Music Halls
This talk will be about the growth of the music halls focusing on The Empress Theatre which was built on the corner of Brighton Terrace and Bernay’s Grove, just off the Brixton Road. It opened on Boxing Day 1898 to rave reviews and attracted many artists to the area who worked in this field. We can see the legacy of this era by the very many blue plaques to be found on houses and buildings in our local area – Gus Elen (Music Hall comedian), Marie Kendall (comedienne), Lillie Langtry (dancer and comedienne) and also the comedian and actor Dan Leno who lived in Clapham Park.
Now one might think that having to book some twenty acts each week would be the manager’s main headache; in fact, it was negotiating the licencing and regulatory regime which proved a nightmare.
This was just the start of the fascinating story of a “theatre of varieties” in which everybody who was anybody trod the boards.
Our Speaker
The speaker, Bill Linskey, has been a Brixton resident for some forty years; he was chair of the Brixton Society for more than ten and now edits their newsletter. He is also chair of the Lambeth Local History Forum.