Broadway Theatre – Looking backwards on an entertaining past and forwards to an exciting future.

Opened in 1932, the history of the Broadway Theatre stretches back to the mid 1920s. Up until 1924 the current site was occupied by a Fire Station which was relocated to Ladywell, from where it still operates to this day. Being adjacent to the Old Town Hall, the Lewisham Borough Council decided to buy the freehold of the vacant site. The first proposal was that the site should be developed as a Hall with a large vestibule, containing a memorial to the many thousands of Lewisham men who lost their lives in the First World War. This proposal was ultimately abandoned and, at a public meeting in 1925 of Lewisham residents, it was decided virtually unanimously (there was one lone protester), to build an ‘auditoria for a variety of civic, social and dramatic purposes’. The Council came up with the novel idea to hold a competition to produce a design for the new building with a Mr F. Winton-Newman FRIBA appointed as assesor. A total of 71 schemes were submitted and exhibited in the Council Chamber in September 1928. The first prize of £350 went to Bolton based company Bradshaw, Gass and Hope. Specifications and drawings were prepared and approved by the Council and on the 9th April 1930, the tender of G.E.Wallis & Sons Ltd. as main contractor was accepted for a total price of £126,944. Work began in May 1930 and ‘The Town Hall Extension’ as the building was first called, was opened on June 22nd 1932 by the Duke of York, who later became King George V1 following the abdication of his brother Edward in 1936. A committee note from 1932 records that the two years of building works were ‘splendidly carried out without any hitch or trouble’.

However, technology did overtake the installation of cinema projection equipment. Silent movie projectors were ordered but in 1929, Al Jolson’s famous ‘Jazz Singer’ saw the first commercial sound on film presentation revolutionise cinema. At the time, ‘talkies’ were perceived as a passing fad and the silent equipment installed immediately became obsolete and was never used.

In 1932, the main auditorium provided a seated capacity of 1,132 (744 downstairs and 388 in the circle) or, with the seats removed, room for 1,000 dancers. The Compton Organ was the 1930’s state of the art equivalent of high tech keyboards today. The small hall, now the Studio Theatre, had a capacity of 260. Along with the halls, offices and shops were created in the Town Hall Chambers, which form the curved part of the building. The floor of the main hall was specially constructed and sprung for dancing, with the option to fix rigidly in position for seated audiences. The maple floor has recently been restored as part of the refurbishment. Aside from the obvious 1930s art deco design, there are also Gothic influences, which were introduced in order that the new building harmonised architecturally with the existing Town Hall next door. Unfortunately no such consideration was given when the old town hall next to the theatre was replaced with the current building in the early 1960s or with the Civic Suite addition in 1973.

The first stage show was a production of ’Miss Hook of Holland’ by the Utopian Operatic Society, who are still involved with the venue to this day and celebrate their centenary in 2003. Their oldest living member, Leonard ‘Pip’ Fortune, is a hale and hearty 97 years old, living in Enfield and still driving a car. Pip, then aged 27, was actually present in the crowds at the opening in 1932. Pip was married at St Laurences Church, Catford (where Laurence House now stands) in 1930 and he and his wife joined the Utopians in 1934.

During the 1930s up to the Second World War, the building was primarily used by local organisations, the Utopians being joined by the Eldorado and Lewisham Operatic Societies. Eldorado still present two major musicals a year in the main theatre. Also throughout the 1930s there were weekly dances and orchestral concerts all organised by local organisations who hired the venue, as Councils at that time had no legal powers to promote shows. During the war years, the building was used for lunchtime concerts and as a ration book distribution centre. The auditorium floor was strengthened and the lower store area underneath turned into an emergency air raid shelter and telephone exchange.

In the years immediately following the war, the Lewisham Borough Council did begin to promote shows via the then newly constituted Lewisham Arts Council, which was largely organised by Pip Fortune. Although still illegal for Borough Councils to promote shows, they were able to grant aid the Arts Council who, in turn, hired the venue. An unusual event around that time was the World Concertina Championships of 1947, won by a gentleman from Italy. A major scoop was to get Sir Adrian Boult to conduct the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the venue in early 1948. Council promoted entertainment began following an act of Parliament by the Atlee Labour Government in 1948, that decreed Councils must provide entertainment at reasonable cost and encourage expression and achievement through performance.

Throughout the 1950s, the local amateur societies remained the backbone of the venue supplemented by weekend ballroom dances and orchestral concerts. The Lewisham Concert Band and Lewisham Philharmonic Orchestras made the venue their home during this period. On the 9th January 1957 a major benefit show was staged to provide support for victims of the Hungarian Uprising of 1956. The best seats for a night of local talent and major stars including Ralph Reader’s Gang Show, cost 3/6 (17p). The show raised some £132 – the equivalent of about £2,500 today. An interesting Council committee item from the 1950s’ authorises the purchase of rubber tips to be issued to the wearers of stiletto heels (all the fashion in the mid fifties), to avoid damage to the maple dance floor. Up until the late 1950s, the Lewisham Hippodrome, situated opposite the Town Hall complex where Eros House now stands, staged regular weekly variety and pantomime and so the Town Hall extension concentrated on mainly amateur theatricals and ballroom dancing, with the occasional professional promotion.

Following the closure of the Lewisham Hippodrome, 1963 saw the Town Hall Extension host its first professional ‘name’ pantomime, Babes in the Wood starring Joe ‘Mr Piano’ Henderson. A major recording star of the period, Joe’s hands were insured for £10,000, an enormous sum at that time. In 1965, with amalgamation of the old Deptford and Lewisham Boroughs, a specialised Entertainments Department was set up under Entertainments Manager Bob Fox who really put the venue on the show business map. He introduced regular professional variety and, in 1966, renamed the venue Lewisham Concert Hall, a title which reflected the rapidly increasing stage show and music programme. The panto season expanded to six weeks and the Concert Hall began to attract major stars on a regular basis. Harry Secombe was the first artist to gross over £1,000 at the Box Office for a one night show and Lewisham Concert Hall became firmly established as an important venue for South East London. The Concert Hall staged a benefit for the Hither Green Train disaster, which saw Cliff Richard and the Bee Gees take the stage for a midnight show. The 1971/72 Pantomime season ‘Puss in Boots’ starred Ken Goodwin who shot to national fame on the Comedians TV show just prior to pantomime opening. The season was extended by two weeks and over 60,000 people attended the show – a record that still stands today. Bob continued to raise the venue’s profile culminating with all Box Office records being smashed when Morecambe & Wise (then at the absolute height of their fame) played four shows in 1977. Eric & Ernie’s appearances opened the door to other top artists of the day such as Tommy Cooper, Frankie Vaughan and Max Bygraves who all played to sell out audiences between 1978 and 1980.

In June 1980, in association with BBC producer and Lewisham resident Tony Hawes, a star studded benefit was staged for local police man Steven Hickling who had been seriously injured in a parcel bomb outrage. Over 20 household names took part in a show compered by Terry Wogan and some £5,000 was raised. Following a sell out show by American soul group The Chi-Lites in 1980, the Concert Hall became part of the circuit staging American artists. There followed an exciting period, which saw such acts as The Drifters, Gladys Knight and The Pips, The Four Tops, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons playing to sell out audiences. David Soul made two appearances at this time when in the top rated T.V. show Starsky and Hutch and in the top ten record charts. A magical moment occurred in a 1981 concert by Vic Damone, when Shirley Bassey, who is a fan of Vic Damones and was in the audience, found herself invited on to stage for an impromptu appearance. In comedy the legendary Victor Borge also gave the venue his seal of approval with a 1981 appearance.

A raised stalls seating system was introduced in 1983/84 which reduced the main theatre capacity to 850, but provided much better sightlines than the old flat floor situation. At this point the name was changed again to Lewisham Theatre – a title that was more in keeping with the events staged and venue’s image. Throughout the 1980s, the theatre promoted truly international events including the Lewisham Jazz Festival, which ran from 1983 to 1990. Sponsored by Citibank, the Festival was broadcast literally around the world by the BBC and won major awards. Such jazz giants as Wynton Marsalis, Chick Corea, Dave Brubeck, Buddy Rich and vocalists Roberta Flack, Alison Moyet, Billy Eckstine and Sarah Vaughan appeared amongst a veritable who’s who of world class performers. Popular Classical music was established, firstly with the New Symphony Orchestra then, in association with Capital Radio, with a ‘Capital Classics’ season featuring the Wren Orchestra conducted by Carl Davis.

The theatre became known for the excellent performing environment and another major initiative attracted internationally renown writers and poets to lecture and perform at the Theatre. In 1985 Maya Angelou, acclaimed as the worlds greatest black writer, really established the venue in the literary world, when she gave a televised performance at Lewisham Theatre. She has returned many times since and became a patron of the theatre’s youth education project. Dr Angelou’s endorsement opened the door to many other acclaimed writers to speak at the theatre, including Alice Walker, the author of ‘The Colour Purple’. A Carnival of Words series for children was also introduced featuring such authors as Lemn Sissay and Roger McGough.

Despite the big show business names now playing the venue, it was world famous medium Doris Stokes who set and still holds the record for the fastest sell out of all time. From her first appearance in 1980 until her last in 1986, people literally queued all night waiting for the box office to open for each performance. To thwart the touts, tickets were limited to four per person to personal applicants only and all would be sold within two hours of going on sale. In 1985 during a freezing February night, the theatre management arranged for hot soup and tea to be issued to the queues at 5am in the morning to stave off possible hypothermia! The hugely successful 1986/87 pantomime season ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ starred Garry Wilmot and the revenues created went to converting the old small hall into a lovely Studio Theatre.

Christmas 1990 saw a real threat to the theatre’s future. A disastrous combination of massive Central Government reductions to Council grants and resulting severe Council cuts, coupled with a major recession, placed the venue in real jeopardy. However, public support for the venue was overwhelming. Local restaurants and businesses made it known just how important the theatre was to them and how their very livelihoods depended on the venue. The public responded with a petition containing over 15,000 signatures supporting the theatre and, despite enormous budget cuts, the theatre not only survived, but continued to thrive. An amazingly successful initiative in 1991 formed a partnership with Blue Mountain Theatre Company to introduce Black Theatre to Lewisham and almost immediately audiences from across London flocked to Catford. Long sell out runs with plays starring Jamaican cult comic Oliver Samuels broke Box Office records with the production of ‘Smallie’ in 1994, which ran for ten sell out performances. Oliver Samuels remains enormously popular – his December 2001 appearance in an adaptation of Scrooge grossing a record £114,000 at the Box Office in eight performances.

In 1993 English Heritage acknowledged the architectural importance of the building, awarding a Grade 11 listed status to the entire Theatre complex including the Town Hall Chambers.

Comedy also developed enormously through the 1990s with Eddie Izzard, Paul Merton, Alan Davies and Lee Evans being just four of a wealth of talent that appeared at the Theatre. The programme diversified even further with the hosting of the Campaign for Real Ale’s annual Catford Beer Festival first held in 1993. Some 5,000 people visit this event each year sampling around 20,000 pints during the four day Festival. The first Lewisham Comedy Festival was held in Spring 2000 which brought nine top comedians and events to the venue as diverse as Bill Bailey, Joe Pasquale and the Reduced Shakespeare Company. This event also heralded the opening of a new seating system providing excellent sightlines throughout the auditorium. The system is designed to be sympathetic to the 1930s feel of the building, but also flexible to cope with the demands of the 21st Century. The downstairs stalls area retracts electronically to reveal the restored floor for stand up rock concerts, dances and conventions. The current capacities are 810 in the main theatre for seated audiences (426 stalls and 384 circle) or 950 for standing concerts. When all the accomodation throughout the building is used concurrently for events such as the Beer Festival with the main seating bank retracted, 1,500 people can be accomodated at any one time. The Studio Theatre now holds 70 in theatre configuration or up to 130 at tables for cabaret. Technically, the venue has first class lighting and sound systems and offers all users excellent technical and marketing back up for their productions. The wonderful intimate atmosphere generated in both auditoriums has made the venue extraordinarily popular with both performers and audiences.

Currently, the now re-named Broadway Theatre presents a wide range of popular star attractions alongside a host of community events, providing educational programmes ans shows that touch all ages, from primary schools at the numerous children’s shows, schools concerts and panto, through to the elderly at special midweek matinee presentations. Around 150,000 people visit the venue every year to enjoy the widest variety of productions, from multi-cultural performances to pantomime; from traditional music to rock concerts; from children’s shows to caribbean comedy; from conventions to Sky Sports presentations.

Two years in to the 21st century the venue is, without doubt, currently enjoying great success coupled with enormous popularity amongst the people of South East London. Following the refurbishment, further programming intiatives have been taken with the re-introduction of classical music, ballet and world music with concerts featuring such globally revered artists as the Blind Boys of Alabama and Abdullah Ibrahim. In the Studio, the theatre has a new resident company, Gateway Theatre which is staging popular and critically acclaimed works and the theatre houses the wonderfully imaginative Lewisham Youth Theatre.

Refurbishment...

With some 150,000 people visiting the theatre each year and with little or no investment over the last twenty years in the fabric of the building, the theatre became well overdue for a facelift. Following magnificent support from the London Borough of Lewisham, the theatre’s owners, the venue received a much needed Millennium make over. The theatre closed between June and October 2001 although the work continued through to June 2002. The refurbishment cost around £2.3 million and concentrated on public areas and repairs to the building’s structure, exterior, mechanical and electrical services. The foyers, toilets and bars were all completely refurbished and restored to original art deco 1930s style. Back stage, the dressing rooms have been redecorated and the furnishings improved. The Town Hall Chambers are all part of the original building and the ground floor now houses a new Box Office and a beautiful 1930s’ theme bar which is open for lunches with live music during the week, as well as for performances in the evenings. The foyers have been refurbished, made more spacious and an art gallery has been created. Also, a much needed rehearsal room has been added on the first floor. There is now a lift providing access for disabled people to the Main Theatre stalls area and, for the first time, down to the Theatre Studio. Externally the building has been cleaned, new signs and canopies installed and the theatre has specialised floodlighting installed to bathe it in light at night.

Finally following refurbishment, the theatre has received a new name. For years there has been confusion about the Lewisham part of the name, as the Lewisham Theatre is, in fact, in Catford. So it now has a new lease of life as Catford’s very own Broadway Theatre and Broadway Studio.

3pm – THE STARS OF THE 1952 ROYAL VARIETY SHOW

Max Bygraves & The Beverley Sisters
Musicians -...

This afternoon’s show is unashamedly nostalgic. Two great acts who graced the 1952 Royal Command Performance get together fifty years on to provide an afternoon of wonderful memories

MAX BYGRAVES
Max Bygraves OBE has been an entertainer for longer than most of us can remember. A showbiz colleague once said of Max “He did cabaret at the Last Supper!”

Born in London during the depression, as a small boy he learned the art of bringing a smile. Singing, dancing and monologues were part of the repertoire to make grown ups throw pennies in his hat. At the age of twelve he sang solo at Westminster Cathedral. When war came, he joined the RAF. For almost five years, when not involved with Spitfires, he appeared in troop shows until being noticed by the BBC. As a radio laughter maker, he appeared in many shows, notably ‘Educating Archie’ for several years.
There are no entertainers with his pedigree today. Nineteen Royal Variety Shows – thirty one gold discs for his singalong recordings, voted twice as personality of the Year by the Variety Club. His shows at the London Palladium and Victoria Palace are too numerous to mention. Films, television, on Broadway with Judy Garland and now still travelling the world – Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Canada and many more. Max is a unique entertainer with true global appeal – a true legend. Jackie Gleason once remmarked “There is nothing this fellow doesn’t know about show business”.

BEVERLEY SISTERS
Ahead of the Spice Girls the Beverley Sisters were the first British girl group to breal into the American Top Ten charts in 1956. The ‘devoted’ sisters (as their famous song says) hold a special place in the hearts of the British public. They are sisters, Teddie and Babs being identical twins born on sister Joy’s third birthday. Their parents were a popular music hall act and it was not long before the sisters followed their parents onto the stage. Their rise to fame was rapid. After being discovered by the BBC, offers flooded in and they found themselves invited to sing in America and appear with Danny Kaye at the London Palladium whilst still in their teens. They went on to enjoy countless successful seasons at that famous venue. The ‘Bevs’ own TV series ran for seven years and they have been honoured by many Royal Command performances, also singing for the Royal family at Windsor castle and Buckingham Palace. They became Britain’s highest paid female act and achieved enormous recording hits which included ‘Sisters’, ‘I Saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus’, ‘Drummer Boy’, ‘Little Donkey’ and so many more.

Joy made World headlines when she married Billy Wright CBE, then the England football captain. Again the Spice Girls comparison popped up when Victoria married David Beckham. Joy and Billy’s two daughters Vicky and Babette plus Teddie’s daughter Sasha are the three reasons why the sisters decided, (whilst still at the top) to abandon their career and give their priorities to their children. The three girls grew up and embarked on their own singing career as ‘The Little Foxes’. It was whilst watching the girls tat the London Hippodrome hat the Beverley Sisters were coaxed out of retirement by showman Peter Stringfellow. They made an appearance for him, the offers started again and the Bevs are back and still wowing them in this new Millennium.

Stranger than fiction – it happened here!

Pianist Walter Landauer (of Rawitcz and Landauer fame) was in the middle of a solo concert in 1978 when, during a Strauss waltz, the pedals fell off the piano. Walter kept playing without missing a note but turned to the audience and shouted ‘My God. The brakes have gone!’

Just before going on stage in 1979, Tommy Cooper asked the Stage Manager to get him a bread roll. All shops were shut at that time of night, but the quick thinking SM spotted that one of the stewards had bought a ham roll in to eat later. He removed the ham and took the roll back to Tommy. ‘Are you hungry,? enquired the SM. ‘No., I want it for a gag,’ said Tommy. During his act he asked for a roll on the drums and threw the roll at the drummer.

Many items have been handed in to lost property including a baby who had been left behind by a mother who had brought five others to pantomime. She returned shortly after the show wondering where she had left the child. Probably the most unusual item was a false leg found after one performance. It stayed in the lost property box for three days until it was claimed presumably buy someone who kept falling over.

At one pantomime performance in 1995 a lady went prematurely into labour in the front circle. This was a unique occurrence, although it has been unkindly suggested that there have been quite a few conceptions at the theatre over the years.

Jazz singer Sarah Vaughan asked what a Catford was on her arrival for a 1983 concert.

The Glenn Miller Orchestra UK (licensed by the Glenn Miller estate in USA) made a nostalgic appearance at the theatre in 1984 on the anniversary of Glenn Miller’s death. One gentleman demanded his money back before the show, because he had just heard that Glenn Miller had gone missing in a plane in 1944 and that we could not guarantee his personal appearance that night. He was quite sincere and outraged that the venue should attempt to sell tickets, in his opinion, under false pretences.

The legendary American singer Peggy Lee had a problem with her left foot before a 1984 concert and refused to go on unless we found her a chiropodist. Not an easy task at 4pm on a Saturday afternoon. After a frantic ring around and the invitation to take this superstar down to out patients at Lewisham Hospital, a Mr K. W Danks of Peckham, listed under chiropodists in Yellow Pages,’ agreed to come and see her. He arrived, everyone held their breathe as the show had sold out and a late cancellation would be disastrous. Fortunately, Mr. Danks was quite brilliant, Peggy Lee was delighted and took his phone number. For all we know, Mr Danks may have swapped Peckham for Hollywood soon after.

Super Ted, the intergallactic TV child hero, was due to appear for two sell out audiences of excited children. As we got nearer the show there was no sign of Super Ted or his cast and scenery. No response was available from his mobile and his agent said the show had left hours ago leaving plenty of time to get to Catford. It transpired that the bus bringing the show had got stuck behind an accident in the Blackwall tunnel and traffic could not move either way. Try explaining to the first house of 800 tearful children that their intergallatic hero, who can defy gravity and has super powers, is stuck in the Blackwall tunnel. A real nightmare that one!

A local midget, Mr. Grover, attended virtually every show at the theatre for around twenty years. His aisle seat was put aside for each performance in order that he could see properly and he probably spent in excess of £15,000 at the Box Office over the years. He would always come back or phone the next day to complain vehemently about the ‘load of rubbish’ he had just seen and then would book for the next show and so on. When the theatre was threatened in 1990, he fought a campaign to save it, despite the ‘load of rubbish’ he sat through each night.
At the 1979 pantomime Red Riding Hood, starring Keith Harris, a very young Lenny Henry and pianist Bobby Crush, one lady bought a front row seat for all 72 performances. She was a particular fan of Bobby Crush and attended virtually every show he played in the country.

One marketing misprint offered 3 tickets for the price of 4 instead of the other way around. Amazingly there were several takers for this dubious offer.

All time great Jazz drummer Buddy Rich had been unwell and suddenly asked for a bowl of tomato soup before his 1986 concert which he felt would settle his stomach. All shops were shut in Catford but a dramatic call to Tescos got the night manager (he was a massive fan of Buddy Rich) to open up and hand over the soup. His one condition being that he could give the soup to his hero personally which was readily agreed to.