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Arts & Culture in West Dunbartonshire

Bustles, Britannia & Big Ideas: A Night at the Music Hall

 

West Dunbartonshire Council's Culture Section is proud to be hosting "A Night At The Music Hall", which promises to be an evening of "Music, Mirth, Magic, Melodrama & More!"

 

  • Friday 31 August

  • 7.30pm (due to finish 9.15pm)
  • Clydebank Town Hall
    Tickets: £5 & £3 (concs)
  • Tickets available at Clydebank Library from Saturday 28 July


Courtesy of the Britannia Panopticon Music Hall Troupe, featured acts are likely to include:

  • Singers
  • Magicians
  • Jugglers
  • Comedians
  • Musicians
  • Dancers
  • Ventriloquists
  • Speciality acts

 

The Old Bedford Music Hall

An Excellent Evening of Entertainment for all the family!

For more information, and bookings of 10 or more, e-mail Andrew Salmond or phone him on 01389 608 042.

Poster for Panopticon
The History of the Music Hall

During the Victorian Era (1837 - 1901), inns and taverns developed into independent places of amusement and laid the foundations of the middle class and lower middle class institution of the Music Hall, originally evolving from the 'song and supper' rooms of the 1850s. The heyday of Music Hall lasted from the 1850s to the Second World War.

British Music Hall was similar to American Vaudeville, featuring rousing songs and comic acts, while in Britain, the term Vaudeville referred to more low-brow entertainment which would have been termed Burlesque in America.
Music Halls were originally bar rooms which provided entertainment in the form of music and speciality acts for their patrons. By the middle of the 19th 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. Typically, a Music Hall song consisted of a series of verses sung by the performer alone and a repeated chorus in which the audience joined in.
Poster for Panopticon
In Britain, the first Music Hall songs often promoted alcohol - songs such as 'Glorious Beer' and the first major Music Hall success, 'Champagne Charlie' in 1854, had a major influence in establishing the new art form. 'Champagne Charlie' is often credited with inspiring William Booth to form the Salvation Army.

By the 1870s, the songs were breaking free from their folk music roots and certain songs became associated with particular singers, often with exclusive contracts with the songwriter. The songs were usually aimed at their working class audiences: songs such as 'My Old Man (Said Follow The Van)' and 'Waiting The Church' sang about the kind of life the working classes were familiar with.

The Britannia Music Hall opened in 1857. It was formerly called Campbell's Music Saloon. In 1903 the Music Hall closed, reopening in 1906 as the Panopticon or Britannia Theatre of Varieties and Panopticon. It became the Tron Cinema after 1922 but in 1927 was again titled Panopticon.

The Britannia closed in 1938 but the exterior - and much of the interior - of the former Music Hall remains. A campaign runs to restore the Britannia Music Hall. Visit the Britannia Panopticon Trust home page for further information.