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84-664: The Teatro Puerto Rico was a music hall focused on the Latino community in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the South Bronx in New York City . During the 1940s to 1950s it presented la farándula, a vaudeville -style package of Spanish-language events, and attracted entertainers from all over Latin America . In the late 1960s, the neighborhood where the theater was located was in decline and

168-652: 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

252-566: A children's talent show called Fiesta Infantil con Joaquín Santiago directed by the theater's MC, in which parents were encouraged to bring their children as participants. In the winter of 1953, Ramón "Diplo" Rivero and his troupe traveled to New York City to perform before the Puerto Rican community and for three weeks Rivero and his show "El Tremendo Hotel" held sell out performances at the teatro. The Teatro Puerto Rico soon began to feature one or two Spanish-language films (primarily Mexican )

336-554: 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 was in some ways analogous to British music hall, featuring rousing songs and comic acts. Originating in saloon bars within pubs during

420-497: 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

504-562: 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

588-476: 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

672-464: 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

756-586: 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. Cuatro (instrument) Cuatro means four in Spanish ; the instrument's 15th century predecessors were the Spanish vihuela and the Portuguese cavaquinho , the latter having four strings like the cuatro. Modern cuatros come in

840-507: A performing arts center for the Hispanic community. The auditorium was divided into three sections, two for "live" performances and one for showing the latest Hollywood movies with Spanish subtitles. In 1996 the owner rented the theater to New York State Senator Pedro Espada . Six months later the Teatro finally closed its doors indefinitely after the senator failed to pay its rent. As a consequence,

924-408: 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

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1008-503: 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

1092-537: 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

1176-570: A singer of boleros, were in much demand and sell outs. Two child prodigy performers who made their debuts in the Teatro were, José Feliciano , whose family moved from Lares, Puerto Rico , to El Barrio in 1950, got his start when he debuted at the Teatro Puerto Rico in 1954 at the age of nine and Miguel Poventud "El Nino Prodigio de Guayama". During the Christmas season, shows featuring la música jíbara were offered. The Teatro also presented

1260-516: A television and radio station. The legacy of the Teatro Puerto Rico continues to live on at the church, which presents Latin gospel music, with full jazz bands on its stage on Sundays. Music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era , beginning around 1850, through the Great War . It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of

1344-458: 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

1428-617: 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

1512-432: A variety of sizes and shapes, and number of strings. Cuatros can either have single-strings, like a guitar , or double- or triple-coursed strings like a mandolin , and vary in size from a large mandolin or small guitar, to the size of a full-size guitar. Depending on their particular stringing, cuatros are part of the guitar or mandolin subfamilies of the lute family. The Cuban cuatro (cuatro Cubano, or tres cuatro )

1596-799: A week with a featured star attraction, attracting patronage from non-Puerto Rican Latinos all over the Greater New York area. As a consequence, Carlos Montalban, the older brother of actor Ricardo Montalbán , who had connections in Hollywood was contracted to bring Mexican entertainers and cinema celebrities who were shown in the movies. Among those who were contracted for comedy skits or to talk about their lives and careers were Cesar Romero , Mario "Cantinflas" Moreno , Jorge Negrete and Pedro Infante . Miguel Poventud often participated in comedy sketches with Mexican comedian Germán Valdés also known as "Tin Tan". Among

1680-795: A year later, the Puerto Rican cuatro was one of three instruments that were declared the National Instruments of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and important symbols of Puerto Rican culture. The Puerto Rican cuatro is shaped more like a viola than a guitar, and is the most familiar of the three instruments of the Puerto Rican orquesta jíbara (i.e., the cuatro, the tiple and the bordonua ). The Puerto Rican cuatro has ten strings in five courses, tuned in fourths from low to high, with B and E in octaves and A , D , and G in unisons : B 3 B 2 — E 4 E 3 — A 3 A 3 — D 4 D 4 — G 4 G 4 . The cuatro

1764-405: Is composed of several parts that work together to formulate the distinguishable sound of the instrument: Several sizes of the instrument exist, including a cuatro soprano , cuatro alto , cuatro tradicional (the standard instrument, also called cuatro tenor ), and cuatro bajo (bass): All have 10 strings and are tuned in fourths. There is also a cuatro lírico (lyrical cuatro), which is about

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1848-604: Is estimated that from 1946 to 1950 there were 31,000 Puerto Rican migrants in New York. Puerto Rican music flourished with the likes of Rafael Hernández and Pedro Flores , who formed the Trio Borincano and gained recognition in the city. Myrta Silva , who later joined Hernandez's Cuarteto Victoria, also gained fame as a singer after the group traveled and played throughout the United States. Like other newcomers before them,

1932-494: Is similar in shape and tuning to the ukulele , but their character and playing technique are different. It is tuned in a similar fashion to the ukulele's traditional D tuning, but the B is an octave lower. Consequently, the same fingering can be used to shape the chords , but it produces a different inversion of each chord. There are variations on this instrument, having 5 strings or 6 strings. Other Venezuelan cuatro variants include: Certain variants are considered

2016-425: Is similar to a Cuban tres , but with 4 courses of doubled strings, instead of the usual 3 courses. It is usually tuned G 4 G 3 — C 4 C 4 — E 4 E 4 — A 4 A 4 . The word cuatro was used to represent the number of strings that the instrument initially had, but a 10 stringed, 5 course cuatro was made in 1887, as shown in a photograph taken in 1916. By 1922, cuatro music

2100-764: Is used throughout the year, it is mostly heard during Christmas time ("The short history of the cuatro"). The genres of music where the cuatro's presence is really known in Plena , the Trova , the Aguinaldo and the Seis that were created in Puerto Rico. Sometimes, it is integrated in salsa and other genres of music like the waltz. Some of the aguinaldos and seises created in Puerto Rico are: The cuatro of Venezuela has four single nylon strings, tuned A 3 – D 4 – F 4 – B 3 . It

2184-590: 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

2268-538: 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

2352-480: 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

2436-485: 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

2520-401: 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 the auditorium while the entertainment took place, with the cheapest seats located in

2604-424: 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

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2688-583: 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

2772-511: 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

2856-475: 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

2940-549: The Bronx's newly arrived Latinos converted existing theaters for their own use. The South Bronx became a hub for Puerto Rican music. Theaters which served previous groups of immigrants, such as the Irish and the Italians, to stage their dramatic works or vaudeville style shows, now served the growing Puerto Rican population with musical performances from musicians throughout the island. In 1948,

3024-658: The Bronx, the theater was built in 1917. It opened its doors in February 1923, under the name of the Forum Theater. The theater, which had 2,300 seats, was a popular gathering spot which provided vaudeville shows and later movies, first for the German immigrant families who lived in the area and then for the Irish and Italian families who came after them. The Forum Theater, which was owned by the Ansel family, struggled to survive and compete with

3108-602: 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

3192-527: The Forum Theater (briefly named the Brook Theater) was renamed Teatro Puerto Rico and began presenting Hispanic stage shows that attracted patronage from all over the Greater New York area. It was not just the main concert spot for Latino performers in New York, attracting stars from all parts of Latin America, it was one of the few places where Puerto Rican families from all over New York City could gather to celebrate their culture. Among those who entertained

3276-485: 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 –

3360-557: 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

3444-649: 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

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3528-588: 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

3612-488: The Teatro. In the late 1960s, the neighborhood went into decline and the Teatro could no longer compete with larger theaters in contracting performers. For a brief period the Teatro presented live wrestling matches; however, attendance at the Teatro Puerto Rico continued to drop and it closed its doors in the late 1970s. Mr. James Sanchez, a real estate developer, invested $ 1.2 million and in 1987, after two years of renovations, Teatro Puerto Rico opened its doors once again as

3696-402: The United States, the U.S. economic crisis was felt on the island, as well. Unemployment rose steeply and, consequently, many families fled to the U.S. mainland in search of jobs. The outbreak of World War II opened the doors to many of the migrants who were searching for jobs. Since a large portion of the male population of the U.S. was sent to war, there was a sudden need of manpower to fulfill

3780-694: 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

3864-700: 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

3948-469: The arrival of the larger modern movie theaters such as Loew's and RKO . Three factors contributed and led to what became known as "The Great Puerto Rican Migration" to New York. These were the Great Depression , World War II , and the advent of air travel. The Great Depression which spread throughout the world was also felt in Puerto Rico. Since the island's economy had been made dependent on that of

4032-412: 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,

4116-422: 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

4200-512: 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

4284-467: 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

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4368-552: 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

4452-427: The crowds with their " Cuatros " and interpretation of the island's "jibaro" music (typical country music) were Florencio Morales "Ramito" Ramos , Jesús Sanchez "Chuito de Bayamon" Erazo, Pedro Ortiz "Davilita" Davila and Tomas "Maso" Rivera . Acts by Tito Rodríguez and his band and from trios such as Trio Los Duques, Trio Borincano, Los Panchos , and Vegabajeño were often seen. Shows by Felipe "La Voz" Rodríguez ,

4536-411: 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

4620-486: 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

4704-581: 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

4788-696: 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 the Old Mo. By the mid-19th century, the halls cried out for many new and catchy songs. As

4872-512: The international singers and actresses who headlined at the teatro were Spain 's Sara Montiel and Argentina 's Libertad Lamarque . In 1949, Lamarque's gross profits of her show for one week came in third place after two Broadway Musicals , " Kiss Me, Kate " and " As the Girls Go ". During the 1960s, the growing Puerto Rican and Latino population was entertained not only by the performances of musicians from Puerto Rico and Cuba, but also from

4956-450: The jobs left behind. Puerto Ricans, both male and female, found themselves employed in factories and ship docks, producing both domestic and warfare goods. The new migrants gained the knowledge and working skills which in the future would serve them well. The military also provided a steady source of income. The advent of air travel provided Puerto Ricans with an affordable and faster way of travel to New York. A common denominator amongst all

5040-563: 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)

5124-529: 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

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5208-439: The local Bronx's burgeoning second generation Latino American musicians whose music and styles were influenced by the local nation musical trends. Musicians such as Tito Puente , Vicentico Valdés, Marcelino Guerra , Machito , Arsenio Rodríguez , Charlie and Eddie Palmieri , Orlando Marin , Manny Oquendo , Ray Barretto , Barry Rogers , Johnny Pacheco , Joe Loco , Joe Quijano, Willie Colón and Héctor Lavoe performed at

5292-591: 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

5376-421: 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

5460-587: The migrants was their desire for a better way of life than was available in Puerto Rico. Although each one held personal reasons for migrating, the decision was generally rooted in the island's impoverished conditions, as well as the public policies that sanctioned migration. It wasn't long before the Puerto Rican barrios in the South Bronx, Spanish Harlem , Manhattan's Lower East Side and Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue began to resemble "Little Puerto Rico's" with their bodegas (small grocery stores) and piragueros (Puerto Rican shaved ice vendors) in every corner. It

5544-473: 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

5628-425: 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

5712-416: 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

5796-439: 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

5880-402: 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

5964-411: The senator was evicted and pleaded guilty to using false information to win a $ 95,000 state grant, which was supposed to pay the Teatro Puerto Rico's $ 10,000-per-month rent. After the scandal the owner decided to put the building up for sale. Teatro Puerto Rico was sold, to "Iglesia Universal del Reino de Dios" ( Universal Church of the Kingdom of God ). Which has converted a portion of the theater into

6048-425: The size of the tenor, but has a deep jellybean -shaped body; a cuatro sonero , which has 15 strings in 5 courses of 3 strings each; and a seis , which is a cuatro tradicional with an added two-string course (usually a lower course), giving it a total of 12 strings in 6 courses. The Puerto Rican Cuatro is played with a pick, and the cuatrista will strike downwards on the string with the pick in order to generate

6132-433: The sound that the person wants to produce. The most popular technique used to play the cuatro is called tremolo , which occurs when a cuatro player continually strikes the same chord multiple times to generate a sound for a longer period of time. The tremolo is used to play longer lasting notes, like whole notes , half notes , and tied eighth notes and sixteenth notes . Musically, the Puerto Rican cuatro, although it

6216-479: 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

6300-426: The theater closed its doors until 1994. That year a real estate developer invested funds in renovations. After two years in operation, a political scandal involving misappropriated public funds forced the permanent closure of the theater. The building which the theater once occupied is now used as a place of religious worship. Located at 490 East 138th Street, at the corner of Brook Avenue in the Mott Haven section of

6384-451: 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

6468-527: 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

6552-643: 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

6636-601: 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

6720-566: 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

6804-660: 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

6888-452: Was being played on Puerto Rican radio stations, like "Los Jíbaros de la Radio" (1932) and "Industrias Nativas" (1934). After many years of constant rise in popularity, the Puerto Rican government approved a law in 2002 declaring that every year on November 17, the Commonwealth would celebrate "El día del Cuatro y del Cuatrista Puertorriqueño" (Day of the Cuatro and Puerto Rican Cuatro Player). Only

6972-605: 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

7056-470: 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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