Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

30 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

ONE GOOD THING. I

¡MR. FRANK ALLEN.I

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

¡ MR. FRANK ALLEN. I The Man Who Made the Variety Theatre. As already reported Mr. Frank Allen, who has been successively general manager and managing director of Moss Empires Ltd., and who has been' associated with the late Sir Edward and Mr. Richd- Thornton for nearly forty years, has ten- di-red his resignation owing to ill-health. Mr. Allen will still retain his seat on the Board. Mr. R. H. Gillespie will suc- ceed him. Mr. Frank Allen who, in January next, ■wiil be entering upon his 70th year, saw the birth of the Variety Theatre and -its evolution from tho garish old-time music: hall. The word "Variety" was coined iby him. 35 year* ago; since when he has atood for all that is renned in amusement. .lIe f?orwaw the fnture of the family iE?r 9 to which a man could take ?hi& wife or daughter withont running the risk of them hearing ?nythin? offensive. ? The opportunity he louged for came he met Mr. Richard Thornton in •|885. and this gentleman appointed Mr. tAIleD. as manager of his Music Hall, a new building in South Shields. Mr. Allen ■^considers that the opening marked a red- gietter day in the history of high-class t^ntertainment. "The word music hall" CjwaB dropped, and the name "variety entr(}:' Kubstituted. It saw the origin £ id the family amusememt resort. fer Those were the day a of Yeeta Tilley, ^{noir Lady De Freoe). Annie Hill, Bessie Bellwood, Bessie Bonehill, Marie Loft us, H. MacDermott. Cha,;¡. Godfrey, and &*iother equally famous ttars, who, never- thfdø, even in their zenith, used to top £ -the bills at weekly salaries ranging from +,o iMO, A capable company could then be run for .£50 a week. To-day, ten ".times that amount is quite an ordinary a-rtietfw, salary list for the week. -Approximately at Moss Empires, Theatres 84,000 people pay for admission nightly, or 26,750,000 a year. The staff throughout the country numbers 2,250, and the orchestra members total 550. In artistes' salaries Moss Empiree pay some- thing like £ 500,000 a year, and in enter- tainment duty the useful little &um of pi- One of the most indefatigable organiser's aid of various War Funds, Mr. Allen >sTadsed over < £ 100,000, while some 3,000 matinees, outings, and entertainments jr6r the wounded in association with the tes were given by his firm. Mr. R. II. Gille-pie, Mr. Allen's sno- !"pssor, though comparatively a young ân, has a wide experience in Variety Eters. He ie a keen and di?cerntn? ne.s man, a chartered accountant. d is a director of several theatrical and nonia firrn, He was nominated at the stance of hrs predecessor.

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