leotard". He invented the flying trapeze act, this was performed in the Alhambra theatre. Another example is a tightrope walker called "Blondin" he walked from the one balcony of the Canterbury Music Hall to the other. The acts became popular in music halls across London as the audience were intrigued in the act as they were more interesting to watch compared to a singer or a dance group. 

Character Songs - In the first music halls, comic singers were the most popular type of acts, this is because these songs were focused around social issues and working class life. This was often to engage the audience, who had been at work all day in the factories where they had been paid an unfair wage by the factory owners.  The songs varied between topics such as mother-in-laws, overdue rent, unfaithful husbands and wives, drink and debt. 

Burlesque - This is a form of dance which was used to engage the audience, it involved risque movements and costumes. These dances could either fats or slow and were sometimes performed by the opposite sex, for example a man would dress up as a women and dance around the stage as if he were.

War Recruitment - At the beginning of WW1 music halls were used to recruite men to join up to the army. They would do this by having women dancing on stage and offering them a reward when they did such as a kiss from one of these women. Once the men had signed up they were not allowed to back out, these shows would make them think that that joining up to the army would make them seem desirable to their families and women. One example of this is in the musical "Oh what a lovely war".

American Vaudeville - This was a type of entertainment that became popular after the civil war, it created an industry that was managed by a number of white collar workers. It also increased the average working class persons leisure time and changes the tastes of what people wanted to watch, both working and middle class. American vaudeville started after the Europeans had discovered variety theatre before 1850, audiences could enjoy presentations of dance, comedy, acrobats and readings of Shakespeare in the same evening. As this became more popular more places began to open and more acts became available to the audience such as travelling circuses, riverboats and amusement parks. These places often featured a cleaner forms of variety theatre in saloons, music halls and burlesque houses.

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma02/easton/vaudeville/vaudevillemain.html

Variety theatre in America became known as vaudeville after 1871 with the formation of "Sargents Great Vaudeville Company" of Louiseville in Kentucky, this provided variety theatre to the middle class. In the early 1880s Tony Pastor who had previously been a ringmaster for a travelling circus but had become a theatre manager ran many theatres in New York that began to provide programmes, which would feature a polite introduction to each of the acts that were going to perform. He wanted to attract customers that were female and family-based shoppers from the uptown, he banned alcohol and any risqué acts from his theatres. This had become successful and soon many other theatre managers had followed. One journalist wrote at the opening of B.F. Keith's New Theatre in Boston, 1894 



Keith's New Theatre, Boston 1894
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma02/easton/vaudeville/vaudevillemain.html

"The age of luxury seems to have reached its ultima thule. The truth of this has never been impressed upon one so forcibly as in a visit to Keith's dream palace of a theatre . . . .It is almost incredible that all this elegance should be placed at the disposal of the public, the poor as well as the rich."



This new theatre was heavily decorated with stained glass, marble pillars and gargoyles outside, on the inside the lobby and foyer was decorated with leather furniture, paintings and brass. There were balconies and private boxes for the more wealthier audiences. This theatre also had strict rules for its customers, these included:

1. "Gentlemen will kindly avoid carrying cigars or cigarettes in their mouths while in the building."
2. "The Management Gentlemen will kindly avoid the stamping of feet and pounding of canes on the floor, and greatly oblige the Management"
3. "All applause is best shown by clapping of hands."
4. "Please don't talk during acts, as it annoys those about you, and prevents a perfect hearing of the entertainment"

These rules were set in place because the theatre managers wanted the audience to have respect for the theatre and the performers that were on stage. They didn't want audience members to throw things at the stage that could cause disruption or that would mess up the theatre. Because of this, these type of theatres were aimed at the middle class audience.

Modern Variety Shows

http://www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/barry-humphries

The Royal Variety Performance - This performance takes place each year in a different UK theatre each time, the Queen and the Prince of Wales attend on alternate years. All of the money that is made from this performance is donated to the Entertainment Artistes Benevolent Fund, this helps hundreds of performers in the UK who need help and assistance as a result of old age etc. The royal variety performance began in 1912 when King George 5th and Queen Mary agreed to attend a "Royal Command Performance" at the Palace Theatre in London. In July 1919 the second Royal show was performed held at the Coliseum also in London, this was celebrated as a celebration of peace after the first world war. In recent years the winner of Britains got talent (a talent show that allows anyone to audition with any type of act to compete against each other) gets to perform at the royal variety performance. Other performers include Ed Sheeran, Michael Macintyre and Shirley Bassie. 

Britain's Got Talent - This is a talent show that is played on ITV1, the show holds the guiness world record for the most successful reality tv show. Its first series was in 2007, the judges have changed over the years but currently the judges are Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and David Walliams. Applicants include dancers, singers, acrobats and comedians among many other types of acts, the performers can be any age, gender or ethnicity and from any type of background and talent. 

https://www.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk/herohub/m
edia-centre-downloads?category=journalists

Charity Variety Shows - Charitys such as "Children in need" and "Comic relief" host annual variety shows to raise money, "Children in need" 2014 raised £32.6m, it was hosted by Sir Terry Wogan, Tess Daily, Ferne Cotton and Nick Grimshaw. Many different acts performed such as One direction and Susan Boyle as well as special editions of tv programmes such as Eastenders. These shows gain audience members as many different perfomers are featured, therefore people who are interested in a particular performer will want to watch just because they want to see them, this performer may have a different audience to another performer. Because of this more people will want to donate to this charity.

https://twitter.com/mcintweet

Michael Mcintyre - He is a stand-up comedian who has been featured in the royal variety show, this is an example of a modern day variety theatre performer. In 2012 he was reported to be the highest grossing comedian in the world of the year. He has performed at the royal variety show three times including hosting it, making him the youngest person to ever host the performance.

Musical Theatre - This is a successful industry that used character songs, monologues and dance into a show that tells a story to an audience. Unlike variety theatre musical theatre shows are not lots of short unrelated performances but incorporate these things that were used to be create an on-stage story. Many musicals such as "Wicked" and "Billy Elliott" have been very successful and have shown on Broadway in New York as well as the West end in London.

Chicago The Musical - This musical is set in 1920s America where many speakeasies held variety shows during the prohibition era. The opening scene shows the audience many different acts that are waiting to perform in the corridors, there is one successful act - Velma and her sister. They travelled around different venues and performed In many different in one night. One girl - Roxie, dreams of being able to be on stage and perform like these other performers. Eventually after auditioning by herself at many different venues, at the end her and Velma join together to form a combined act that they travel around with.

Burlesque The Musical - This is a modern day musical that was made for film, it is focused around a burlesque house in LA. Burlesque was a popular type of entertainment that was used in variety theatre, it is based on one girl who moves from a small town and hopes to be a dancer in the shows, she eventually changes the show by being the main singer and dancer.

This suggests that variety theatre still has an impact on many different types of modern entertainment that is very popular now, these include music, film and on-stage shows.






V&A:The story of the music hall http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-story-of-music-halls/ (20th November 2014)

V&A: Character Acts http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/m/music-hall-character-acts/ (20th November 2014)

Wikipedia:Sam Cowell http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Cowell ( 29th January 2014)

Vaudeville:A dazzling Display of Hetereogeneous Splender can be found at http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma02/easton/vaudeville/vaudevillemain.html (Tuesday 17th February 2015)

The official website of the British monarchy:The royal variety performance can be found at http://www.royal.gov.uk/RoyalEventsandCeremonies/TheRoyalVarietyPerformance/TheRoyalVarietyPerformance.aspx

(Tuesday 17th February 2015)

V&A:George Leybourne http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/g/george-leybourne/ (Tuesday 17th February 2015)

BBC News:Children in Need 2014 raises £32.6m for charities http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-30041599 (Tuesday 17th February 2015)

Thames:Britians got talent http://www.thames.tv/our-shows/britains-got-talent (Wednesday 25th February 2015)