Other Acts

music hall, acts

  • American Xylophone Artists souvenir postcard, late 19th to early 20th century

    American Xylophone Artists souvenir postcard, late 19th to early 20th century

    American Xylophone Artists souvenir postcard
    Late 19th to early 20th century

    In an era when some people spent their whole lives in their hometown, an act advertised as 'from America' would seem exotic to a British music hall audience. Without the television and radio we take for granted, new sights and sounds were harder to come by. A touring act, such as the Martin Brothers advertised on this postcard, would be bringing new experiences to audiences eager for novelty. With a combination of unusual instruments and American style this pair of xylophonists could be pretty sure of getting an enthusiastic reception.

     

  • Ethel Beech, late 19th century

    Ethel Beech, late 19th century

    Ethel Beech
    Late 19th century
    Sepia photograph

    In the early days of music hall, the bills were primarily made up of singers. Dance, apart from simple steps during a song, was not really possible on the small stages. As the halls increased in size and number, dancers came to figure highly on the bills from ballet to acrobatics, from step dancing to strange 'novelty' acts. Ethel Beech, with her full Edwardian hair, crowned with an elegant feather, and her spangle-decorated dress, with its amazing frou-frou underskirts framing her shapely legs, was  typical of hundreds of such dancers. At a time when day dresses still covered the feet, a shapely leg and ankle was a major factor in a dancer's popularity.

  • 'Juliette's Wonder Sealions', early 20th century

    'Juliette's Wonder Sealions', early 20th century

    'Juliette's Wonder Sealions'
    Early 20th century
    Black and white photograph

    Many acts that we would nowadays associate with circus appeared in music hall, like this sealion act, photographed in the early 1900s. Sealions are intelligent animals, and learn tricks quickly, such as how to balance a ball on their nose. Their trainers reward them with fish. They can be fussy - some sealions like one kind of fish, some another. According to the circus manager Dick Chipperfield, they also have a taste for stones although this can be fatal. He discovered that coal did them no harm and could be given as an alternative. Sealions also require a lot of attention and one trainer even allowed his sealion to share his bed.

  • Miss Elsie Southgate, late 19th century

    Miss Elsie Southgate, late 19th century

    Miss Elsie Southgate
    Late 19th century
    Black and white photograph

    As a result of the efforts of certain theatre managers, notably Oswald Stoll music hall became increasingly respectable over the years. Performers from ballet and theatre such as the actress Sarah Bernhardt and the ballerina Anna Pavlova began to appear on the music hall stages. Elsie Southgate was a classically trained violinist born in 1890. She won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music at ten, and was a concert performer from the age of fifteen. Over the next twenty years she appeared in variety theatres all over the country as well as continuing her concert playing.

  • The Romps, late 19th century

    The Romps, late 19th century

    The Romps
    Photographed by Bellow and Stocks Company
    Late 19th century
    Black and white photograph

    In the search for audience appeal, numerous acts have involved children, here dressed as Pierrots. The first Pierrot troupe was formed in 1886 and until the 1920s they were hugely popular, appearing in music halls and, especially at sea-side towns all over Britain, often setting up their booths on the beach. Their entertainments consisted of songs, dances and comedy sketches. Their traditional white baggy costume, decorated down the front with large black pompoms and 'dunce's' hat, showed their  development from the Pierrot character in the Commedia dell'arte.

  • 'Thora the Ventriloquist' souvenir postcard, late 19th century

    'Thora the Ventriloquist' souvenir postcard, late 19th century

    'Thora the Ventriloquist' souvenir postcard
    Late 19th century

    Ventriloquism has existed since Roman times, but did not become a popular and common form of entertainment until much later. Le Sieur Themet, an 18th century French ventriloquist pretended to be trapped in a mill at night and imitated the sound of a hunt approaching and then fading into the distance - hounds, horses, horns and all. Early 19th century acts often involved the performer talking to people off stage, or to a group of life-sized dolls which appeared to speak and argue. In 1896 Fred Russell appeared at London's Palace Theatre with a cheeky cockney coster doll that sat on his knee. The single doll on the performer's knee is now the most familiar type of ventriloquist act. Thora was  one of the very few female ventriloquists, working with a doll called Hugh Thorn.

  • The Three Revolving Eugenes souvenir postcard, late 19th century

    The Three Revolving Eugenes souvenir postcard, late 19th century

    The Three Revolving Eugenes souvenir postcard
    Late 19th century
    Black and white photolithograph

    This souvenir postcard of the Eugenes shows the three of them safely on the ground. The diagram above gives some idea of how audiences were more used to seeing them. The Revolving Eugenes  were stage aerialists. Their act combined tightrope and trapeze work and, as there were three of them, both types could happen simultaneously. So, in the picture, the gentleman cycles on a grid of tightropes, while the ladies swing elegantly beneath him.

     

  • The Pasquali Brothers, late 19th century

    The Pasquali Brothers, late 19th century

    The Pasquali Brothers
    Late 19th century
    Black and white photograph

    The muscular Pasquali Brothers were one of many strongman acts on the music hall circuits. Combining their power with acrobatic skills must have increased their popularity. Strongmen always went down well with audiences. There was plenty for women to admire, and men to strive for. The training they did to get their muscular physiques was the forerunner of today's huge fitness industry.  Some of those early pioneers influenced the development of formal strength training. Such techniques are now part of everyday life for all professional sportspeople, as well as many amateurs. One of the earliest showmen to gain international fame with a strongman act was Felice Napoli. He was an Italian circus and fairground performer, born in 1820. The Pasquali Brothers may not have been Italian at all. However, in this particular form of entertainment an appropriate name could help an act be  accepted by an audience that wanted novelty mixed with tradition.