GREAT DAYS

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 32, 8 February 1932, Page 3

GREAT DAYS

OLD LONDON THEATRES

MARIE TEMPEST'S MEMORIES

In her dressing-room at the Phoenix Theatre Miss Marie Tempest talked of tho Lyric Theatre, Shaftsbury avenue, which is one of the three theatres to be rebuilt during the next two years, says a writer in the ■'f'Daily Telegraph." Only one of the theatres, the St. James's, can lay claim to a genuinely historic past—it will have just failed to reach its century—but both the Lyric, which was built for' Miss Marie Tempest in 1887, and the Apollo, opened by Henry Lowcnfeld iii 1901, can recall theatrical triumphs which night after night brought the hansoms and growlers clattering to their vestibules. "So v the Lyric is to go at last," said Miss Tempest. "Well, it is no use being sentimental about it. London changes so rapidly these days. But I have always loved it, although I never played in it after its first two years." "But it was built especially for you, wasn't it?" I asked. "No," she said quickly, "you shouldn't say that." Then, with a quiet smile \of reminiscence, "though, of course, I was priina donna of the 'Dorothy' company,, and I had a fairly large hand in the actual decorations of the house. ;.'-..-..■ "AYhat really happened was that the Lyric was built by Mr. Henry Leslie, who had taken over 'Dorothy' from Edwardes, and ran it for a year at the Princo of Wales's with Hayden CofliiL and Ben Dairies and myself. "It was in a February that we moved to the new' Lyric—in such a hurry that the walls inside the dressingrooms were still dripping wet. ■ It was too terrible, and finally I had to dress in the Boyal Boom adjoining the Boyal box, which had a staircase leading down to the stage. Its windows looked out on Shaftsbury avenue. , "I ADORED IT." . "All the same, I adored the theatre. Acoustically it was, and is, perfect, and I have always thought of it "as the ideal musical-comedy. house., " 'Dorothy' ran for another year, and then I sang in 'Doras' and 'The Bed Hussar"—and then I.went off to America, and, strangely enough, 1 have ueve.r played at the Lyric since." Miss Tempest's'high opinion of the theatre is borne out by its list of musical comedy, successes, which include "Florodora,".."The Duchess of'.Dantzig," "The Chocolate Soldier}" and '' The Girl in the Taxi." Lewis Waller occupied the theatre for four consecutive years, and Wilson Barrett's "Sign of the Cross" was first produced there. Romanes "and "Li lac Time were among its post-war triumphs. The St. James's, built by the operatic tenor Braham at'a cost of £26,000 in 1835,.began by building up for itself what would nowadays be called a "hoodoo" reputation. Manager after manager found that the theatre was "too far West" to be a paying proposition, and retired with heavy losses. , Braham himself on one . occasion is said to have announced in the green room, "I feel quite proud to-night— seventeen people in the pit!" So desperate became the St. James's plight that a "Forest of Wild Animals drew more audiences than the players it displaced, and oven Rachel's tempestuous triumphs there failed to put the theatre "on the map." At last, in 1879, the tide turned .under the management, of the Kendals and, John Hare. -"The Queen's Shi>ling, "Black-eyed-Susan," ana,""A" bcrap of Paper" were among their; great successes. Modern playgoers will remember the St. James's chiefly-dr'or Sir George Alexander's briffiaut seafTw^T 0 IS. the '90-'s Trith;iow plays by Wilde, Pinero, and Henry Arthur I talked to Mr., Henry Ainley lanS^The^rl^B^ooß^"^- ---/ PINE THEATRE. j,."* cannot understand why -they' think there is any need for reconstruction," he said to me.. "The theatre is capable of improvement, but it is a beautiful one from the point of view of the actor. , "The first time I visited St. James's Theatre was as a respectable bank clerk in 1896. It was not until 1902 that I played there in Stephen Phillips's 'Paolo and Francesca.'; Afterwards I played in 'If I Were King' and^Old Heidelberg.' I think " that bir George Alexander's record thero for modern production remains far better than any that had gone before or has followed it. ! "There were' one or' two incidents during this period that may be recalled. For instance, Oscar Wilde appeared before the curtain without white gloves and smoking a cigarette at the end of one of his first-nights— and this was a very terrible thing to do in those days. ; : "Sir George did more for the modern theatre than any manager I have over known, and tho■ St. James's under his in^on^T" bcst'mana Sed theatre Work on reconstructing the theatre will begin early in 1932, but it may be presumed that the memorial to Sir George Alexander will be carefully replaced in the new structure While the Apollo Theatre has a much' shorter record, it gained fame in-the years just before the war as the home of Harry ; Pelissier's "Follies.'-' Betore.then "Veronique" broke the theatre's records, with Kuth Vincent ,Ht a> l and Sir John Martill Harvey and the lato Sir Charles Hawtrey played there on occasions. -..-, .It is^interesting to recall that when it was first built the Apollo led the new movement for improved stage mechanism and was lor some time considered London's model theatre. 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