Oxford Music Hall
Facade of the Oxford Music Hall, 1918 postcard
|
|
| Address |
Oxford Street Westminster, London |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°30′58″N 0°07′52″W / 51.516°N 0.131°W |
| Owner | Charles Morton |
| Type | Music hall |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 26 March 1861 |
| Demolished | 1926 |
| Rebuilt | 1869 Finch Hill {with Paraire} 1973 Edward Paraire 1893 Wylson and Long |
| Years active | 1861-1926 |
| Architect | Finch Hill, with Edward Lewis Paraire |
Oxford Music Hall was a music hall located in Westminster, London at the corner of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road. It was established on the site of a former public house, the Boar and Castle, by Charles Morton, in 1861. In 1917 the music hall was converted into a legitimate theatre and renamed the New Oxford Theatre, but in 1926 it closed and was demolished.
The site was occupied by the first Virgin Megastore from 1979 and closed in 2009. In September 2012 a branch of the budget fashion retailer Primark opened on the site.
After the success of the Canterbury Music Hall many music halls imitating the formula opened in London. The Oxford Music Hall was designed by Messrs . The architecturally ambitious hall included deep balconies on three sides and a wide stage in front of an apse. It opened on 26 March 1861 as Morton's competitor to the nearby Weston's Music Hall despite Henry Weston's appeal to the magistrates that there were already too many music halls in the area. The singers Charles Santley and Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa performed at the opening.
The hall quickly became one of London's most popular music halls. The Times commented in April 1861 that, like its rivals, the hall was "more or less thronged. 'The Oxford Music Hall', in Oxford-street, is the latest development on a grand scale of a species of entertainment now in great favour with the public." The hall was run by Morton and his brother-in-law, Frederick Stanley, who continued to run the Canterbury, with acts moving between the two halls in coaches. Many notable performers of the day appeared at the Oxford Music Hall, including Marie Lloyd, George Robey and Arthur Roberts, and the hall was famous for its lively barmaids. The barrister Arthur Munby visited the hall in March 1862 and found that:
...
Wikipedia