112-531: Sir Edward Seymour Hicks (30 January 1871 – 6 April 1949), better known as Seymour Hicks , was a British actor, music hall performer, playwright, actor-manager and producer. He became known, early in his career, for writing, starring in and producing Edwardian musical comedy , often together with his famous wife, Ellaline Terriss . His most famous acting role was that of Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens 's A Christmas Carol . Making his stage début at
224-448: A Bed and Breakfast basis. As of 2024, accommodation fees vary depending on the room type. Single standard bedrooms start at £55.80 a night, while single en-suite bedrooms are priced from £81.80. Double standard bedrooms begin at £101 a night, and double/twin en-suite bedrooms start at £140.50. These rates provide a range of options to suit different preferences and budgets. It is customary for Cambridge colleges to provide accommodation for
336-652: A brand name for music-halls all over the British Empire. During 1892, the Royal English Opera House, which had been a financial failure in Shaftesbury Avenue , applied for a music hall licence and was converted by Walter Emden into a grand music hall and renamed the Palace Theatre of Varieties , managed by Charles Morton . Denied by the newly created LCC permission to construct the promenade, which
448-700: A daughter, Mabel, and Terriss gave birth to their second child, Elizabeth ("Betty), in 1904. In early 1900, the Hickses played in their only Broadway show together, My Daughter-in-law , at the Frohman brothers' old Lyceum Theatre . They then joined forces with producer Charles Frohman and, in his company, over a period of seven years, they played the leads in a series of musicals written by Hicks, including Bluebell in Fairyland (1901 with music by Walter Slaughter and lyrics by Charles Taylor – this Christmas show for children
560-497: A few of the many types of entertainments the audiences could expect to find over the next forty years. The Music Hall Strike of 1907 was an important industrial conflict. It was a dispute between artists and stage hands on one hand, and theatre managers on the other. The halls had recovered by the start of the First World War and were used to stage charity events in aid of the war effort. Music hall entertainment continued after
672-562: A fire in 1898. The construction of Weston's Music Hall , High Holborn (1857), built up on the site of the Six Cans and Punch Bowl Tavern by the licensed victualler of the premises, Henry Weston, signalled that the West End was fruitful territory for the music hall. During 1906 it was rebuilt as a variety theatre and renamed as the Holborn Empire . It was closed as a result of German action in
784-476: A home, having spent their working lives living in digs between performances. Stage and film musicals, however, continued to be influenced by the music hall idiom, including Oliver! , Dr Dolittle and My Fair Lady . The BBC series The Good Old Days , which ran for thirty years, recreated the music hall for the modern audience, and the Paul Daniels Magic Show allowed several speciality acts
896-464: A legitimate cultural form was established by the first Royal Variety Performance before King George V during 1912 at the Palace Theatre. However, consistent with this new respectability the best-known music hall entertainer of the time, Marie Lloyd , was not invited, being deemed too "saucy" for presentation to the monarchy. The development of syndicates controlling a number of theatres, such as
1008-597: A man). When she missed several performances due to illness, Hicks played the role – possibly the only case in the history of a musical where a husband succeeded to his wife's role. The piece was based on A Court Scandal , in which Hicks had played in 1899. Hicks then wrote and starred in Captain Kidd (1910), an adaptation with music and lyrics by Leslie Stuart and Adrian Ross , of the American farce The Dictator (1904 by Richard Harding Davis ). This flopped, bringing an end to
1120-540: A music hall song consists of a series of verses sung by the performer alone, and a repeated chorus which carries the principal melody, and in which the audience is encouraged to join. Girton College Girton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge . The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1948, it
1232-447: A rent discount of £20 per week for all weeks of their tenancy; for these students the median rent is amongst the lowest of the Cambridge colleges. Most undergraduate students live on the main site, and second years have the option of living at Swirles Court. Girton, along with Newnham College , are the only colleges to charge the same fee for all undergraduate accommodation on their premises. The main site offers 348 rooms, rented for
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#17329162312451344-719: A revival of Little Jack Sheppard at the Gaiety Theatre, London . This brought him to the attention of the impresario George Edwardes . In 1894, Hicks joined his wife in the successful "Fairy pantomime ", Cinderella , produced by Henry Irving at the Lyceum Theatre with music by Oscar Barrett, where she had been playing the title role. He played Thisbe, one of Cinderella's half-sisters who, in this version, were " Girton College girls who can jabber Greek and Latin, read French, play golf, and indulge in manly exercises. Thisbe has an affectation for intellectuality – Ibsen, Spooks, and
1456-503: A sense of grim humour ("When they wipe my face with sponges / and they feed me on blancmanges / I'm glad I've got a bit of a blighty one"). Tilley became more popular than ever during this time, when she and her husband, Walter de Frece , managed a military recruitment drive. In the guise of characters like 'Tommy in the Trench' and 'Jack Tar Home from Sea', Tilley performed songs such as "The army of today's all right" and "Jolly Good Luck to
1568-639: A separate mailing address from the main college. Girton College leases the buildings from the University on a five-year renewable contract. In 2017, Girton College moved the graduate accommodation from Wolfson Court (near the city centre) to Swirles Court. Wolfson Court was an annexe to Girton College built on a 3-acre (1.2-hectare) site. It was funded by the 1969 Centenary Appeal, and designed in 1971 by Cambridge architects David Wyn Roberts and Geoffrey Clarke. It had its own catering and accommodation facilities (106 single student rooms). Queen Elizabeth Court, which
1680-637: A short run and then toured in America in 1895 with his wife, where they befriended the American novelist Richard Harding Davis . At the instance of W. S. Gilbert , Hicks wrote a drama called One of the Best , a vehicle for his father-in-law William Terriss at the Adelphi Theatre , based on the famous Dreyfus Trial . The Hickses were frequent guests of Gilbert at his estate in Grim's Dyke . Hicks hurried back from America for
1792-537: A show called La Revue Nègre at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées . She became an immediate success for her erotic dancing , and for appearing practically nude on stage. After a successful tour of Europe, she returned to France to star at the Folies Bergère . Baker performed the 'Danse sauvage,' wearing a costume consisting of a skirt made of a string of artificial bananas. The music-halls suffered growing hardships in
1904-458: A television presence from 1979 to 1994. Aimed at a younger audience, but still owing a lot to the music hall heritage, was the late-1970s’ television series, The Muppet Show . The music hall was first imported into France in its British form in 1862, but under the French law protecting the state theatres, performers could not wear costumes or recite dialogue, something only allowed in theaters. When
2016-617: A theatre rather than a music hall, this establishment later hosted music-hall variety acts. The establishment often regarded as the first true music hall was the Canterbury , 143 Westminster Bridge Road , Lambeth built by Charles Morton , afterwards dubbed "the Father of the Halls", on the site of a skittle alley next to his pub, the Canterbury Tavern. It opened on 17 May 1852 and was described by
2128-600: Is Somerville College , one of the two Oxford colleges to first admit women. The early feminist movement began to argue for the improvement of women's education in the 1860s: Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon met through their activism at the Society for the Employment of Women and The Englishwoman's Review . They shared the aim of securing women's admission to university. In particular, they wanted to determine whether girls could be admitted at Oxford or Cambridge to sit
2240-598: The Aldwych Theatre in 1905 and the Hicks Theatre in 1906, which was renamed the "Globe Theatre" in 1909 and then the "Gielgud Theatre" in 1994. The Beauty of Bath was the first production at the theatre. In The Dashing Little Duke (1909; with C. Hayden Coffin , Courtice Pounds and Louie Pounds ), produced by Hicks at the Hicks Theatre, which was less successful, Hicks' wife played the title role (a woman playing
2352-590: The Bristol Canterbury, which was built in 1850s as the first purpose-built music hall in the city. Another early music hall was The Middlesex, Drury Lane (1851). Popularly known as the 'Old Mo', it was built on the site of the Mogul Saloon. Later converted into a theatre it was demolished in 1965. The New London Theatre stands on its site. Several large music halls were built in the East End . These included
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#17329162312452464-538: The Champs-Élysées , was frequented by the upper and lower classes alike. He persuaded her to sing despite her extreme nervousness. Leplée taught her the basics of stage presence and told her to wear a black dress, which became her trademark apparel. Leplée ran an intense publicity campaign leading up to her opening night, attracting the presence of many celebrities, including Maurice Chevalier. Her nightclub appearance led to her first two records produced that same year, and
2576-521: The Eddington neighbourhood of the North West Cambridge development , opened in 2017. This accommodation annexe provides up to 325 ensuite single rooms for graduates and for second-year undergraduates and above. It is named after Bertha Swirles (Lady Jeffreys), a Girton alumna. Swirles is open year-round to student living. It also has a college porter on staff 24/7, separate laundry facilities and
2688-578: The Great War . It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Britain between bold and scandalous music hall entertainment and subsequent, more respectable variety entertainment differ. Music hall involved a mixture of popular songs, comedy, speciality acts, and variety entertainment. The term is derived from a type of theatre or venue in which such entertainment took place. In North America vaudeville
2800-511: The JCR to determine room distribution. To first years, rooms are allocated randomly, with students allocated low grade rooms having first pick of rooms the following year. The college consults regularly with the JCR and MCR on its policy of charging equal rents for all non-en suite rooms. In 2022, the college introduced a Residence Bursary scheme, whereby any student in receipt of a Cambridge Bursary receives
2912-480: The interwar period from the most popular new form of entertainment, the cinema . They responded by offering more complex and lavish shows. In 1911, the Olympia had introduced the giant stairway as a set for its productions, an idea copied by other music halls. Gaby Deslys rose in popularity and created, with her dance partner Harry Pilcer , her most famous dance The Gaby Glide . The singer Mistinguett made her debut
3024-485: The interwar period , no longer the single dominant form of popular entertainment in Britain. The improvement of cinema, the development of radio, and the cheapening of the gramophone damaged its popularity greatly. It now had to compete with jazz , swing and big band dance music. Licensing restrictions also changed its character. In 1914, the London County Council (LCC) enacted that drinking be banished from
3136-424: The 1850s a distinct musical style. Subject matter became more contemporary and humorous, and accompaniment was provided by larger house-orchestras, as increasing affluence gave the lower classes more access to commercial entertainment, and to a wider range of musical instruments, including the piano. The consequent change in musical taste from traditional to more professional forms of entertainment, arose in response to
3248-583: The 1850s and were built in and on the grounds of public houses. Such establishments were distinguished from theatres by the fact that in a music hall you would be seated at a table in the auditorium and could drink alcohol and smoke tobacco whilst watching the show. In a theatre, by contrast, the audience was seated in stalls and there was a separate bar-room. An exception to this rule was the Britannia Theatre , Hoxton (1841) which somehow managed to evade this regulation and served drinks to its customers. Though
3360-562: The 1930s. The Olympia was converted into a movie theater, and others closed. Others however continued to thrive. In 1937 and 1930, the Casino de Paris presented shows with Maurice Chevalier , who had already achieved success as an actor and singer in Hollywood . In 1935, a twenty-year old singer named Édith Piaf was discovered in the Pigalle by nightclub owner Louis Leplée , whose club, Le Gerny, off
3472-501: The 29 colleges researched. In 2019, it came 20th, with 22 per cent of all undergraduate students gaining a first-class degree . The mistress is the formal head of the college. Her main task is to exercise general superintendence over the college's affairs. She presides over the college council and several college committees. The mistress is elected by the council, and has to reside at the college precincts for at least two-thirds of each term, or 210 days of each academic year. Ever since
Seymour Hicks - Misplaced Pages Continue
3584-475: The Blitz on the night of 11–12 May 1941 and the building was pulled down in 1960. Significant West End music halls include: Other large suburban music halls included: A noted music hall entrepreneur of this time was Carlo Gatti who built a music hall, known as Gatti's, at Hungerford Market in 1857. He sold the music hall to South Eastern Railway in 1862, and the site became Charing Cross railway station . With
3696-551: The Casino de Paris in 1895, and continued to appear regularly in the 1920s and 1930s at the Folies Bergère , Moulin Rouge and Eldorado. Her risqué routines captivated Paris, and she became one of the most highly-paid and popular French entertainers of her time. One of the most popular entertainers in Paris during the period was the American singer Josephine Baker . Baker sailed to Paris, France. She first arrived in Paris in 1925 to perform in
3808-613: The Chapel and the Hall were finished, which allowed the college to accommodate 180 students. In 1921, a committee was appointed to draft a charter for the college. By summer 1923 the committee had completed the task, and on 21 August 1924 the King granted the charter to "the Mistress and Governors of Girton College" as a Body Corporate . Girton was not officially a college yet, nor were its members part of
3920-603: The Examinations for Women, which was designed to be of intermediate difficulty. This idea was heavily opposed by Emily Davies, as she demanded admittance to the Tripos examinations. The college was established on 16 October 1869 under the name of the College for Women at Benslow House in Hitchin , Hertfordshire, which was considered to be a convenient distance from Cambridge and London. It
4032-584: The Gaiety Theatre's most successful shows, A Runaway Girl (1898), in which Terriss played the title role. This was followed by With Flying Colours (1899). Also in 1899, Hicks starred as the Duc De Richelieu in A Court Scandal , a comedy adapted by Aubrey Boucicault and Osmond Shillingford from Les Premières Armes de Richelieu by Dumanoir , at the Court Theatre. The same year, he and Terriss adopted
4144-485: The Girl who Loves a Soldier". This is how she got the nickname Britain's best recruiting sergeant – young men were sometimes asked to join the army on stage during her show. She also performed in hospitals and sold war bonds . Her husband was knighted in 1919 for his own services to the war effort, and Tilley became Lady de Frece. Once the reality of war began to sink home, the recruiting songs all but disappeared –
4256-557: The Greatest Hits collection for 1915 published by top music publisher Francis and Day contains no recruitment songs. After conscription was brought in 1916, songs dealing with the war spoke mostly of the desire to return home. Many also expressed anxiety about the new roles women were taking in society. Possibly the most notorious of music hall songs from the First World War was " Oh! It's a lovely war " ( 1917 ), popularised by male impersonator Ella Shields . Music hall continued during
4368-649: The London Music Hall, otherwise known as The Shoreditch Empire, 95–99 Shoreditch High Street , (1856–1935). This theatre was rebuilt during 1894 by Frank Matcham , the architect of the Hackney Empire . Another in this area was the Royal Cambridge Music Hall, 136 Commercial Street (1864–1936). Designed by William Finch Hill (the designer of the Britannia theatre in nearby Hoxton), it was rebuilt after
4480-550: The Old Mo. By the mid-19th century, the halls cried out for many new and catchy songs. As a result professional songwriters were enlisted to provide the music for a plethora of star performers, such as Marie Lloyd , Dan Leno , Little Tich , and George Leybourne . All manner of other entertainment was performed: male and female impersonators, lions comiques , mime artists and impressionists, trampoline acts, and comic pianists (such as John Orlando Parry and George Grossmith ) were just
4592-542: The Senior and Junior Local Examinations. Davies and Bodichon set up a committee to that effect in 1862. In 1865, with the help of Henry Tomkinson , Trinity College alumnus and the owner of an insurance company with good contacts within the University, 91 female students entered the Cambridge Local Examination. This first concession to women's educational rights met relatively little resistance, as admission to
Seymour Hicks - Misplaced Pages Continue
4704-588: The Stoll circuit, increased tensions between employees and employers. On 22 January 1907, a dispute between artists, stage hands and managers of the Holborn Empire worsened. Strikes in other London and suburban halls followed, organised by the Variety Artistes' Federation. The strike lasted for almost two weeks and was known as the Music Hall War . It became extremely well known, and was advocated enthusiastically by
4816-522: The University. Girton and Newnham were classed as "recognised institutions for the higher education for women", not colleges of the university. On 27 April 1948, women were admitted to full membership of the University of Cambridge, and Girton College received the status of a college of the university. Social and cultural changes in the post-war period led to an increasing number of British universities to become co-educational. In Cambridge, Churchill College , King's College and Clare College were
4928-694: The West End was the Empire, Leicester Square , built as a theatre in 1884 but acquiring a music hall licence in 1887. Like the nearby Alhambra this theatre appealed to the men of leisure by featuring alluring ballet dancers, and had a notorious promenade which was the resort of courtesans. Another spectacular example of the new variety theatre was the Tivoli in the Strand built 1888–90 in an eclectic neo-Romanesque style with Baroque and Moorish-Indian embellishments. " The Tivoli " became
5040-764: The age of nine and performing professionally by sixteen, Hicks joined a theatrical company and toured America before starring in Under the Clock in 1893, the first musical revue ever staged in London. Following this, he starred in a revival of Little Jack Sheppard at the Gaiety Theatre, London which brought him to the attention of impresario George Edwardes . Edwardes cast Hicks in his next show, The Shop Girl , in 1894. Its success led to his participation in two more of Edwardes's hit "girl" musicals, The Circus Girl (1896) and A Runaway Girl (1898), both starring Terriss. He first played
5152-651: The arches of the elevated railway line leading to Charing Cross station. He opened it as another music hall, known as " Gatti's-in-The-Arches ". After his death his family continued to operate the music hall, known for a period as the Hungerford or Gatti's Hungerford Palace of Varieties. It became a cinema in 1910, and the Players' Theatre in 1946. By 1865, there were 32 music halls in London seating between 500 and 5,000 people plus an unknown, but large, number of smaller venues. Numbers peaked in 1878, with 78 large music halls in
5264-399: The architects Paul Waterhouse and Alfred Waterhouse , the new library consisted of an upper reading room, crafted in oak, and a ground floor, in which the book collections are held. An annexe containing archives was added in 1967. The Duke building, a modern library extension offering IT facilities and a reading room, was opened in 2005. Named after Alison Duke , a fellow and major donor,
5376-412: The attention of an often jaded and unruly urban audience. In America, from the 1840s, Stephen Foster had reinvigorated folk song with the admixture of Negro spiritual to produce a new type of popular song. Songs like " Old Folks at Home " (1851) and " Oh, Dem Golden Slippers " (James Bland, 1879]) spread round the globe, taking with them the idiom and appurtenances of the minstrel song. Typically,
5488-422: The auditorium into a separate bar and, during 1923, the separate bar was abolished by parliamentary decree. The exemption of the theatres from this latter act prompted some critics to denounce this legislation as an attempt to deprive the working classes of their pleasures, as a form of social control, whilst sparing the supposedly more responsible upper classes who patronised the theatres (though this could be due to
5600-640: The auditorium while the entertainment took place, with the cheapest seats located in the gallery. This differed from the conventional type of theatre, which seats the audience in stalls with a separate bar-room. Major music halls were based around London. Early examples included: the Canterbury Music Hall in Lambeth , Wilton's Music Hall in Tower Hamlets , and The Middlesex in Drury Lane , otherwise known as
5712-512: The beginning of her career. Competition from movies and television largely brought an end to the Paris music hall. However, a few still flourish, with tourists as their primary audience. Major music halls include the Folies-Bergere , Crazy Horse Saloon , Casino de Paris , Olympia , and Moulin Rouge . The musical forms most associated with music hall evolved in part from traditional folk song and songs written for popular drama, becoming by
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#17329162312455824-467: The best examples are: A new era of variety theatre was developed by the rebuilding of the London Pavilion in 1885. Contemporary accounts noted: Hitherto the halls had borne unmistakeable evidence of their origins, but the last vestiges of their old connections were now thrown aside, and they emerged in all the splendour of their new-born glory. The highest efforts of the architect, the designer and
5936-552: The bottom of St Martin's Lane . This was followed by the London Palladium (1910) in Argyll Street . Both were designed by the prolific Frank Matcham . As music hall grew in popularity and respectability, and as the licensing authorities exercised ever firmer regulation, the original arrangement of a large hall with tables at which drink was served, changed to that of a drink-free auditorium . The acceptance of music hall as
6048-673: The building of the Aldwych Theatre in 1905 and the Hicks Theatre in 1906, opening the latter with a new hit show, The Beauty of Bath . His stage performances were less successful in later years, and he opted instead to star in music hall tours, including Pebbles on the Beach (1912). He continued to write light comedies, the most popular of which was The Happy Day (1916). On film, he first appeared in Scrooge and David Garrick both from 1913. Later notable films included The Lambeth Walk (1939) and Busman's Honeymoon (1940), and his last film
6160-529: The building was designed by Allies and Morrison . It won a RIBA National Award in 2006, a SCONUL Library Design Award in 2007, and a Civic Trust Award in 2007. Emily Davies first mooted plans for a chapel in Girton College in 1890; however, building only started in 1899, four years after the death of Henrietta Stanley, Baroness Stanley of Alderley , who had opposed the idea and instead favoured improving staff salaries and equipment. The chapel, which
6272-411: The decorator were enlisted in their service, and the gaudy and tawdry music hall of the past gave way to the resplendent "theatre of varieties" of the present day, with its classic exterior of marble and freestone, its lavishly appointed auditorium and its elegant and luxurious foyers and promenades brilliantly illuminated by myriad electric lights One of the most famous of these new palaces of pleasure in
6384-428: The entertainment provided in the new style saloon bars of pubs during the 1830s. These venues replaced earlier semi-rural amusements provided by fairs and suburban pleasure gardens such as Vauxhall Gardens and the Cremorne Gardens . These latter became subject to urban development and became fewer and less popular. From the mid-19th century music halls spread to the provincial cities, such as Bristol. The saloon
6496-463: The entire year (38 or 39 weeks, depending on the term dates). Since 2017, graduate students live in Swirles Court. It is part of the Eddington development in West Cambridge. One house on Huntingdon Road is used to accommodate research fellows . The Graduate Union specifically identified Girton as providing an insufficient amount of housing to married postgraduates, with no rooms available at Swirles Court for married students. Swirles Court, part of
6608-421: The era of supremacy in London's musical theatre of Hicks and Terriss. Hicks appeared in his first Shakespeare play that year, Richard III . The same year, he penned the first of several autobiographies. The following year, he took a company on a tour of South Africa. After the outbreak of World War I , Hicks was the first British actor to bring a tour to France (with Terriss), giving concerts to British troops at
6720-432: The establishment of Girton College, the position has been held by a female, even though male candidates have had equal rights for running for the office since 1976 and would, if elected, be called by the female term "mistress". The current mistress is Elisabeth Kendall , who in 2022 succeeded Susan J. Smith ; she had held the position since 2009. As with many Cambridge colleges, rooms are available to external guests on
6832-441: The examination did not imply residence of women at the university site. At that time, students had the option of doing a Pass degree, which consisted of "a disorderly collection of fragmented learning", or an Honours degree , which at that time meant the Mathematics Tripos , classics, and natural or moral sciences. An Honours degree was considered more challenging than the Pass degree. In 1869, Henry Sidgwick helped institute
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#17329162312456944-520: The federation in whatever steps are taken. World War I may have been the high-water mark of music hall popularity. The artists and composers threw themselves into rallying public support and enthusiasm for the war effort. Patriotic music hall compositions such as "Keep the Home Fires Burning" ( 1914 ), "Pack up Your Troubles" ( 1915 ), " It's a Long Way to Tipperary " ( 1914 ) and " We Don't Want to Lose You (But We Think You Ought To Go) " ( 1914 ), were sung by music hall audiences, and sometimes by soldiers in
7056-444: The film version of the stage musical Me and My Girl , Young Man's Fancy (1939), Pastor Hall (1940) and Busman's Honeymoon (1940). Hicks wrote for films until 1941 ( Kisses for Breakfast , in which he starred). When World War II began, he acted, on 12 November 1939, as the master of ceremonies at the first concert given in France by the newly formed ENSA (Entertainment National Service Association). For this action, Hicks
7168-414: The first men's colleges to admit women in 1972. Girton had already amended its statutes in 1971 in such a way as to allow the admission of men, should the Governing Body vote in favour at an unspecified date in the future. The decision to become mixed came in November 1976, when the Governing Body voted to act upon the statute, which made Girton the first women's college to admit men. In January 1977,
7280-408: The first three-year undergraduate students. Rooms in the main site are arranged along corridors, which makes it possible to walk from one location in the building to another without going outside. Some of the rooms were originally designed as sets by Alfred Waterhouse . The rooms range in several quality grades but are all charged at the same weekly rate. Every year, a ballot is organised by
7392-477: The first two male Fellows , Frank Wilkinson and John Marks, arrived, followed by male graduate students in 1978, and, finally, undergraduates in October 1979. One reason for the change was that the first mixed colleges in Cambridge immediately shot to the top of the Tripos league tables, as they seemed to attract bright students, who preferred to stay in co-educational colleges. Girton became co-residential as well, which meant that male and female students shared
7504-546: The front. Because of this, he was awarded the French Croix de Guerre . Hicks was briefly declared bankrupt in 1915. Hicks and Terriss concentrated on comedy roles and music hall tours in later years, including Pebbles on the Beach (1912), singing and dancing 'Alexander's Ragtime Band'. Their one return to musical comedy, Cash on Delivery (1917), confirmed the public's preference for comedy revues and music hall. Hicks continued to write light, escapist comedies, such as The Happy Day (1916), Sleeping Partners (1917) and, after
7616-410: The law changed in 1867, the Paris music hall flourished, and a half-dozen new halls opened, offering acrobats, singers, dancers, magicians, and trained animals. The first Paris music hall built specially for that purpose was the Folies-Bergere (1869); it was followed by the Moulin Rouge (1889), the Alhambra (1866), the first to be called a music hall, and the Olympia (1893). The Printania (1903)
7728-428: The licensing restrictions brought about due to the Defence of the Realm Act 1914 , which also applied to public houses). Even so, the music hall gave rise to such major stars as George Formby , Gracie Fields , Max Miller , Will Hay , and Flanagan and Allen during this period. In the mid-1950s, rock and roll , whose performers initially topped music hall bills, attracted a young audience who had little interest in
7840-431: The main site with the Old Wing, the Hospital Wing, the Orchard Wing, the Stanley library and Old Kitchens between 1873 and 1886, as well as the parapetted gatehouse tower in 1886 and 1887. The red-brick design ( English bond ) is typical of Victorian architecture , and is enhanced by black mortar courses and terracotta details to the eaves, windows and doorways. The roofs are steeply pitched with crested tiles. In 1913,
7952-591: The main spokesmen of the trade union and Labour movement – Ben Tillett and Keir Hardie for example. Picket lines were organized outside the theatres by the artistes, while in the provinces theatre management attempted to oblige artistes to sign a document promising never to join a trade union. The strike ended in arbitration, which satisfied most of the main demands, including a minimum wage and maximum working week for musicians. Several music hall entertainers such as Marie Dainton , Marie Lloyd , Arthur Roberts , Joe Elvin and Gus Elen were strong advocates of
8064-526: The metropolis and 300 smaller venues. Thereafter numbers declined due to stricter licensing restrictions imposed by the Metropolitan Board of Works and London County Council , and because of commercial competition between popular large suburban halls and the smaller venues, which put the latter out of business. A few of the UK's music halls have survived and have retained many of their original features. Among
8176-521: The music hall acts, while driving the older audience away. The final demise was competition from television, which grew popular after the Queen's coronation was televised. Some music halls tried to retain an audience by putting on striptease acts. In 1957, the playwright John Osborne delivered this elegy: The music hall is dying, and with it, a significant part of England. Some of the heart of England has gone; something that once belonged to everyone, for this
8288-425: The musician and author Benny Green as being "the most significant date in all the history of music hall". The hall looked like most contemporary pub concert rooms, but its replacement in 1854 was of then unprecedented size. It was further extended in 1859, later rebuilt as a variety theatre and finally destroyed by German bombing in 1942. The Canterbury Hall became a model for music halls in other cities too, such as
8400-451: The new humor." Edwardes gave Hicks the chance to star in his next show, The Shop Girl (1894), which became a hit at the Gaiety in 1894, playing for 546 performances. Hicks's wife joined Edwardes's company during the run of the show, replacing the star in the title role, and together they made the musical an even bigger hit. The following year, Hicks transferred with the show to Broadway for
8512-416: The nineteenth century, the first purpose-built music halls were being built in London. The halls created a demand for new and catchy popular songs, that could no longer be met from the traditional folk song repertoire. Professional songwriters were enlisted to fill the gap. The emergence of a distinct music hall style can be credited to a fusion of musical influences. Music hall songs needed to gain and hold
8624-470: The opening in December 1895. It ran for over a year. Another early success for the young couple was The Circus Girl (1896). Hicks and Terriss both had a comedy background, and they transformed the "lovers" roles in the new genre of Edwardian musicals from overly sentimental to mischievous and light-hearted characters exchanging witty banter. Hicks then worked as co-author on The Yashmak and then on one of
8736-620: The proceeds from selling his first music hall, Gatti acquired a restaurant in Westminster Bridge Road , opposite The Canterbury music hall. He converted the restaurant into a second Gatti's music hall, known as "Gatti's-in-the-Road", in 1865. It later became a cinema. The building was badly damaged in the Second World War, and was demolished in 1950. In 1867, he acquired a public house in Villiers Street named "The Arches", under
8848-465: The rapid industrialisation and urbanisation of previously rural populations during the Industrial Revolution . The newly created urban communities, cut off from their cultural roots, required new and readily accessible forms of entertainment. Music halls were originally tavern rooms which provided entertainment, in the form of music and speciality acts, for their patrons. By the middle years of
8960-501: The role of Ebenezer Scrooge in 1901 and eventually played it thousands of times onstage. Hicks, along with his wife, joined the producer Charles Frohman in his theatre company and wrote and starred in a series of extraordinarily successful musicals, including Bluebell in Fairyland (1901), Quality Street (1902), The Earl and the Girl (1903) and The Catch of the Season (1904). Hicks used his fortune from these shows to commission
9072-557: The same facilities. Only one all-female corridor in which rooms were reserved exclusively for women remained. Upon the arrival of male undergraduates, JCR and MCR social facilities had to be enlarged. The college bar was opened in 1979 as well as rugby, cricket and soccer pitches provided from 1982 onwards. In the 22-year period from 1997 to 2019, the Tompkins Table annual ranking of Cambridge colleges by undergraduate academic performance ranked Girton College an average of 20 out of
9184-498: The site consisted of 33 acres. Girton's first library, the Stanley library, was established in 1884 with a donation from Lady Stanley of Alderley . It was considered to be luxurious and comfortable, as it contained stained-glass windows, leather furniture and a large chimney. Books were acquired mostly through donations. By 1932 the collection had become so large that a new library was opened. Designed by Michael Waterhouse, descendant of
9296-479: The strike, though they themselves earned enough not to be concerned personally in a material sense. Lloyd explained her advocacy: We (the stars) can dictate our own terms. We are fighting not for ourselves, but for the poorer members of the profession, earning thirty shillings to £3 a week. For this they have to do double turns, and now matinées have been added as well. These poor things have been compelled to submit to unfair terms of employment, and I mean to back up
9408-496: The theatrical company of Mr. and Mrs. Kendal for an American tour where they presented a repertory of contemporary plays. Hicks starred as Dr. Watson in the first revue show ever staged in London, Under the Clock (1893), a parody of Sherlock Holmes and Watson written by Hicks with Charles Brookfield (who played Holmes), at the Royal Court Theatre . That same year, he married Ellaline Terriss . After that, he starred in
9520-610: The time, thirteen students were admitted. In 1876, Old Wing was completed, and Taylor's Knob, the college laboratory and half of the Hospital Wing was built. In the following year, Caroline Croom Robertson joined the management team as secretary to reduce the load on Emily Davies. In 1884, Hospital Wing was completed, and Orchard Wing, Stanley Library and the Old Kitchens added. At that time, Girton had 80 students. By 1902, Tower Wing, Chapel Wing and Woodlands Wing as well as
9632-451: The trenches. Many songs promoted recruitment ("All the boys in khaki get the nice girls", 1915); others satirised particular elements of the war experience. "What did you do in the Great war, Daddy" ( 1919 ) criticised profiteers and slackers; Vesta Tilley 's "I've got a bit of a blighty one" ( 1916 ) showed a soldier delighted to have a wound just serious enough to be sent home. The rhymes give
9744-527: The war, but became less popular due to upcoming jazz , swing , and big-band dance music acts. Licensing restrictions had also changed, and drinking was banned from the auditorium. A new type of music hall entertainment had arrived, in the form of variety, and many music hall performers failed to make the transition. They were deemed old-fashioned, and with the closure of many halls, music hall entertainment ceased and modern-day variety began. Music-halls had their origins in 18th century London. They grew with
9856-477: The war, satiric farces, such as Good Luck and Head Over Heels (1923) and adaptations of French farces ( The Man in Dress Clothes ). Hicks appeared in three early silent films: Scrooge and David Garrick in 1913, and A Prehistoric Love Story in 1915, all directed by Leedham Bantock . He decided in 1923 to produce his own films. His first film, in which he starred, was Always Tell Your Wife , which
9968-643: Was Evans Music-and-Supper Rooms , 43 King Street, Covent Garden , established in the 1840s by W.H. Evans. This venue was also known as 'Evans Late Joys' – Joy being the name of the previous owner. Other song and supper rooms included the Coal Hole in The Strand , the Cyder Cellars in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden and the Mogul Saloon in Drury Lane . The music hall as we know it developed from such establishments during
10080-601: Was "the father and mother, the dry and wet nurse of the Music Hall". Later known as the Grecian Theatre, it was here that Marie Lloyd made her début at the age of 14 in 1884. It is still famous because of an English nursery rhyme, with the somewhat mysterious lyrics: Up and down the City Road In and out The Eagle That's the way the money goes Pop goes the weasel . Another famous "song and supper" room of this period
10192-566: Was a music-garden, open only in summer, with a theater, restaurant, circus, and horse-racing. Older theaters also transformed themselves into music halls, including the Bobino (1873), the Bataclan (1864), and the Alcazar (1858). At the beginning, music halls offered dance reviews, theater and songs, but gradually songs and singers became the main attraction. Paris music halls all faced stiff competition in
10304-604: Was a room where for an admission fee or a greater price at the bar, singing, dancing, drama or comedy was performed. The most famous London saloon of the early days was the Grecian Saloon , established in 1825, at The Eagle (a former tea-garden), 2 Shepherdess Walk, off the City Road in east London. According to John Hollingshead , proprietor of the Gaiety Theatre, London (originally the Strand Music Hall), this establishment
10416-641: Was also registered as a student, although with the intention of staying for a single term, and her step-mother Charlotte Manning was the first Mistress. The first three students to unofficially sit the Tripos exams in Lent term 1873, Rachel Cook and Lumsden, who both took the Classical Tripos , as well as Woodhead, who took the Mathematical Tripos , were known as "The Pioneers". Through fundraising, £7,000
10528-501: Was awarded his second Croix de Guerre. Later films included Fame is the Spur (1947) and Silent Dust (1949). He continued appearing on stage and in films until a year before his death in Hampshire , England, at the age of 78. Music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era , beginning around 1850, through
10640-644: Was awarded the Legion of Honour for his promotion of French drama on the English stage. Hicks was knighted in 1935. In 1934, he had taken over Daly's Theatre in London, where he produced and appeared in a series of successful plays including Vintage Wine that he and Ashley Dukes adapted from a novel. He also directed and appeared in The Miracle Man at the Victoria Palace Theatre . Hicks's most famous role
10752-428: Was based on one of his plays. While making that film, Hicks fired the director and hired an unknown young director to make his debut: Alfred Hitchcock . Hicks directed Sleeping Partners (1930) and Glamour (1931). In addition, over a dozen films were made either from his plays or his scripts, and he starred in about twenty films, many with his wife. One of his early films was Money for Nothing (1932) In 1931, he
10864-499: Was built by architect Alfred Waterhouse between 1872 and 1887. Among Girton's notable alumni are Queen Margrethe II , former UK Supreme Court President Lady Hale , HuffPost co-founder Arianna Huffington , the comedian/author Sandi Toksvig , the comedian/broadcaster/GP Phil Hammond , the economist Joan Robinson , and the anthropologist Marilyn Strathern , who also held the position of Mistress from 1998 to 2009. Its sister college
10976-470: Was collected, which allowed for the purchase of land either at Hitchin or near Cambridge in 1871. By 1872, sixteen acres of land at the present site were acquired near the village of Girton . The college was then renamed Girton College, and opened at the new location in October 1873. The buildings had cost £12,000 to erect, and consisted of a single block which comprised the east half of Old Wing. At
11088-493: Was continually revived for the next four decades) and The Cherry Girl (1902). Hicks and Terriss also starred in Quality Street in 1902. At that time, they moved to a new home, The Old Forge, at Merstham, Surrey. Their cul-de-sac was renamed "Quality Street". Hicks also wrote the highly successful The Earl and the Girl (1903) and the successful The Catch of the Season (1904 with Herbert Haines and Taylor). Ellaline
11200-482: Was designed by Alfred and Paul Waterhouse , was completed in 1901, and inaugurated on 23 May 1902. It seats about 200 people and the interior is held very simply with the exception of oak carvings at the Chancel end and on two long desks in front of the choir seats, which were crafted by the mathematician Margaret Meyer , along with students and friends of the college. In 1910 came a fine Harrison & Harrison organ,
11312-487: Was found guilty and sentenced to 8 months imprisonment. Hicks wrote, and Frohman produced, The Talk of the Town (1905 with Haines and Taylor), The Beauty of Bath (1906 with Haines and Taylor; the show included additional lyrics by newcomer P. G. Wodehouse and additional music by Jerome Kern ), My Darling (1907 with Haines), and The Gay Gordons (1907). Hicks used some of the fortune he received from these shows to build
11424-440: Was granted full college status by the university, marking the official admittance of women to the university. In 1976, it was the first Cambridge women's college to become coeducational . The main college site, situated on the outskirts of the village of Girton , about 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (4 kilometres) northwest of the university town, comprises 33 acres (13 hectares) of land. In a typical Victorian red-brick design, most
11536-454: Was in some ways analogous to British music hall, featuring rousing songs and comic acts. Originating in saloon bars within pubs during the 1830s, music hall entertainment became increasingly popular with audiences. So much so, that during the 1850s some public houses were demolished, and specialised music hall theatres developed in their place. These theatres were designed chiefly so that people could consume food and alcohol and smoke tobacco in
11648-648: Was in the year of his death, 1949. Hicks was born in St. Hélier on the island of Jersey . At the age of nine, he appeared as Little Buttercup in Gilbert and Sullivan 's H.M.S. Pinafore at his school in Bath . After that, he was determined to be an actor. Hicks first appeared professionally on stage at the age of sixteen in a production of In the Ranks at the Grand, Islington. In 1889, he joined
11760-400: Was linked to the main building and comprised two blocks of three linked houses (36 large single student rooms), was built for the purpose of graduate accommodation in 1992. It was frequently used as a location for conferences. The site also contained a nursery, operated by Bright Horizons. The initial and defining parts of the college were designed by Alfred Waterhouse : The architect built
11872-594: Was pregnant with Betty, and so Zena Dare originated the leading role in The Catch of the Season until Terriss could assume the role. Dare's sister Phyllis Dare left the stage abruptly in 1905 and a Frederick Henry Wolfries spread rumors that she was pregnant by Hicks, and Hicks received written and verbal abuse for his alleged conduct. In November 1906, Wolfries appeared at the Liverpool Assizes accused of libelling Hicks, while passing himself off as Dare's brother. He
11984-528: Was seldom seen due to the popularity of the 1938 and the 1951 film versions of Dickens's novel. Poor-quality prints were shown on television in the 1980s, but in 2002 the film was restored to its original eight-reel length and issued on DVD. In 2007 the hour-long version was issued in a colourised edition. Among his other film appearances, Hicks starred in the film version of his show Vintage Wine (1935) and as Sir John Tremayne in The Lambeth Walk (1939),
12096-605: Was such a popular feature of the Empire and Alhambra, the Palace compensated in the way of adult entertainment by featuring apparently nude women in tableaux vivants , though the concerned LCC hastened to reassure patrons that the girls who featured in these displays were actually wearing flesh-toned body stockings and were not naked at all. One of the grandest of these new halls was the Coliseum Theatre built by Oswald Stoll in 1904 at
12208-489: Was that of Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens 's A Christmas Carol . He first played this role in 1901 and eventually played it thousands of times onstage, often at benefits, and twice on film: the 1913 silent film Scrooge and the 1935 film Scrooge , produced in England. In 1926, Pathé Pictures released the 1913 film in America under the title Old Scrooge . This 1926 print has been released on DVD. The 1935 Scrooge
12320-477: Was the first feature-length film version of the story with sound. The film has been praised for its vivid atmosphere, but most of the ghosts in the film are not seen on screen, except for the Ghost of Christmas Present ( Oscar Asche ). Donald Calthrop portrays Bob Cratchit, and Maurice Evans has a bit part as one of Scrooge's debtors. Most prints in circulation are of the abridged, six-reel (hour-long) version. The film
12432-698: Was thought to be less "risky" and less controversial to locate the college away from Cambridge in the beginning. The college was one of England 's first residential colleges for women. Whitelands College , now part of the University of Roehampton , was established as a college of higher education for women earlier, in 1841. They worked with Fanny Metcalfe to develop the curricula. In July and October 1869, entrance examinations were held in London, to which 21 candidates came; 16 passed. The first term started on 16 October 1869, when five students began their studies: Emily Gibson , Anna Lloyd , Louisa Lumsden , Isabella Townshend and Sarah Woodhead . Adelaide Manning
12544-470: Was truly a folk art. Moss Empires , the largest British music hall chain, closed the majority of its theatres in 1960, closely followed by the death of music hall stalwart Max Miller in 1963, prompting one contemporary to write that: "Music-halls ... died this afternoon when they buried Max Miller". Miller himself had sometimes said that the genre would die with him. Many music hall performers, unable to find work, fell into poverty; some did not even have
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