British Music Hall Society
Abbreviation | BMHS |
---|---|
Formation | 1963 |
Type | memorabilia |
Location |
|
President | Su Pollard |
Chairman | Dean Caston |
Website | britishmusichallsociety |
The British Music Hall Society is a registered
The charity was founded by Raymond Mackender and Gerald Glover in 1963. The Society President is
History
The society was created following the demise and demolition of The Metropolitan Theatre, Edgware Road and other music halls in the early 1960s, coupled with Mackender and Glover's awareness that this period of performing history was being forgotten. Mackender put a series of advertisements in The Stage appealing for items of music hall interest 'for safekeeping....'[2] Out of this emerged the British Music Hall Society ("BMHS")[3]
An Exhibition and Variety Show, known as the "Festival of Music Hall" was organised by the society and the then Variety Artistes' Federation on 2 November 1963 to celebrate the centenary of McDonald's Music Hall (now Hoxton Hall).[4]
In December 1963, the first edition of the society's journal, The Call Boy, was published.[5] The Journal continues as a quarterly publication, free to society members.
The first of what was to become a regular monthly meeting of the society took place on 7 January 1964 at the Garrick Hotel, Charing Cross Road, London, with Ada Reeve as the guest of honour.[6]
In 2013, the society celebrated their 50th anniversary with a Festival of Music Hall (and Variety) at Wilton's Music Hall, Whitechapel, London. Since 2014, the society has held an annual one-day event, Day by the Sea at the Royal Hippodrome Theatre, Eastbourne, featuring comedy, music, discussion and film footage.
The society holds an extensive archive with photographs, posters, sheet music, playbills, programmes and the personal items of many artistes including
Presidents - past and present
- 1963-1979 - Don Ross
- 1980-1983 - Lew Lane
- 1984-1985 - Ellis Ashton MBE
- 1986-1992 - Louis Benjamin
- 1992-2020 - Roy Hudd OBE
- 2020–2023 - Paul O'Grady MBE
- 2023 - Su Pollard
References
- ^ "Su Pollard is the new President of the British Music Hall Society", BMHS, 3 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023
- ^ The Stage, 21 March 1963; 18 April 1963; 1 August 1963
- ^ The Stage, 19 September 1963
- ^ Daily Telegraph, The Stage 7 November 1963
- ^ The Stage, 12 December 1963
- ^ London Evening Standard, 8 January 1964