Drama at the Palace: Victorian Heyday The Alexandra Place Theatre 1873-1901
Drama at the Palace
Victorian Heyday: The Alexandra Place Theatre 1873-1901
by Nigel Willmott and Patricia Brearey
Softback; 134 pages, 14 illustrations
ISBN: 978 0 9930727 03
Published: October 2014
This book is the first detailed history of the Victorian heyday at the Alexandra Palace Theatre.
The Alexandra Palace, including its large state of the art Theatre, opened on 24 May 1873 and burnt to the ground 16 days later.
A second Palace was built − including a 3,000-seat Theatre − and reopened in less than two years on 1 May 1875. The Theatre used the most up-to-date technology then available and its wooden stage, with its traps and bridges, is one of the last remaining examples in the country. Its opera and drama productions brought the West End to north London, and its spectacular pantomimes drew full admiring houses. Some of the leading production companies of the age brought top actors, singers, dancers and entertainers to Alexandra Palace.
The story of the Alexandra Palace Theatre is the story of Victorian theatre itself, when theatre, in all its forms from farce to Shakespeare, was the mass entertainment of the growing urban population.
Researched and written by Nigel Willmott and Patricia Brearey, respectively the chair and secretary of the Friends of the Alexandra Palace Theatre (at 2014-15), it reveals for the first time the performances in the theatre in the Victorian period, from opera to variety and the keynote pantomimes; and the performers, directors and designers who brought the productions to life.
Drama at the Palace: Victorian Heyday is available at local bookshops and on Amazon, along with the second book in this series, Drama and the Palace 2: Lost and Found.
134 pages, 14 illustrations
Published: October 2014
Price: £8.50
Buy using your Paypal account:
Or send a cheque made out to North One Communications Ltd to
North One Communications Ltd
38 Denton Road
London N8 9NS