I say, I say, I say (Music Hall Closing)

Subject: I say, I say, I say
From: Morticia
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 06:15 PM

The last music hall in the United Kingdom, located in the East End of London closed it's curtains for the final time today.I guess the U.S equivalent would be vaudeville, yes? Did it die out earlier over there or is it still going in some parts of the States? Here, many theatres were replaced by Bingo Halls, what happened to the buildings there? We also had a 'variety show' television format that was popular until about five years ago although much less so now, do you have something similar?
Seems to me a lot of aspiring musicians, singers, entertainers of all kinds got their breaks and learned their craft in these places......where will they go now, I wonder?

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: mousethief
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 06:19 PM

Well in the 1960s they went to Greenwich Village in New York City. I have no idea where they go now.

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: jayohjo
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 06:28 PM

Last music hall? Eek! Which was it (name?), where in London was it?

And so many brilliant 'folk' songs were music hall songs originally. Wonder if there's anything else so popular around now that'll become 'folk' in a few years? I suppose a lot of Beatles songs in particular are, or at least in the way I mean, but I can't see us all gathering round the piano in years to come to sing along to Steps (if you don't know who I mean, be very grateful)

Jayohjo XX

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: Allan C.
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 07:49 PM

When I was seventeen (about 1963) a couple of buddies and I managed to gain admission to the Gayety Theater in Washington, D.C.. At that time vaudeville must have been in the final stages of death. The Gayety was a strip joint. This was my first and only visit to such a place. (honest)

The Gayety had a fairly large, wooden stage. There was a small orchestra pit that held a seven piece band that did a great job of playing the very sort of music you would expect to hear there - complete with all of the rim shots when the strippers did their "bumps".

I believe Blaze Storm was among the starring strippers. Their acts were rather tame by today's standards; but at that time they were just fine with me!

In the middle of the show the strippers went offstage and the curtains closed. A single spotlight lit the stage and to my surprise two vaudeville comics took the stage. They did "Slowly I turned..." and all the old gags. It was great!

I don't know what became of the Gayety. The building was closed and was blocked by a multitude of scaffolding the last time I passed through that part of town. I suspect that it might have been refurbished into a dinner theater. That was the fate of one of its nearby competitors.

I suspect this might be a representative example of what became of vaudeville theaters; but I don't know for certain.

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: Lox
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 07:52 PM

My dog has no tail.

How do you know when he's happy?

He stops biting me!

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: R!
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 10:02 PM

Vaudeville, as I understand it, was dying by the 1940s, although it limped along for a few more decades. Before it finally died, it was little more than a bump-and-grind strip burlesque show. Films, radio, and television all played a part in its demise. Changing tastes and a more sophisticated type of humor are really what did it in. Occasionally an olde tyme vaudeville show will have a brief run in a theatre as a period piece. Sad, really. I always wanted to be a vaudeville performer (that's me - always a day late and a dollar short). At least I have my London Music Hall video tape. . .

Rowana

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: little john cameron
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 10:29 PM

morticia,here are aw the auld performers an posters an stuff aboot the auld music halls. Great stuff

http://www.footlightnotes.com/AA02.html
ljc

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: little john cameron
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 10:36 PM

that ane disnae cover much try this ane

http://members.spree.com/entertainment/blondin/ArchiveV/VestaVictoria.html
ljc

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: Sarah2
Date: 09 Jan 01 - 10:38 PM

(Rowana, don't feel alone: I always wanted to be a medieval monk...)

Thread drift: Morticia, do you recall the fellows who were looking for some mummers' songs they thought would be mid-19th Century American? I wonder if they might have been Music Hall songs instead. Didn't they do a lot of stereotypical songs and sketches?

Just wondered.

Sarah

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 04:04 AM

What about the Player's Theatre under the arches near Charing Cross Station? Is it defunct? It used to reproduce Victorian/Edwardian Music Hall. I though Roy Hudd and others were raising funds to restore an old Music Hall in ?Hackney or Islington, is that still happening?
What would I do without those old jokes?
RtS

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: bill\sables
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 05:30 AM

If you remember the song "Blaydon Races" the first verse is;

"We went to Blaydon Races 'twas in the month of June
In eighteen hundred and sixty two on a summers afternoon
We took the bus from Balmbras and it was heave laden
Away we went along Collingwood street that's on the road ti Blaydon."

Well Balmbras was a Music Hall in Newcastle on Tyne England and in 1962, part of the centenery celebrations was to open the Music Hall again. At that time I played banjo with a Trad Jazz Band and we dressed in Victorian costume and so we did regular bookings at Balmbras. The other acts were the compare, Dick Irwin, who used long rhyming words, some of them made up, and a host of Geordie jokes. There was Ted the Fire Eater who also ate razor blades and doubled as stage manager, three dancing girls complete with fishnet tights with holes and ladders who did the can can every night and the two musicians in the pit. Every wek they booked a male singer and female singer and a special act like our band, even catter Eric Symonds and I did a Geordie song act there a couple of times. Any way the Music Hall lasted for a number of years and audiences had to book up months in advance to get a seat. It has probably been turned into a disco or worse a karioki bar as it is situated at the bottom of the Big Market which is the main teenage venue in Newcastle these days.
Cheers Bill

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: SeanM
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 05:35 AM

There's occasional resurgence in the "re-enactor's community". I've worked shows with a music hall troupe that included comedians, can-can and the like, and am pretty good friends with a group that specializes in pseudo-period "saloon girl" musical shows.

What's been said above is pretty much the truth though. The original form is dead, the only place you'll find the remainder is amongst those of us trying to revive the corpse.

M

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: GUEST,Roger the Skiffler
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 08:41 AM

Wilton's Music Hall is the one I thought was being saved (memory returns briefly!)
RtS ("I sent my wife to the East Indies". "Jakarta?" " No, I sent her by ship". Boom,boom, crash, I thank you.)

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: Snuffy
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 08:54 AM

"I sent my wife to the West Indies". "Jamaica?" "No, she wanted to go"

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 09:23 AM

My wife's a redhead: no hair just a red head
She has hair all down her back, none on her head.....
Her teeth are like stars- they come out at night
Her eyes are like petals- bicycle pedals
I've got a million of 'em (unfortunately!)
I've emptied bigger rooms than this...
RtS (apologies to Max Miller, Les Dawson, Steve Parkes and others)
RtS

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: bill\sables
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 10:12 AM

Just something I remembered about Balmbras Music Hall was the night, either Christmas Eve or New Years Eve sometime in the sixties when we played there. As I said in an earlier posting Balmbras is at the bottom of the Big Market in Newcastle and across the road from there is St. Nicholas Cathederal. On this particular night the Cathederal was flood lit and there were a series of Christmas trees all lit up along the front of the Cathederal.
The whole audience were dressed in period costume that night and at half past ten (Closing time in those days) they were all leaving the Music Hall. As they filed out of the Victorian frontage, past old gas lamps, and infront of the Cathederal it started to snow with those extra big soft snowflakes we used to get when I was young. The band just stood and looked on as we saw a Christmas card come to life. It was one of those rare scenes I will never forget.
Cheerrs Bill

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: A Wandering Minstrel
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 10:19 AM

Bill,

Last time I was in Newcastle (1998) Balmbra's was still there. You could still have a pint in the front bar with the gas lamp in the middle and the theatre is still standing out back!

AWM

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 11:22 AM

Sad news, especially for those of us who still sing the Music Hall songs. What was the name of the Hall that closed? (Or did I miss it?) Is the Leeds City Variety Theatre not still going?

Good old Roger!* That boy should go far ... and the farther he goes, the better!

Steve

*Feel free to do your own "Roger" jokes!!

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 11:30 AM

...and though she knows nothing about this thread, Herself has just e-mailed me this (she went to the Woking panto* with her work colleagues last night!):
Man:"I keep dreaming of the green green grass of home" Doctor:" That's what we call Tom Jones Syndrome" Man: "Is it common?" Doctor: "Well it's not unusual"
RtS (no wonder the music hall is dead!
RtS
(*Cinderella, with Bobby Davro "surprisingly good", Danny La Rue "Disappointing- and showing his age" and Melinda Messenger "at least she was aware of her own limitations and didn't sing". (c) Mrs Skiffler)

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: Pete M'Gurk
Date: 10 Jan 01 - 11:44 AM

My dog's got no nose!

How does he smell?

Terrible!

Hi, I wanted to input that the demise of vaudeville _and_ the demise of TV variety shows came a lot quicker in the U.S. than in the U.K. When I was stationed in Scotland with the USN in the early 90s, I enjoyed watching the variety shows on the Beeb and ITV. I'm sorry to see that they are no more, as I believe that they are a viable form of entertainment. Look at reruns, like The Carol Burnett Show - still popular 20 years after going off the air.

This is why I get involved in community theater wherever I get stationed, because people still do want to see musical theatre, and melodramas, and "retro" theatre.

"Vot iz it, dot has two legs, hass fedders all ofer it, und barks like a dog?"

>I dunno, what is it?<

"A chicgen."

>Why, a chicken doesn't bark like a dog!<

"I know - I chust pudt dot in to make it hardt!"

Cheers, all - M'Gurk

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: R!
Date: 13 Jan 01 - 02:55 PM

I might be in Newcastle later this year. It would be great if Balmbras is still open. On a related note, This England magazine has some music hall performances and comic monologues on tape and CD.

Rowana

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: GUEST,JTT
Date: 13 Jan 01 - 03:11 PM

Is that your wife's coughin'?
No, just an old box I'm knocking together.

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: Amos
Date: 13 Jan 01 - 07:44 PM

On this side of the puddle, our forefathers got knocked into the aisles by the Two Black Crows:

I can play this trumpet like nobody's bidness!

"Well, what can you play on that trumpet?"

Well, I can play ANYTHIN' on dis trumpet!

"No, you can't either!"

Sho' I can! I kin play ANYTHIN' on this trumpet!

"Well, I bet you can't play PIANO on dat trumpet!"

(drum roll, rimshot, and on to the next bad joke....)

Regards,

A

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: bill\sables
Date: 14 Jan 01 - 06:58 AM

Leeds City Varieries is still open It does pantomime but I don't think they do Music Hall any more. The TV programme "The Good Old Days" produced by Barney Colahan was a great example of the Victorian Music Hall which was recorded at Leeds City Varieties but I am sure that Music Hall was only produced for the TV programme. The last time I was in there was to see a concert by Lonnie Donegan Cheers Bill

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: John Routledge
Date: 14 Jan 01 - 02:03 PM

ROWANA - Try putting your head around the door at the back of Balmbras if you possiblly can. Worth it just to see the barrel vaulted ceiling.

As the name suggests attending a performance was like sitting in a large beer barrel - lovely! Geordie Broon

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 14 Jan 01 - 02:12 PM

Great thread. This Monday I'm having a woman (tenor banjoist) on my radio show, who started playing vaudeville in Toronto in the thirties. Looking forward to her stories of those times. It's on WWW.CIUT.FM at 7pm.

Rick

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 14 Jan 01 - 06:22 PM

I think the players' theatrhe closed a few years back: not sure though.

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: Morticia
Date: 14 Jan 01 - 06:52 PM

Sorry, folks, by the time I came back to look at this, I'd forgotten what the name of the theatre was....it was in Whitechapel, I think.
I wonder if folk clubs and folk singers will become the 'holders' of all the old music hall songs? It breaks my heart to think great lyrics like "Can't get away to marry you today, my wife won't let me", will just fade into obscurity.

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: Snuffy
Date: 14 Jan 01 - 07:07 PM

Music hall songs are now "urban folk" songs. You don't have to live on a farm sing folk songs. people have been doing it in town pubs for ages. Remember, folk songs are the songs that ordinary folks sing (those who don't get paid or go on stage to do it).

Wassail! V

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 14 Jan 01 - 08:08 PM

Was it Billy Bennet who used to be billed as "Almost a gentleman" ? There is a reissued CD of his songs which is well worth hearing. In particular, "The Only Girl I Ever Loved" which is extremely funny even to the jaded ears of today's audiences. ( At least they laugh when I sing it)

Murray

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: NH Dave
Date: 15 Jan 01 - 12:02 AM

When we were on holiday we bought a Greek urn.

What's a Greek earn?

About three drachmas a day!



Thanks to Eric and Ernie

Dave

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: Long Firm Freddie (at work)
Date: 15 Jan 01 - 07:09 AM

The Players Theatre is still going strong, I'm happy to say!

players

LFF

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: GUEST,Fibula Mattock
Date: 15 Jan 01 - 10:33 AM

"My dog's got no nose (2)"

My dog's got no nose!
How does it smell?
It doesn't... it's got no nose...

(Well it made ME laugh.)

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: R!
Date: 15 Jan 01 - 11:27 AM

Long Firm Freddie, thank you so much for that link. I saw a television show recorded there a few years ago. I will plan to spend enough time in London to take in a show the next time I'm in the UK.

Reen

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 09:06 PM

refresh

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: Stephen L. Rich
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 02:34 AM

Vaudeville died incrementally --

First with the advent of motion pictures.

Second with the advent of television.

It was finally buried whit the cancelation of the Ed Sullivan Show in 1970.

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: Mr Happy
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 03:01 AM

the last popular [re]incarnation of music hall/vaudeville i saw in the media was the muppet show, in which the opening scenes were of performers & audience pictured in an old time music theatre.

as to the q from morticia, 'where will they go now i wonder?'

i think for many years, in my experience, they've been appearing at ffs all over uk [and possibly elsewhere]

there's maxie & mitch, doctor sunshine [miss prof.wingnut]but dave hunt still going strong, keith donnelly, to name just a few, + many more.

music hall's not dead, it's just moved into a tent!

at seaside resorts, there's still the various 'end of the pier shows' too.

regards

mr happy

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 03:20 AM

The Leeds city Variety Theatre (home of The Good Old Days) is still going strong, I believe. There used to be a(fairly) thriving Music Hall society back in the 70s & 80s, and it may still be going--I'm out of touch now. Al Sealy of Cosmotheka died a couple of years ago, but Dave is still going strong. And I do my bit when I can. Folk clubs can still carry the flame, PELs permitting, until MH becomes more widely popular again.

Steve

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: Mr Happy
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 04:01 AM

yo steve,

i forgot to mention cosmotheka, absolutely fabulous renditions in the cockney tradition

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 05:36 AM

... despite coming from Redditch! Redditch's wonderful Victorian theatre is also still going strong, I believe.

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: Jeanie
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 07:59 AM

Thank you, anonymous Guest, for refreshing this thread on 4th July ! I never cease to be amazed by the wonders of Mudcat. I wasn't around here when this thread began, and would have missed it.

Reason for my excitement ? Well, fresh from our "theatrical triumph" this week in a Peter Skellern musical, my junior drama stars and I are already talking about what to do next year, and by strange fluke what I'd been thinking of was Old Time Music Hall a la "The Good Old Days".

So.... Steve, Mr. Happy and others: any and all "I say, I say" jokes (suitable for 7 -11 year olds and their parents, so I don't get the sack !) gratefully received. I'm starting to collect them as of now.

Likewise, I'd be glad of any suggestions for "acts". Does anyone, for instance, know exactly how that very old routine goes : "Busy bee, have some honey just for me" where someone is conned into having someone else spit water out all over them ??

Thanks for the link to the Players Theatre. A company that no-one has mentioned yet on this thread is the "Hiss & Boo Theatre Company", who also tour with Music Hall shows www.hissboo.co.uk

Thanking you, ladies and gentlemen, in anticipatory delight for your phantasmagorical, pulchritudinous propositions...

your own, your very own

- jeanie

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: CapriUni
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 08:25 AM

My dad's favorite exchange from Amos and Andy (Vaudville "Two Black Crows):

"How are you doing, Andy?"

"Why, I'm just like pulverized pepper!"

"Pulverized Pepper?"

"Fine!"

(Dad grew up in the thirties and forties, and listened to Amos and Andy routines on long playing records)

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: GUEST,Rara Avis
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 11:08 AM

The Shakespeare '70 Company will be presenting a Music Hall evening in mid-September at The College of New Jersey near Trenton. Details at www.shakespear70.org. Looking forward to attending.

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: fogie
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 12:20 PM

Cosmotheka have just released a CD of their recordings live called "you only had to ask". I havent found where to get it yet.

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say
From: Terry K
Date: 06 Jul 02 - 12:18 PM

Jeanie - in the next village to me the amdram group do a Music Hall every year. It's a local institution, complete with Leonard Sachs style MC, toasts to Her Majesty (Queen Victoria, of course) and all the usual foolery. I simply will not miss it (though I don't go to anything else they do). The tickets sell out completely even though it's on for 4 or 5 nights and people start to queue for tickets half way through the night to get a good table for the final Friday and Saturday performances. Most of the audience dress period style too.

They seem to come up with new acts every year, all based on Victorian songs, so I guess they must have their sources. If you are short of material, PM me and I will get on to the organisers and see what we can get for you.

cheers, Terry

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say (Music Hall Closing)
From: GUEST,Peter from Essex
Date: 06 Jul 02 - 02:24 PM

Jeanie, there was a thriving music hall scene in your part of Essex just after you moved to Cornwall. A word at any local session should find one or two of the guilty parties.

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say (Music Hall Closing)
From: Jeanie
Date: 06 Jul 02 - 06:13 PM

Thanks ! For anyone else interested in Music Hall, I've found the British Music Hall Society (Membership 15 pounds)
www.music-hall-society.com

I'm hoping to take them to the Theatre Museum, Covent Garden then to a matinee at the Players' Theatre.

Spoilt for choice with songs - no shortage there ! We'll have a magic act, a ventriloquist (of sorts !),sand dance, acrobats, a melodrama, recitation: Albert & the Lion (or similar).

It's the "I say, I say" jokes I'd appreciate contributions for - the more the merrier, and suggestions of classic routines, like Busy Bee and the dangerous animal in the cardboard box (Eli Woods). I've not contacted them yet, but I think the Music Hall Society will be able to help there - these things are never written down.

Many thanks,

- jeanie

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say (Music Hall Closing)
From: Snuffy
Date: 06 Jul 02 - 06:56 PM

I say, I say, I say,
My wife's gone to the West Indies.
Jamaica?
No, she wanted to go.

I say, I say, I say,
My wife's gone to the East Indies.
Jakarta?
No, she flew.

And there's a few more on Lonnie Donegan's recording of "My Old Man's A Dustman"

WassaiL! V

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say (Music Hall Closing)
From: Joe_F
Date: 06 Jul 02 - 07:08 PM

"Sir, you are prevaricating. Did you or did you not sleep with this woman?"
"Not a wink, your honour!"

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say (Music Hall Closing)
From: Gray D
Date: 06 Jul 02 - 08:32 PM

Fogie,

According to reliable sources (Mel at the "Folk On Two" website) "You Only Had To Ask" is out on the Folk Sound label, number FSCD55 and available to order from any record shop.

Hope this helps,

Gray

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say (Music Hall Closing)
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 08 Jul 02 - 03:44 AM

Barry Cryer used to run a MH somewhere in London some years ago. Does anyone know if he still has any connections? (And I can imagine what he'd say if he was aked that!)

Steve

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say (Music Hall Closing)
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 08 Jul 02 - 06:51 AM

Can anyone remember "Mr Gladstone's Bag" ? - They were both members of Albion Morris and used to be a wonderful act around the folk clubs. I heard the recently that Mick (the one who used to strip to "The Lost Chord") had died some years ago.


I say, I say, I say,
Why was the man with no legs thrown out of the ballroom ?
- Because they didn't want a lowdown bum arsing around !

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say (Music Hall Closing)
From: IanC
Date: 08 Jul 02 - 11:55 AM

Bill, Rowana

I went up to Newcastle last year for the first time in about 25 years. Used to like Balmbra's ... it was always low-budget ... the girl on the door was one of the two dancers in fishnets and also served behind the bar in the interval.

Unfortunately it just seems to be a plastic pub now.

:-(
Ian

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say (Music Hall Closing)
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 08 Jul 02 - 12:24 PM

Yes! I remember Gladstone's Bag!! Had 'em at the Fitters in Walsall a couple of times, and Barrie Roberts & I played Brmingham Rep with them, along with Cosmotheka and whatever Taffy & Sheila Thomas' outfit was at that time (post Magic Lantern); that was about '76, give or take a year. I had no idea they were morrismen--they seemed so respectable.

Steve

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say (Music Hall Closing)
From: Kenny B (inactive)
Date: 08 Jul 02 - 05:24 PM

Here's three from Lonnie Donegan's " My Old Man's a Dustman"
.I Say x3 -You know, the other day I found a Police Dog in my bin, ...
.... How do you know it was a police dog ?
.... Cos. it had a policeman with it.

.. I say x3 .. My bin's full of Lillies
.. Throw them out then
., I can't she's wearing 'em

.... I Say x3 .. My bin's full of toadstools ....
How do you know they're toadstools ?
Cos. there's no mushroom inside

There is a CD of Roy Hudd "Those Music Hall Days" in the £4.99 range.
A copy of Clinton Ford ( City of Varieties fame) "Clinton The Clown" tape converted to CD is available via PM
Kenny B

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say (Music Hall Closing)
From: GUEST,Frederick Denny
Date: 10 Dec 12 - 04:08 AM

Just found the site, just found the thread.
1. Barry Cryer was the Chairman at Players Theatre many years ago...
How Long? Well his hair was black then!! See 6. below.
2. I performed at the Players some years back in the 'Old Pals' show...members of the theatre group.
3. There is a real music hall in Hackney still running but doesn't tend to put on Music Hall shows.
4. There is a Music Hall company in 'Brick Lane', east London.
5. Players theatre group is still running but not at the 'Arches' theatre.
6. History: There was a real Husic Hall under Charing Cross Station and another owned by the same person in the Strand. Names escape me for the moment. Years later the Players opened up at the 'Under the arches' theatre but it was taken over by builders and is now a Financial Company's offices. As a 'favour' a new thratre was built further up the arches for the Players to use. It was however owned by the council there.

Feel free to ask for more information, I should be a member soon.

Frederick

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say (Music Hall Closing)
From: GUEST,Henry Piper
Date: 10 Dec 12 - 04:25 AM

Hi,
Last time I saw the old Players theatre at Charing cross Station it was a rather Tacky music hall themed Pub/Bar, admittedly that was a few years ago,
I think in its heyday it was Known as "The Players Theatre ,Late "Joys" Joys being the original name of the theatre in The Strand owned by the same Entrepreneur.

Subject: RE: I say, I say, I say (Music Hall Closing)
From: GUEST,SPB Cooperator (on a different pc)
Date: 10 Dec 12 - 12:42 PM

The Player's original home, I think 1934 - 1939 was in King Street, Covent Garden. Before that the venue was the home to Evan's song and supper rooms - which were later acquired by Joy, thus the name Evans', late Joy, which stuck as the name of the company throughout the life of the Players. During the war, the club relocated to a basement room in Albermarle? Street, and after the war secured the lease of what was the original site of Gatti's under the arches - beneath Charing Cross.
When Charing Cross was redeveloped, a new custom made theatre was built a couple of arches up from the old venue.

Over the last few years, the club was struggling financially, and as a result, a hostile takeover took place approaching the landlord's agents with a 'better offer'. Two or three days after the last time I visited the club, the theatre was padlocked - with a note form Jonathan Quelch who works for James Lang Laselle who were (and are?) the agents.

I range Quelch - asking why he took this action, in spite of communication by the club - at which time he said to me that he would be open to considering any personal offer that would be worth his while - you can read what you like into that!!!!