Prince's Theatre, Bristol
![]() The Prince's Theatre was a theatre on Park Row in Bristol in England which was built in 1867 and was destroyed by bombing in 1940 in the Bristol Blitz during World War II.[1] Owned by members of the Chute family for most of its existence, at one time the theatre was the Bristol venue for many of the country's leading touring actors and theatrical companies in addition to being one of the most renowned pantomime houses in the country[2] before briefly becoming a music hall and latterly a cinema. The actors Henry Irving and Ellen Terry made their last appearance together under Irving's management at the Prince's Theatre in The Merchant of Venice in 1902.[3] Opening![]() The Prince's Theatre in Bristol was built in 1867 for James Henry Chute (1810-1878) who owned the Theatre Royal in Bristol. The theatre was constructed at a cost of about £20,000 on the site of the former home of the Baillie family known as “The Engineers House”[4][5] to a design by theatre architect Charles J. Phipps, opening as the New Theatre Royal, Park Row on 14 October 1867 with a production of The Tempest. The theatre could seat 2,154 people with orchestra stalls, pit stalls for 800, dress circle balcony and gallery levels with 700 seats and eight private boxes. The pit was 64 feet wide, while the width of the stage including the scene docks was 107 feet. The height from the level of the stage to "the gridiron floor" was 59 feet. The behind the scenes machinery was state of the art for the time and used more than 24 miles of rope in its operation.[6][7] Chute was married to Emily Mazzarine Macready (1825-1878), the half-sister of the famous tragedian William Macready, and their sons James Macready Chute (1856-1912) and George Macready Chute (1851-1888) would later to take over running the theatre along with their mother.[4] On opening night James Henry Chute stepped out before the act-drop to tell the audience about "the house that Jack built". He announced: "I want the first words uttered in this building to be words of welcome. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am most proud and happy to say you are heartily welcome". He then explained how the theatre had been built and introduced Phipps the architect and Davis the contractor and others connected with the construction of the theatre.[5] The Era reported of the theatre:
Sadly, these safety measures were to prove ineffective. Tragedy at the theatre![]() The theatre was built on a very steep slope and a queuing system had not yet been introduced to British theatres.[9] Because of these factors disaster struck the theatre on 27 December 1869 when 18 people, mostly children, were killed in a crush as they tried to get into the theatre for a pantomime performance of Robinson Crusoe which had opened on the previous evening on Boxing Night.[4] The Era in its edition of 2 January 1870 recorded:
As those at the front fell those pushing forward from behind walked over them without realising it. Chute and his wife helped to lay out the bodies of those killed in the lower refreshment rooms. With great presence of mind Chute ordered the performance to continue to avoid a panic, and none of the audience knew of the evening's tragic events until they left after the performance. The tragedy was to take its toll on Chute emotionally and financially.[9] RenamingAfter the death of J. H. Chute in 1878 the theatre passed to his sons James Macready Chute and his brother George Macready Chute who on 4 August 1884 renamed the New Theatre Royal as the Prince's Theatre; this would be the theatre's name for the rest of its existence. The theatre closed for five weeks in June 1889 for redecoration while at the same time alterations to the upper circle were made to a design by the theatre architect Frank Matcham. The theatre reopened on 1 August 1889 with a production of As You Like It with Ellen Wallis as Rosalind and Frank Kemble-Cooper as Orlando. Electric lighting was added in 1895. Matcham made additional alterations to the theatre in 1902 which included reducing the seating capacity to 1,769 (stalls 57, dress circle 103, balcony 122, fauteils 137, upper circle and amphitheatre 300, pit 518, gallery 500, private boxes 32)[10] and placed four classical statues representing Tragedy, Comedy, Music and Dance on top of the building. The theatre re-opened with Merrie England on Coronation Day, 1902. In 1907 a new ventilation system was fitted which made the Prince's one of the grandest and most comfortable of all the provincial venues.[4] Pantomimes![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() During the later Victorian era the Prince's Theatre produced a highly regarded annual pantomime starting with Aladdin in 1867 and continuing almost every Christmas season until 1940[4] with some of the leading performers of the period. John Henry Chute kept overall control of the pantomimes held at the Prince's, beginning the planning in August of each year, with work commencing on the sets and costumes shortly after. Casting was ongoing with Chute travelling the country to watch about 30 other pantomimes in search of artistes and ideas. He employed leading writers in the genre and had a gift for spotting talented musical comedy artistes early in their careers including principal boys Ada Reeve, Florence Lloyd and Daisy Wood, the latter two being sisters of the famous Marie Lloyd. Among the dames the comedians Wilkie Bard and Horace Mills were popular with audiences, many of whom travelled from further afield on special trains arranged by Chute. The panto's ballet was rehearsed for three weeks before the opening night and the rest of the cast for two weeks. If the pantomime ran for too long when it opened at Christmas it was cut.[10] Pantomimes at the Prince's Theatre, Bristol - 1867 to 1939:[4][11] New Theatre Royal (1867–1884)
Prince's Theatre (1884–1939)
Productions![]() Touring actors who appeared at the Prince's included: J. L. Toole and Lillie Langtry, Ada Ferrar, Charles Wyndham and George Alexander,[13] Sarah Bernhardt, Julia Neilson Terry, Pavlova, Ellaline Terriss and Gabrielle Ray, while Clara Butt sang from the stage in 1897.[14][15] Other actors and touring productions at the theatre included: Dorothy (1890); Haddon Hall (1892); A Woman of No Importance (1893); The Lady Slavey (1893-1894);[16] Amy Augarde and Edmund Payne in Faust up to Date (1890); The Belle of New York (1898) and The Belle of Mayfair (1906); Adrienne Augarde and Amy Augarde in Floradora (1900); Frank Benson and his company; Leedham Bantock, Horace Mills and Richard Temple in George Edwardes' production of San Toy (1900); Henry Irving in The Bells (1891), Louis XI (1893), with Ellen Terry in The Merchant of Venice (1902),[3] Faust (1894) and the premiere of Waterloo (1894) by Arthur Conan Doyle;[17] the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and the Carl Rosa Opera Company; The Earl and the Girl (1904); John Martin-Harvey in A Cigarette Maker’s Romance, The Only Way, The Breed of the Treshams, Hamlet (1903-1904), and Eugene Aram (1905-1906); Zena Dare in the title role in Peter Pan (1906);[18] Herbert Beerbohm Tree in Trilby (1907); Marie Studholme in Miss Hook of Holland (1909); A Greek Slave (1910); Seymour Hicks and Ellaline Terriss in the musical Broadway Jones (1913); Yvonne Arnaud in Plan For A Hostess (1939); Fay Compton, Victoria Hopper and Noel Howlett in The Drawing Room (1939); Diana Wynyard, Anton Walbrook and Rex Harrison in Design for Living (1939); John Geilgud, Edith Evans, Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, Peggy Ashcroft, Jack Hawkins and Margaret Rutherford in The Importance of Being Earnest (1939); Phyllis Dare and Zena Dare in Ivor Novello's Full House (1940); Johnston Forbes-Robertson and company; and Robert Donat, Roger Livesey and Erik Chitty in The Devil's Disciple (1940).[6][19] Later years![]() ![]() On 18 February 1888 during the last performance of the pantomime Babes In The Wood the show was interrupted by the behaviour of a group of students and others who threw squibs on to the stage, dried peas at the actresses and who argued loudly with the manager. In 1896 the pantomime was followed by a short Harlequinade and then by a showing of early films. In 1912 'Jimmy' Chute died and the Prince's became a limited company with the theatre being managed by Abigail Philomena Chute (née Henessy, 1855-1931), his widow, together with her co-director, John Hart. The finances needed to mount 'in house' productions became increasingly difficult to raise and the Prince's became reliant on touring productions and its annual pantomimes in order to survive. In addition, the growth of cinema as a popular leisure activity caused serious competition to the Prince's. In February 1913 the Prince's Theatre was converted into a full-time cinema but by 1915 it had reverted to live theatre.[20] After Abigail Chute died in 1931 John Hart continued to run the theatre until 1936. Abigail's son, Desmond Macready Chute, had become a Roman Catholic priest by this time and was living in Rapallo in Italy and so had no interest in taking over the management of the theatre, which passed to Tommy Hicksons. For a period from 1935 he was forced to rebrand the Prince's as a variety house and music hall, but the subsequent loss of income resulted in the theatre not getting its badly needed refurbishment and redecoration.[4] Eventually the Prince's reverted to a venue for touring theatrical companies for the last few years of its existence. The Prince's Theatre, which had been a popular touring venue for many years for companies from the West End of London was destroyed in the Bristol Blitz during World War II together with the Coliseum Theatre opposite it when they were both hit by bombs on 24 November 1940.[6] Initially, there were plans to rebuild the theatre but the site was sold in 1954 and flats, named Irving House and Terry House after actors Sir Henry Irving and Dame Ellen Terry, who had played at the Prince's Theatre, were built on the site instead.[18] ReferencesWikimedia Commons has media related to Prince's Theatre, Bristol.
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