That’s Entertainment

 Attending a show around Christmas has been a pleasure for many generations of Croydon residents. With a diverse range of theatres, music halls and concert venues, there is something for everyone. Take a trip down memory lane to explore venues past and present and some of the amazing productions they have hosted!

Heralded by advertisements in the Croydon Advertiser, the ‘New National Hall and Grand Circus’ opened in North End on 25 March 1895. It seated 1500 and boasted circus attractions from England, America and the Continent. Although it is said to have had a plain Masonic frontage the inside was tastefully decorated with light iron-work balconies. 

Early success was to diminish as the entertainment offered by the gymnasts, acrobats and clowns at the ‘North End Circus’, as it quickly became known, began to wane. In an attempt to encourage audiences back two name changes followed within as many months; ‘New National Hall and Grand Theatre’ quickly followed by the ‘New National Hall and Grand Theatre of Varieties’.

Closing on 1 June for ‘necessary decoration’ it remained so until 26 December. The following year brought two further name changes. Advertised on 29 February as ‘The National Hall and Grand Palace of Varieties’ and after closing that summer re-opened offering purely variety acts, as the ‘National Palace of Varieties’ By 16 October the word ‘National ‘ was dropped becoming just ‘Palace of Varieties’ remaining so until 1906.

 In 1906 the fortunes of the theatre took a leap forward, when under the guidance of Charles Gulliver it was renamed The Empire and became one of the sixteen major halls in the London Theatres of Variety Ltd group.

This Empire Theatre should not be confused with the earlier Empire Theatre of Varieties which was formerly the Theatre Royal, Church Street Croydon, later the Hippodrome.

The 1920s saw performances of plays and revues until falling box office returns in 1930 saw the theatre move over to films full time. In the years that followed it seemed there were too many picture houses in central Croydon so The Empire returned to variety in 1938 with the likes of Vic Oliver and Max Millar. The Empire produced its own pantomimes which were well received as this newspaper cutting from 1939 shows.

Opened on 6 April 1896, designed by Brough and built in less than a year, the Grand Theatre and Opera House made for an imposing and fine facade on the High Street of Croydon. It consisted of three parts. The centre, larger than its counterparts, had a bay window at first floor level over a glazed entrance canopy. Set back behind the centre was a large imposing domed tower with winged angels on the parapet.

Built to seat 960 people it was designed to give maximum safety from fire for both patrons and staff; installing fire escapes and keeping the space beneath the stage clear by providing separate storage elsewhere.

Particularly of interest is the list of famous names who were to tread the boards during the long history of the Grand. Over the years that followed the theatre was to see performances by Sarah Bernhardt (June 1898), Sir Henry Irving (July 1898), Ellen Terry (February 1899), and later still Dorothea Baird (May 1908), Cyril Maude (October 1908) and Sir John Hare (November 1908)

In its heyday the Grand knew great success and popularity. Often used as a ‘West End tryout’ or ‘post West End run’ it brought high quality London performances at low cost to the people of Croydon.

By the early 1900s the rise of emerging cinema and much improved travel to London brought about the decline of many theatres including the Grand. By 1913 the glamour and prestige gone, the Grand began a policy of repertory which was to continue until 1939.

The outbreak of war saw many London theatres close and for a brief spell the Grand was able to continue until the heavy bombing in Croydon forced it to close too. It did not open again until September 1942.

The post war years were to see the rise of television and further attempts to bring the Grand back to its former glory and popularity failed.

The uncertain future of the Grand was further undermined by the fact that the lease was to expire in 1959. It closed temporarily in May 1958 while its future was determined; reopening in November with a surprisingly well supported repertory season. During the intervening months Mr Evan Jones a young army officer stepped forward to buy the theatre with a promised inheritance but it came to nothing.

In 1959 the end of the lease loomed and when plans for the building of offices on the site were revealed by the Croydon Advertiser its fate seemed sealed. The Croydon Advertiser joined the campaign to save it raising a petition of some 10,000 signatures.

So great was the support to save the Grand that planning permission for the offices was deferred. In March of that year it was thought that the Council might buy the theatre. This did not come to fruition and planning permission for the offices was granted. The last performance at the theatre was on Saturday 18 April 1959 and it was demolished that autumn. Its demise saw The Pembroke Theatre in Wellesley Road became the new home of repertory.

The Stanley Arts (formerly known as Stanley Halls) in South Norwood Hill was entirely the vision of William Ford Robinson Stanley, inventor, manufacturer and philanthropist. In 1854 he set up his own business in Holborn making mathematical and drawing instruments. In the mid 1870s he moved his factory to South Norwood. Located near Norwood Junction Railway Station it was called The Stanley Works and by the 1880s employed some eighty local people. 

In 1901, with some £120,000 raised from business investments on the stock market Stanley announced in the Norwood News 1901 that he would ‘provide the district with a well needed Public Hall’. Designed by Stanley himself, the building was completed in stages. The Stanley Public Hall (main hall and art gallery) opened in 1903, a year later the clock tower and second hall were added, the Technical Trade School in 1907 and to complete, two assembly rooms and offices in 1909.

William Stanley died on 14 August 1909 at his home in Cumberlow South Norwood and The Stanley Works moved to New Eltham in 1926

Over the years many famous people have trod its boards among them Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and William Hurlstone. Much later in the 1960s such names as Shirley Bassey and Matt Munro came to rehearse for performances at Fairfield Halls.

In the war years the Halls continued to serve the local community and it is thought that first aid courses were taught there and that it provided shelter for bombed out families.

The Halls have always provided a multi-purpose community venue and have played host to a variety of celebrations, educational classes, exhibitions and debates. Speakers have included Alice Abadam, Harold Williams and John Smith.

In 1962, St Mark’s Players staged their first public pantomime on the Stanley Halls Stage. This local group started to raise money to build the church hall and later raised money for numerous charities. There were performances on several weekends in January each year, attended by cubs, brownies, Sunday School groups and families from across Croydon. Members wrote their own scripts, created props and costumes, sold tickets, sweets and refreshments. Bob Clemens who made many of the pantomime animals even appeared on Blue Peter with John Noakes as the back end of the pantomime horse in 1970. In 2009, a book of photographs and memories of 50 years of St Mark’s Players pantomimes was published.

The photograph to the left shows Aladdin and the Princess in the 1984 production.

The Stanley Arts was formerly run by the Stanley People’s Initiative (SPI) formed by a group of local residents. It is currently run as an independent charity who maintain it as a centre for entertainment, arts and community events. In 2021 the trustees launched a new identity for the lower part of the historic Stanley Halls complex, rebranding as Stanley Arts - a name that honours the past, whilst looking forward to a brighter future. 

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