Granville Music Hall

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Granville Music Hall

Promotional postcard of Granville Music Hall, Broadway, Waljam Green, London circa 1900 The Granville was remarkable in a number of ways. In June 1897, fifteen months before its opening, a prospectus was issued offering 20, 000 shares at 1 each for the building of the Granville Theatre of Varieties in Walham Green. The directors of the company were the music hall and pantomime stars, Herbert Campbell, Dan Leno and Harry Randall.They chose Frank Matcham as the designer. Matcham made at least two stabs at an external design before settling on a solution with a comically cramped entrance Internally, the limitations of the site forced him into what must be rated one of his most intricate plans, with the auditorium contained within an irregular octagon and with staircases, bars and other necessary features crushed into every surrounding odd-shaped space-left-over. The entrance vestibule, on its acute-angled corner, was a tiny triangular room. The auditorium had no space for boxes. The proscenium opening was 24ft wide but the stage was little more than a shelf, less than 12ft deep, just adequate for a series of turns but incapable of accommodating scenes of even modest depth (this was later improved by the acquisition of an adjoining site, but the original depth remained visible as a straight joint in the decking). Early plans show varying divisions between pit and stalls, but the final design had stalls seats only, an early example of such a move and perhaps the more surprising for its occurrence in a small suburban variety house. Date: circa 1900

Media ID 14250745

© The Michael Diamond Collection / Mary Evans Picture Library

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