John Hollingshead

“ We are constantly gathering the big and little twigs—constantly hedging ourselves in from all disasters—constantly making ourselves snug. There is small need to go to a distant howling wilderness for a few dry skins to prove that the nest-building faculty is cultivated by a large and industrious class. ”

“ Three forms of licence were suggested: one for theatres proper, one for music halls, and one for concert rooms.
Though the rise and progress of the music hall and variety theatre interest is one of the most extraordinary facts of the last half of the 19th century, the business has little or no corporate organization, and there is nothing like a complete registration of the various properties throughout the United Kingdom. In London the “London Entertainments Protection Association,” which has the command of a weekly paper called the Music Hall and Theatre Review, looks after its interests. ”

“ They have been advised that they can separate a music from a dancing licence if they like, and that when they grant the united licence the dancing means the dancing of paid performers on a stage, and not the dancing of the audience on a platform or floor, as at the short-lived but elegant Cremorne Gardens, or an old-time “Casino.” They are also advised that they can withhold licences, unless the applicants agree not to apply for a drink licence to the local magistrates sitting in brewster sessions, who still retain their control over the liquor trade. ”

“ The nest, like many other similar nests, will always command a good market price, as the title to it is made clear by a good store of worldly precaution.
The official and clerical nest-building apes have worthy companions in the persons of their commercial brethren. The trading ape, wedged up in snug quarters by his cash-books and ledgers, is generally distinguished for his power of nest-building. He has surrounded himself with banks, insurance offices, and a thousand varieties of nests, each one furnishing homes for other apes, more or less enterprising. ”

“ This sympathetic yearning towards the nest-building ape is probably caused by one of those mysterious affinities which run through the whole animal world. It would be so easy to show that certain gorillas are nest-building men, or that certain men are nest-building apes, that we can hardly wonder at the interest taken in our newly-discovered cousins. ”

“ London is defined as the “administrative county of London,” and its area—the 20-miles radius—is mapped out. The Metropolitan Board of Works retired or was discharged, and the London County Council was created and has taken its place. The London County Council, with extended power over structures and structural alterations, acquired the licensing of variety theatres and music halls from the local magistrates (the Middlesex, Surrey, Tower Hamlets and other magistrates) within the administrative county of London. The L. C. C. examine and enforce their powers. ”

“ Though the unhappy Moor could hardly be expected to feel much interest in these tender beings, he consented to accompany her in this journey to the Wolds. "The incidents," says Desdemona, "that occurred in that short period are so numerous, I hope I shall be excused entering into the different minutiæ of them. If there be any comfort on this earth, it is to relate our griefs to a friend, which a generous public has ever been to me. ”

“ The same and only law still exists for those who are helping to keep a “disorderly house,” but there are no holders of exclusive dramatic patent rights to set it in motion. The abolition of this privileged monopoly was effected about this time by a combination of distinguished literary men and dramatists, who were convinced, from observation and experience, that the patent theatres had failed to nurse the higher drama, while interfering with the beneficial freedom of public amusements. ”

“ The rise and progress of the London music halls naturally excited a good deal of attention and jealousy on the part of the regular theatres, and this was increased when the first Great Variety Theatre was opened in Leicester Square. ”

“ Deserted as Mrs. Wella-Sumbel delights to picture herself, she appears to have had many friends, particularly of the male sex; and one gentleman at this period offered to pay all her debts and release her from prison. This circumstance came, or was purposely brought, to the knowledge of Mr. Sumbel, the unhappy Moor, and it hurried him into a proposal of marriage, which was, of course, accepted. An insolvent Act, which was passed about this time, gave Desdemona her liberty ”

“ Lord Denman, Mr Justice Byles, and other eminent judges seemed to think that any song, action or recitation that excited the emotions might be pinned as a stage-play, and that the old definition—“the representation of any action by a person (or persons) acting, and not in the form of narration”—could be supported in the then state of the law in any of the higher courts. ”

“ They all have one little fault,—selfishness a little too strongly developed; they all believe devoutly in the same worldly-wise maxim,—each one for himself and God for us all. And yet are they not all “men and brethren?” ”

“ With the Canterbury Hall, and its brother the Oxford in Oxford Street—a converted inn and coaching yard—built and managed on the same lines by Mr Charles Morton, the music halls were well started. They had imitators in every direction—some large, some small, and some with architectural pretensions, but all anxious to attract the public by cheap prices and physical comforts not attainable at any of the regular theatres. ”

“ The variety theatres advanced in every direction in number and importance. Ballets grew in splendour and coherency The lighting and ventilation, the comfort and decoration of the various “palaces” (as many of them were now called) improved, and the public, as usual, were the gainers. Population increased, and the six millions of 1730 became forty millions and more. ”

“ While the drama progressed as a recognized public entertainment in England, and was provided with its own buildings, in the town, or certain booths at the fairs, the Crown exercised its patronage in favour of certain individuals, giving them power to set up playhouses at any time in any parts of London and Westminster. ”

“ II. c. 36, which in later days was still the only act under which the music halls of forty millions and more of people were licensed, was always liberally interpreted, as long as it kept clear of politics.
The “saloon theatres,” always being taverns or attached to taverns, created a public who liked to mix its dramatic amusements with smoking and light refreshments. ”

“ In London alone over five millions sterling of capital is said to be invested in these enterprises, employing 80,000 persons of all grades, and entertaining during the year about 25,000,000 people. The annual applications for music licences in London alone are over 300. ”