The Music Hall and Theatre History Website

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Eagle Public House Built 1848
Renamed Lusby's Summer and Winter Palace
Renamed Lusby's Music Hall
Destroyed by fire 1884
Rebuilt as Paragon Theatre of Varieties 1885 (Frank Matcham)
Renamed Mile End Empire 1912
Demolished and New Empire Cinema built 1939
Renamed ABC 1985
Now Genesis Cinema

The first building on the site of the present Genesis Cinema, on the Mile End Road E1, opened around 1848 as the Eagle public house, which was a pub and music hall. This was replaced by Lusby's Summer and Winter Garden and then later renamed Lusby's Music Hall.

Lusby's was destroyed by fire in 1884 and its proprietors, Messrs Crowder & Payne hired the architect Frank Matcham to design a replacement theatre which was to be called the Paragon Theatre of Varieties. (Left)

When the Paragon opened in May 1885, it was advertised as "the best ventilated theatre in London". The air in Theatres of the time was stale and unhealthy due to overcrowding, poor ventilation and gas-lamp fumes.

Frank Matcham installed an improved air extraction system above the central chandelier and positioned air-intake vents six feet above the ground level. The design was so successful that Matcham became the most popular architect of his time,and he was later responsible for such Theatres as the Victoria Palace, the London Palladium, the London Coliseum, Richmond Theatre and Hackney Empire.

Numerous stars appeared at the Paragon including Harry Champion in 1885, Little Tich in 1902, Gertie Gitana in 1909 and Charlie Chaplin who appeared in Fred Karno's "Mumming Birds" before he achieved world wide fame in Hollywood.