And once as a stop-gap, Butt engaged a little concert party which shone so brightly that in a London plunged in a real peasoup fog of the old-fashioned variety, they packed the Palace. For they were 'The Follies.' And their great leader, Pelissier, was to crack a great gag in the auditorium one afternoon some time later. For a film had been made of Sir Herbert Tree's great production of 'Henry the Eighth' and a trial show was given at the Palace (where Sir Herbert had appeared on one occasion). The profession were invited and attended in strength, Pelissier amongst them. The film began to unwind its majestic self on the screen. It was, of course, a silent picture - no talkies then. All the great members of His Majesty's company stalked in shadow on the screen. Then Sir Herbert himself, as Cardinal Wolsey, swept on majestically. You saw his eyes move, you saw his gestures, you saw his mouth opening and shutting, but the music of Shakespeare was not there. But it was Harry Pelissier's great chance. "Speak up," he shouted-and there was a burst of Homeric laughter.

Above - A random selection of later Palace Theatre programmes in no particular order.

If there has been a long stop at the Palace, it is because it was so much the Edwardian place of amusement of the lighter kind, so typical of its day, so much a mixture of wealth and modest means, each getting plenty of fun, for no great disbursement. It was not to be found elsewhere, this particular brand of evening's enjoyment, yet it was truly Edwardian in its richness, its flavour, its air of complete security. It was the other end of the same pole which balanced the local music halls, then in great number, and midway hung the Oxford, the Tivoli and the London Pavilion. The London Hippodrome was still a bit of a hybrid. It had begun as a circus, it had altered its policy-and like the Palace, when the Edwardian days were over, it was to change again. But the Palace, with its innumerable window boxes aglow with flowers, its terracotta and its red, its gleaming glass verandah beneath which stepped the people from their carriages, their cars, and beneath which entered the bohemians and the men-about-town, was a bright spot of those days.

The text in this Special Feature is edited from the book 'Carriages at Eleven - The story of the Edwardian Theatre' by W Macqueen Pope 1947. All images in this Special Feature are from my own collection, except 'The Palace Lancers Programme' and The Royal English Opera on its opening photograph.

 

 

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