Day by the Sea 2023

Royal Hippodrome Theatre, Eastbourne Saturday 3rd June 2023 10.30am – 6.15pm A full day of music hall, variety, comedy, song, mind reading, ventriloquism, archive film clips and interviews.

Booking for BMHS members opens on Monday 30th January 2023. A booking form was included in the winter edition of The Call Boy. Tickets go on general sale on Monday 6th March 2023.

Tickets: £32.

The theatre’s box office telephone number is 01323 802020 or you can book online here.

Artistes appearing include Bernie Clifton, Hilary O’Neil, Max Fulham, Andy Eastwood, Matt Daniel-Baker, Peter John, Richard Gauntlett, Philip Day, Michelle Grant, Jane Horn, Kevin Gauntlett, The cast of the Hippodrome’s 2023 summer show, Don’t Stop The Music, Carol Anne Wells and Laurence Payne.

Sadly, Dame Maureen Lipman has had to pull out as she will be appearing in London during May and June in her one-woman play Rose. However, we are delighted that Susie Blake will be joining us that day, chatting about her long career which includes working with Frankie Howerd, Russ Abbot, Victoria Wood and Roy Hudd; appearances on Coronation Street and Mrs Brown’s Boys; and stage roles in Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em with Joe Pasquale; When We Are Married and Wicked. Susie is currently touring in the Agatha Christie play The Mirror Crack’d playing the leading role of Miss Marple. 

‘A Home for Max Miller’ documentary

Our friends at the Max Miller Appreciation Society have made a documentary in partnership with Latest TV, ‘A Home For Max Miller’.  This is scheduled to appear on Latest TV’s Freeview Channel 7 and also on Virgin Media Channel 159 on Saturdays in November at 6.00pm and is also going to be scheduled during December and on Christmas Day. 

It can also be streamed live at thelatest.co.uk by following the instructions on the panel.

Joan Turner, ‘The voice of an angel, the wit of the devil’ on Tuesday 1st November 2022

Join us to celebrate the life of the internationally-renowned actor/comic/impressionist & opera singer, Joan Turner. Actor/Author/Comic/Singer David Benson hosts a deliberately-excessive celebration of La Turner’s ‘best bits’ covering the six decades, during which she developed and shared her unique talent with fans – who, loyally, stayed with her through thick and thin.

Click here for YouTube link to trailer.

Tickets for the 7:30pm performance on Tuesday 1 November 2022 at The Water Rats, 328 Grays Inn Road, King’s Cross, London, WC1X 8BZ are available from Ticketsource here

Joan Turner/BMHS Archive

‘Youth Takes A Bow’ – Zoom talk, 27th October 2022

Our friends at the Derby and Nottingham Music Hall Association are hosting a Zoom talk on Thursday 27th October 2022 at 7.30pm and BMHS members are invited to join the talk.

‘Youth Takes A Bow’ – The legendary 1939 stage show and an in depth tribute to one remarkable lady, Nottingham’s very own MARY NAYLOR – TOB star on Radio & TV, in Revue, & Variety. A Lady Ratling, now living in California where Mary Naylor – Kodell is celebrating her 96^th year (and who will be joining the Zoom talk).

Please contact Trevor Lee for the link if you would like to join the Zoom.   Email: trevorlee572@gmail.com

Image: Mary Naylor c/o Trevor Lee

Marie Lloyd commemoration: Friday 7th October 2022

“If you fancy it …”

The British Music Hall Society will be commemorating and celebrating the life of Marie Lloyd, Queen of Comedy on 7^th October 2022, 100 years to the day since she took her final curtain and in the same church where her funeral was held.

Marie Lloyd was a titan of the Victorian Music Hall and at one point was paid more than any other performer in the country. Originally from Hoxton, she never forgot her roots and was extremely generous to those less fortunate than herself.

So popular was she that when she died almost 100,000 people from all walks of life lined the streets to bid her farewell; it was believed that it was the biggest funeral London had seen since the death of Wellington.

The memorial service will involve participants from the worlds of showbusiness and academia who have one thing in common – a love and respect for the greatest Music Hall star of her generation. Some of Ms Lloyd’s descendants will also be in attendance. Parts of the original funeral service will be augmented (of course) with a few music hall songs.

Date:  Friday 7^th October
Time:  2.00pm – 3.00pm
Venue:  St Luke’s Church, Kidderpore Avenue, Hampstead NW3 7SU

For further information: contact@britishmusichallsociety.com 

Miss Marie Lloyd/British Music Hall Society Archive

Notes to editors: 

• The British Music Hall Society, a registered charity, was founded in 1963 to remember and celebrate Music Hall & Variety. The Society presents events, shows, talks, publishes the quarterly journal The Call Boy and has an extensive archive. 
• The British Music Hall Society Twitter handle is: @musichallsoc 
• Facebook – British Music Hall Society. 
• The British Music Hall Society’s website can be found at www.britishmusichallsociety.com 

Lissenden Players – October Music Hall Show

This month’s Music Hall Show by the Lissenden Players at the Highgate Literary & Scientific Institute
in Pond Square, Highgate is on WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 19th 2022. Doors open 7.30 pm for 8 pm start. Admission £8 at the door.

In the cast: Sue Yager, Pamela Mundy, Syd Maddicott and Racker Donnelly with Paul Kenealy in the Chair and Derek Marcus at the piano.

More details about the Lissenden Players here

An Afternoon of Light Music – Sunday 9th October 2022, 2-6pm

The London Light Music Group is holding their October meeting at the Lancaster Hall Hotel, 35 Craven Terrace, London W2 on Sunday 9th October 2022.

The event includes presentations including recordings. For further information, see the London Light Music Group website here

There will be a special presentation featuring the composer and pianist Robert Docker. His daughter Beverley and son Eric will be in conversation with Tony Clayden discussing his life and work, and a selection of his compositions and arrangements will be played, many of which were specially written for BBC broadcasts.

BMHS member Anthony Wills will mark 100 years of BBC Wireless with a presentation of music and laughter, including excerpts from a Missing Believed Lost recording of a Gala Concert with the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Harry Rabinowitz, presented by Richard Stilgoe, with special guests Peter Skellern and Maryetta Midgley.

‘In the Limelight’ talk – Thursday 15th September 2022, The Art of Music Hall & Variety II

Come along to the Water Rats this Thursday to hear Alison Young (Secretary of the BMHS) talk about some of the art and artists who have captured the world of Music Hall and Variety. Alison first spoke to us on this subject in a ‘Limelight’ back in 2019 and in this second talk will introduce us to a new series of images and observations. The talk will invariably touch on Walter Sickert and his circle but will also look at the art of courtroom sketches, pavement artists and portrait painters.

Tickets can be purchased in advance via Ticketsource here or on the door on the evening.

The New Foxtrot Serenaders 25th Anniversary Concert – 17th September 2022

Tickets are available to book here

BMHS Birthday Show – Tuesday 6th September 2022

The BMHS 59th Birthday Show will take place on Tuesday 6th September at the Water Rats, 328 Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8BZ at 7.30pm, hosted by Colin Simmons.

We look forward to welcoming Keith Hopkins, Katie Milton, Simon Bashford, Kay Carmen and Andrew Fettes as well as graduating students from LSMT. All under the watchful eye of Robert Hazle as MD.

Book via Ticketsource – here