The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America
Encyclopedia
The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America is a registered theatre charity and non-profit making theatre organisation based in London
and was founded by Adrian Barry in 1992. The Guild's patrons include Brian Croucher
, Anita Dobson
, Fenella Fielding
, Sheila Ferguson
, Jessica Martin
, Lorraine Chase
, Mark Lester
, Jessie Wallace
and Shani Wallis
.
The aims of the Guild are:
The Guild's activities include research, the collection of theatre archive, exhibitions, professional theatre productions, reminiscence, educational and restoration projects. The Guild commemorates and cares for the final resting places of many Music Hall, Variety, Vaudeville, Musical Comedy, Theatre and Pantomime artistes, including Nelly Power
, George Leybourne
, Albert Chevalier
, Joseph Tabrar
, Lupino Lane
, Will Hay
, Gabrielle Ray
and Tom Costello
.
The Guild had an income of £57,854 in 2009-10, the majority of which was spent on restoration and commemoration projects.
, restored the former Variety Artistes Benevolent Fund memorial stone in Streatham Park
cemetery which commemorates over 200 Music Hall and Variety performers buried there. They received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund
to create a new memorial garden and create an on-line database.
In July 2009 the Guild restored the memorial to Lupino Lane
at Streatham Park Cemetery and to mark the 50h anniversary of his death and held a Memorial Service at The Actors Church, Covent Garden with a reception at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
.
The Guild have undertaken an ongoing restoration, clean up and preservation project at Abney Park Cemetery
to help carry on the work undertaken by Roy Hudd
on the graves of George Leybourne
, Albert Chevalier
and Nelly Power
in 2001. The Guild now run regular guided walks at Abney Park and maintain other graves of music hall and theatre artistes who rest within this cemetery.
On the 8th November 2010, the Guild erected a blue commemorative plaque to the great music hall artiste and male impersonator Hetty King
(1883 - 1972).
In Spring 2011, they restored the final resting place of Music Hall artiste Austin Rudd.
On 25th September 2011, they honoured the great music hall star Marie Kendall
(1873-1964) with a commemorative blue plaque at her former home in Clapham.
On 26th November 2011, they restored the memorial erected to the famous Music Hall and Pantomime comedian Herbert Campbell (1844-1904) at Abney Park Cemetery
.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and was founded by Adrian Barry in 1992. The Guild's patrons include Brian Croucher
Brian Croucher
Brian Croucher is an English actor and director perhaps best known for his role as Ted Hills, which he played from 1995 to 1997, in the soap opera EastEnders....
, Anita Dobson
Anita Dobson
Anita Dobson is an English television actress and singer. She gained her highest profile while playing Angie Watts in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders...
, Fenella Fielding
Fenella Fielding
Fenella Fielding — "England's first lady of the double entendre" — is an English actress, popular in the 1950s and 1960s. She is known for her seductive image and distinctively husky voice.-Family:...
, Sheila Ferguson
Sheila Ferguson
Sheila Ferguson is an American singer, and was one of the longest serving singers of 1970s American female soul music group The Three Degrees.Ferguson settled in the UK after marrying an Englishman...
, Jessica Martin
Jessica Martin
Jessica Martin is an actor and comedian. She is probably best known for her work as an impressionist and voice artist on the television series Spitting Image, impersonating the voice of Her Majesty The Queen. She also appeared on Yorkshire Television's 3-2-1 in the 1980s with impressionist Aiden J...
, Lorraine Chase
Lorraine Chase
Lorraine Chase is an English actress and model. She became well known for her strong cockney accent and frequent use of cockney slang, and found fame through a series of television commercials for Campari before embarking on an acting career.-Television:After initially working as a model, Chase...
, Mark Lester
Mark Lester
Mark Lester is an English former child actor known for playing the title role in the 1968 musical film version of Oliver! and starring in a number of other British and European films of the 1960s and 70s and in a number of television series.-Early life and film career:Lester was born in Oxford,...
, Jessie Wallace
Jessie Wallace
Jessie Wallace is an English actress best known for her portrayal as Kat Moon in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.-Early life:...
and Shani Wallis
Shani Wallis
Shani Wallis is an English actress and singer.Wallis was born in Tottenham, London. Making her first stage appearance at the age of four, she later studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art on a scholarship...
.
The aims of the Guild are:
- To advance education through the presentation of music hallMusic hallMusic 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...
and theatre productionTheatreTheatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
s and encouragement of the Arts; and - To advance education in the history of Music Hall and Theatre performers by undertaking research and identifying, restoring, erecting and beautifying memorials which are of educational Interest.
The Guild's activities include research, the collection of theatre archive, exhibitions, professional theatre productions, reminiscence, educational and restoration projects. The Guild commemorates and cares for the final resting places of many Music Hall, Variety, Vaudeville, Musical Comedy, Theatre and Pantomime artistes, including Nelly Power
Nelly Power
Nelly Power , was an English singer, actress and performer in music hall, burlesque and pantomime. Her funeral attracted three to four thousand spectators at Abney Park Cemetery and a further great crowd at the start of the procession from her home.-Career:Power appeared in the music halls from...
, George Leybourne
George Leybourne
Joe Sanders , better known as George Leybourne, was an English music hall performer. Often nicknamed "Champagne Charlie", Leybourne is best-remembered as the lyricist for The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze....
, Albert Chevalier
Albert Chevalier
Albert Onesime Britannicus Gwathveoyd Louis Chevalier was an English comedian and actor.-Early life:Albert Chevalier was born in the Royal Crescent, in London's Notting Hill...
, Joseph Tabrar
Joseph Tabrar
Joseph Tabrar was one of the most famous songwriters of British music hall , probably most famous for the song "Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow Wow" ....
, Lupino Lane
Lupino Lane
Lupino Lane was an English actor and theatre manager, and a member of the famous Lupino family. Lane started out as a child performer, known as 'Little Nipper', and went on to appear in a wide range of theatrical, music hall and film performances...
, Will Hay
Will Hay
William Thomson "Will" Hay was an English comedian, actor, film director and amateur astronomer.-Early life:He was born in Stockton-on-Tees, in north east England, to William R...
, Gabrielle Ray
Gabrielle Ray
Gabrielle Ray , was an English stage actress, dancer and singer, best known for her roles in Edwardian musical comedies....
and Tom Costello
Tom Costello
Tom Costello was an American jockey in the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing who won three American Classic Races.As a young boy, Costello lived at the New York House of Refuge, a place for juveniles convicted of crimes or adjudicated as vagrants...
.
The Guild had an income of £57,854 in 2009-10, the majority of which was spent on restoration and commemoration projects.
Projects
In 2009 the Guild with the assistance of the Entertainment Artistes Benevolent FundEntertainment Artistes Benevolent Fund
The Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund is a charity based in Twickenham, Middlesex, England. It is dedicated to helping provide support for elderly, infirm or distressed members and former members of the entertainment industry, and their dependants.Founded in 1908 it provides residential care...
, restored the former Variety Artistes Benevolent Fund memorial stone in Streatham Park
Streatham Park
Streatham Park is an area of suburban southwest London. It comprises the eastern part of Furzedown ward in the London Borough of Wandsworth, formerly in the historic parish of Streatham...
cemetery which commemorates over 200 Music Hall and Variety performers buried there. They received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
to create a new memorial garden and create an on-line database.
In July 2009 the Guild restored the memorial to Lupino Lane
Lupino Lane
Lupino Lane was an English actor and theatre manager, and a member of the famous Lupino family. Lane started out as a child performer, known as 'Little Nipper', and went on to appear in a wide range of theatrical, music hall and film performances...
at Streatham Park Cemetery and to mark the 50h anniversary of his death and held a Memorial Service at The Actors Church, Covent Garden with a reception at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
.
The Guild have undertaken an ongoing restoration, clean up and preservation project at Abney Park Cemetery
Abney Park Cemetery
Abney Park in Stoke Newington, in the London Borough of Hackney, is a historic parkland originally laid out in the early 18th century by Lady Mary Abney and Dr. Isaac Watts, and the neighbouring Hartopp family. In 1840 it became a non-denominational garden cemetery, semi-public park arboretum, and...
to help carry on the work undertaken by Roy Hudd
Roy Hudd
Roy Hudd, OBE is an English comedian, actor, radio host and author, and an authority on the history of music hall entertainment.- Early life :...
on the graves of George Leybourne
George Leybourne
Joe Sanders , better known as George Leybourne, was an English music hall performer. Often nicknamed "Champagne Charlie", Leybourne is best-remembered as the lyricist for The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze....
, Albert Chevalier
Albert Chevalier
Albert Onesime Britannicus Gwathveoyd Louis Chevalier was an English comedian and actor.-Early life:Albert Chevalier was born in the Royal Crescent, in London's Notting Hill...
and Nelly Power
Nelly Power
Nelly Power , was an English singer, actress and performer in music hall, burlesque and pantomime. Her funeral attracted three to four thousand spectators at Abney Park Cemetery and a further great crowd at the start of the procession from her home.-Career:Power appeared in the music halls from...
in 2001. The Guild now run regular guided walks at Abney Park and maintain other graves of music hall and theatre artistes who rest within this cemetery.
On the 8th November 2010, the Guild erected a blue commemorative plaque to the great music hall artiste and male impersonator Hetty King
Hetty King
Winifred Emms , best known by her stage name Hetty King, was an English entertainer who played in the music halls over a period of 70 years.-Birth:...
(1883 - 1972).
In Spring 2011, they restored the final resting place of Music Hall artiste Austin Rudd.
On 25th September 2011, they honoured the great music hall star Marie Kendall
Marie Kendall
Marie Kendall ; 1873–1964) was a British music hall comedienne and actress who had a successful career spanning 50 years.-Biography:Marie Kendall was born Mary Ann Florence Holyome on 27th July 1873 in Bethnal Green, London....
(1873-1964) with a commemorative blue plaque at her former home in Clapham.
On 26th November 2011, they restored the memorial erected to the famous Music Hall and Pantomime comedian Herbert Campbell (1844-1904) at Abney Park Cemetery
Abney Park Cemetery
Abney Park in Stoke Newington, in the London Borough of Hackney, is a historic parkland originally laid out in the early 18th century by Lady Mary Abney and Dr. Isaac Watts, and the neighbouring Hartopp family. In 1840 it became a non-denominational garden cemetery, semi-public park arboretum, and...
.