Charing Cross Music Hall
Encyclopedia
The Charing Cross Music Hall was a music hall
established beneath the Arches of Charing Cross railway station
in 1866 by brothers, Giovanni and Carlo Gatti
to replace the former Hungerford Hall
. The site had been acquired, together with Hungerford Market
, by the South Eastern Railway
in 1862, and incorporated into the railway station, which opened on 11 January 1864, resulting in the demolition of the theatre.
The new theatre was built in the substantial two level space formed by two of the arches of the undercroft
of the station, and opened in 1867, as The Arches, was renamed in 1883 as the Hungerford Music Hall, and became known in 1887 variously as the Charing Cross Music Hall, Gatti's under the Arches and Gatti's Charing Cross Music Hall. By 1895, the hall boasted an attached grand cafe and billiard saloon.
As a young man, Rudyard Kipling
lived in Villiers Street
, and visited Gatti's, and wrote My One and Only, for a Lion Comique at the hall. His experiences in the hall formed the basis for his Barrack-Room Ballads
series. Kipling also wrote a story called My Great and Only (1890) describing a visit he made to Gatti's. He wrote that the hall held four hundred “when it’s all full, sir”. A weekly periodical for artistes, The Music Hall and Theatre, provides a review on 23 November 1889 of a variety performance:
Baroness Orczy
, creator of the Scarlet Pimpernel
, described a visit to the hall, at the turn of the century, in her autobiography:
Not all performers were tried on the dog, flyers of the time show many established artists performing, for instance, Rose Hamilton, Marie Loftus (1857-1840, mother of noted film actress Cecilia Loftus
), and Harry Randall (1857–1932), performed in the Whitsuntide bill for 1895.
As the popularity of music hall declined, the theatre became the Arena Cinema between 1910–1923, and from 1928-1939 as the Forum Cinema. During World War II
is was used as a fire station, and store for the Army Corps of Cinematography.
for the Players' Theatre
. There were no fittings, and none of the paraphernalia for a theatre, but it was still opened within three weeks. Regular performers included Hattie Jacques
, Bill Owen, Ian Carmichael
, Clive Dunn
, Ian Wallace
and John Hewer
, and featured newcomers on the bill including Daphne Anderson
, Patsy Rowlands
, Maggie Smith
, Marian Studholme, Marion Grimaldi, and Margaret Burton. In 1953, Sandy Wilson
provided a commissioned work for the theatre, known as The Boy Friend
. In a full length version this eventually transferred to Wyndham's Theatre
, and premièred in New York, with Julie Andrews
in the starring role.
The Players theatre closed in 2002, New End Theatre attempted to revive the venue as the New Players' Theatre, however in 2005 reliquished the lease to The Pure Group, owners of the neighbouring Heaven
. They continue to operate the 275 seat refurbished theatre for both theatrical performance, and as a conference centre.
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
established beneath the Arches of Charing Cross railway station
Charing Cross railway station
Charing Cross railway station, also known as London Charing Cross, is a central London railway terminus in the City of Westminster, England. It is one of 18 stations managed by Network Rail, and trains serving it are operated by Southeastern...
in 1866 by brothers, Giovanni and Carlo Gatti
Carlo Gatti
Carlo Gatti was a Swiss entrepreneur in the Victorian era. He came to England in 1847, where he established restaurants and an ice importing business. He is credited with first making ice cream available to the general public. He moved into music halls. He returned to Switzerland in 1871, leaving...
to replace the former Hungerford Hall
Hungerford Hall
Hungerford Hall was a lecture theatre built beside Hungerford Market near Charing Cross in London in 1851. It was used for public entertainments, including demonstrations of magic, mesmerism and optical illusions. It burned down in 1854, badly damaging the adjoining Hungerford...
. The site had been acquired, together with Hungerford Market
Hungerford Market
Hungerford Market was a market in London, near Charing Cross on the Strand, housed in two different buildings on the same site from around 1680 to 1862. The first market was held from about 1680 in a London house of the Hungerford family. This building became dilapidated, and was replaced by a...
, by the South Eastern Railway
South Eastern Railway (UK)
The South Eastern Railway was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1836 until 1922. The company was formed to construct a route from London to Dover. Branch lines were later opened to Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Canterbury and other places in Kent...
in 1862, and incorporated into the railway station, which opened on 11 January 1864, resulting in the demolition of the theatre.
The new theatre was built in the substantial two level space formed by two of the arches of the undercroft
Undercroft
An undercroft is traditionally a cellar or storage room, often brick-lined and vaulted, and used for storage in buildings since medieval times. In modern usage, an undercroft is generally a ground area which is relatively open to the sides, but covered by the building above.- History :While some...
of the station, and opened in 1867, as The Arches, was renamed in 1883 as the Hungerford Music Hall, and became known in 1887 variously as the Charing Cross Music Hall, Gatti's under the Arches and Gatti's Charing Cross Music Hall. By 1895, the hall boasted an attached grand cafe and billiard saloon.
As a young man, Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
lived in Villiers Street
Villiers Street
Villiers Street is a street in London connecting The Strand with The Embankment. It was built by Nicholas Bourbon in the 1670s on the site of York House, the property of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham whose name the street commemorates...
, and visited Gatti's, and wrote My One and Only, for a Lion Comique at the hall. His experiences in the hall formed the basis for his Barrack-Room Ballads
Barrack-Room Ballads
The Barrack-Room Ballads, and Other Verses are a set of martial songs and poems by Rudyard Kipling originally published in two parts: the first set in 1892, the second in 1896...
series. Kipling also wrote a story called My Great and Only (1890) describing a visit he made to Gatti's. He wrote that the hall held four hundred “when it’s all full, sir”. A weekly periodical for artistes, The Music Hall and Theatre, provides a review on 23 November 1889 of a variety performance:
Twixt Love and Duty, Leo DrydenLeo DrydenGeorge Dryden Wheeler , was an English music hall 'vocal comic'. In 1892, he met Hannah Chaplin , mother of Charlie, and also a music hall performer. They had an affair, and a son, George Dryden Wheeler , leading to the breakdown of her marriage to Charles Chaplin, Sr...
has his hands full, to say nothing of his voice, which is equally full . . . Charles Ross, of GaietyGaiety Theatre, LondonThe Gaiety Theatre, London was a West End theatre in London, located on Aldwych at the eastern end of the Strand. The theatre was established as the Strand Musick Hall , in 1864 on the former site of the Lyceum Theatre. It was rebuilt several times, but closed from the beginning of World War II...
fame, so well known as the Dainty Champion, secures rounds of applause by the rendering of his new characteristic song entitled She’s a real good mother . . . James Fawn wants to know who cuts the policemen out? Why the soldier whom Fawn impersonated to the very life. He does like to be in the know, you know, equally so with his hearers, who would willingly sit out a whole night with him if he’d keep them in the know all the time, but James must draw the line somewhere, so he draws it at Gatti’s.
Baroness Orczy
Baroness Orczy
Baroness Emma Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála "Emmuska" Orczy de Orczi was a British novelist, playwright and artist of Hungarian noble origin. She was most notable for her series of novels featuring the Scarlet Pimpernel...
, creator of the Scarlet Pimpernel
Scarlet pimpernel
Scarlet pimpernel is a low-growing annual plant found in Europe, Asia and North America...
, described a visit to the hall, at the turn of the century, in her autobiography:
The only hall which appealed to we two inveterate Bohemians was a funny little one under the arches of Charing Cross Bridge where aspirants to fame were given a trial with a view to a possible engagement in one or the other of the important halls. Thus they were 'tried on the dog', as the ordeal was called, and many a famous artiste started his or her career under the 'old arches'.
I remember seeing there the début of the Levy sisters, who became such favourites and made such fortunes afterwards. There was no stage at the 'Old Arches', only a platform in the centre of the hall, where sat enthroned the manager at a rostrum when he announced each item of the programme together with the name of the artiste about to perform and tapped the desk before him with a wooden hammer. The audience sat on seats and benches all round the central platform, very much as they do round a prize-ring. A few privileged members in the audience were permitted to sit on the platform with the manager, but this privilege entailed the obligation to pay for that gentleman's drinks.
Not all performers were tried on the dog, flyers of the time show many established artists performing, for instance, Rose Hamilton, Marie Loftus (1857-1840, mother of noted film actress Cecilia Loftus
Cecilia Loftus
Cecilia "Cissie" or "Cissy" Loftus was a Scottish actress, singer, mimic, vaudevillian and music hall performer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-Family:...
), and Harry Randall (1857–1932), performed in the Whitsuntide bill for 1895.
As the popularity of music hall declined, the theatre became the Arena Cinema between 1910–1923, and from 1928-1939 as the Forum Cinema. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
is was used as a fire station, and store for the Army Corps of Cinematography.
Players' theatre
After the war, it was acquired from the War Office by Leonard SachsLeonard Sachs
Leonard Sachs was a British actor.-Early life and career:Sachs was born in South Africa in the town of Roodepoort, Transvaal...
for the Players' Theatre
Players' Theatre
The Players' Theatre was a theatre in London as well as a theatre club for music hall in the style of the BBC programme "The Good Old Days".-Origins:...
. There were no fittings, and none of the paraphernalia for a theatre, but it was still opened within three weeks. Regular performers included Hattie Jacques
Hattie Jacques
Josephine Edwina Jaques was an English comedy actress, known as Hattie Jacques.Starting her career in the 1940s, Jacques first gained attention through her radio appearances with Tommy Handley on ITMA and later with Tony Hancock on Hancock's Half Hour...
, Bill Owen, Ian Carmichael
Ian Carmichael
Ian Gillett Carmichael, OBE was an English film, stage, television and radio actor.-Early life:Carmichael was born in Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The son of an optician, he was educated at Scarborough College and Bromsgrove School, before training as an actor at RADA...
, Clive Dunn
Clive Dunn
Clive Robert Benjamin Dunn OBE is a retired English actor, comedian and author, best known for his role as Lance-Corporal Jack Jones in the BBC sitcom Dad's Army.-Early life:...
, Ian Wallace
Ian Wallace (singer)
Ian Bryce Wallace OBE was a British bass-baritone opera and concert singer, actor and broadcaster of Scottish extraction....
and John Hewer
John Hewer
John Hewer was an English actor. He was born in Leyton, London.A stalwart of London's Players Theatre throughout his career, he appeared in many musical theatrical productions, including Sail Away and Six of One in London's West End theatre, but the highlight of his theatrical career was starring...
, and featured newcomers on the bill including Daphne Anderson
Daphne Anderson
-External links:...
, Patsy Rowlands
Patsy Rowlands
Patsy Rowlands was an English actress who is best remembered for her roles in the Carry On films, as Betty in the popular ITV Thames sitcom Bless This House, and as Alice Meredith in the Yorkshire Television sitcom Hallelujah!.-Early years:She was born in Palmers Green, London and attended a...
, Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE , better known as Maggie Smith, is an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 59 years...
, Marian Studholme, Marion Grimaldi, and Margaret Burton. In 1953, Sandy Wilson
Sandy Wilson
Sandy Wilson is an English composer and lyricist, best known for his musical The Boy Friend .-Biography:Wilson was born Alexander Galbraith Wilson in Sale, Greater Manchester, and was educated at Harrow School and Oriel College, Oxford. During the war he served in the Royal Ordnance Corps in Great...
provided a commissioned work for the theatre, known as The Boy Friend
The Boy Friend
The Boy Friend is a musical by Sandy Wilson. The musical's original 1954 London production ran for 2,078 performances, making it briefly the third-longest running musical in West End or Broadway history until it was surpassed by Salad Days...
. In a full length version this eventually transferred to Wyndham's Theatre
Wyndham's Theatre
Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by the actor/manager Charles Wyndham . Located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, it was designed by W.G.R. Sprague about 1898, the architect of six other London theatres between then and 1916...
, and premièred in New York, with Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews
Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...
in the starring role.
The Players theatre closed in 2002, New End Theatre attempted to revive the venue as the New Players' Theatre, however in 2005 reliquished the lease to The Pure Group, owners of the neighbouring Heaven
Heaven (nightclub)
Heaven is a Superclub in London, England which appeals predominantly to the gay market. It is located underneath Charing Cross railway station in Central London, just off Trafalgar Square.-Early history:...
. They continue to operate the 275 seat refurbished theatre for both theatrical performance, and as a conference centre.