Press Clippings for the week ending
Saturday, 27 April 2002
A random selection of cuttings
from newspapers and magazines
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* * * * * * * * The Opera Comique Theatre, Strand, London, demolished, 1902
‘Silence! During the erection of the Coronation stand on the ground where once stood Holywell Street I was much puzzled over the words "Strict Silence," which were printed in bold black letters and placed high on a wall above the timber. "What an incongruous command to placard over the roaring traffic of the Strand," I thought, as I enquired the why and the wherefore. But it appears that the notice was the last relic of a popular theatre, for the wall on which it was pasted once enclosed the gallery of the Opera Comique - the theatre famous as the first home of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operas - which, as you doubtless know, has just lately been taken down by the L.C.C. [the London County Council] to make way for the new road [the Aldwych and Kingsway]. And so the bill once pasted up for the occupants of the little gallery becomes visible to the countless thousands who incessantly pass along the Strand.’ * * * * * * * * The Moulin Rouge closes, 1903
‘London is not the only city that is losing its ancient landmarks. The Moulin Rouge, which for sixteen years has been to many Englishmen the best-known spot in Paris, is no more. For two years past the Red Mill has been losing its popularity with Parisians and latterly it was visited only by tourists. In the heyday of its fame the huge hall with its parquet floor was so thronged every evening that before each dance the dancers had to form a chain and hand in hand push back the crowd so that they should have space to dance in. In those days the Moulin was the fashionable rendezvous of all Paris on Monday and Friday evenings, and no man would dream of going there except in dress clothes. It was essentially Parisian to see young workgirls practising high-kicking and complicated steps before the huge mirror underneath the bandstand amid the laughter of the crowd.’ * * * * * * * * Montague Higgs impersonates Marie Lloyd, 1907
The Hippodrome, Maidstone. * * * * * * * * Oscar Wilde at the Court of Bankruptcy, 1895
‘In the Court of Bankruptcy, on Tuesday [12 November 1895], Oscar F. O’Flahertie W. Wilde was brought up in custody to undergo his public examination. He estimated that his income, derived chiefly from royalties on his plays and literary works, has amounted to £2,000 a-year. The accounts which have been filed show liabilities £3,591, and assets consisting of royalties on published literary works and plays, and a life policy, the value of which is unestimated. He estimated that his expenditure had been at the rate of about £2,900 a-year during the two or three years preceding the date of the receiving order. In July, 1893, his liabilities exceeded his assets by about £1,450. It was usual for him to receive payment for royalties in advance, and consequently certain theatrical managers were returned in his accounts as creditors, their security consisting of the acting rights in respect of his plays. There was no opposition on the part of creditors, and the examination was ordered to be concluded, the bankrupt being removed in custody.’ |
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© John Culme, 2002