Despite the apparent respectability of the West End halls,
music hall was still associated with wild audiences and high
living. The audiences were aristocratic young men and the working
classes; the middle classes regarded the halls as vulgar places,
full of risqué entertainment. Most of the stars were
working class, but such was the glamour of music hall that several
married into the aristocracy. Managers like Oswald Stoll made
a deliberate effort to make music hall respectable. The major
West End music halls, like the Palace and the Coliseum, began
to attract a higher social class, often wearing evening dress.
The Alhambra and the Empire
The Alhambra and its rival the Empire, both in Leicester Square,
were among the most famous and largest halls, but were also
notorious for prostitutes who frequented the bars and promenades.
In these theatres the seating had been arranged like a regular
theatre, with rows of seats facing a
proscenium stage and the bar and refreshment rooms separated from the auditorium.
As music hall became more popular, the main attraction for
the audience was the entertainers rather than the food and drink.
The big stars were so successful that they would perform in
numerous halls each night, crossing London in their carriages.
By performing in several venues a night the top stars could
earn big money. They worked hard and lived fast, but the stresses
of this lifestyle meant that many died young.
By the end of the 19th century, there could be as many as twenty
acts per show and performances would last up to four hours.
Soon music halls were presenting shorter twice nightly programmes.
Performers were now contracted for a period of time, rather
than by performance. This meant that popular performers no longer
had to dash across London to appear in several halls in one
evening.
The Origins of Music Halls
