Bertie Crewe

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Bertie Crewe (died 10 January 1937 in London) was one of the leading English theatre designers in the boom of 1885 to 1915

Contents

[edit] Biography

Partly trained by Frank Matcham, Crewe and his contemporaries W.G.R. Sprague and Thomas Verity, were together responsible for the majority - certainly more than 200 - of the theatres and variety palaces of the great building boom which took place in Britain between 1885 and 1915, peaking at the turn of the century[1] Crewe became known as one of the most dynamic architects of the 1890s-1900s, specialising entirely in theatres and later cinemas.

Crewe trained in Paris and London, where as a young man he was a frequent visitor to Frank Matcham’s home. Up to the mid 1890s Crewe collaborated with Sprague, producing the Lincoln Theatre Royal as well as a number of theatres around London. It was after he branched out on his own that he developed what was to become his characteristic Baroque-influenced style. His work around the turn of the century was marked by horizontal balconies tied to ranges of stage boxes and elaborate ornamental features.[2]

Crewe's last project, joint with Henry G. Kay was the Regal, Kennington Road (opened 17 November 1937) by the Arthur O’Connor circuit. Designed as split theatre-cinema, the Edwardian Kennington Empire would have been in decline by the time of building.[3]

[edit] After death

After World War II, those theatres that were not destroyed by bombing were in the way of redevelopment. Film and television were the future, while live theatre was dead on its feet. The idea of listing and preserving any of these useless old relics would have been considered laughable. The great building boom of 1885 to 1915 was matched between 1950 and 1975 by the greatest theatre demolition. In that 25-year period, in Greater London alone, 35 theatres were demolished. Of these, 20 were by Matcham.

Along with the rehabilitation in the last 20 years of Matcham, Crewe has re-established himself. In 2004, the Palace Theatre in Redditch (built 1913) completed a record £3.7 million face lift. A now rare example of Edwardian theatre, the theatre was successful in bidding for a Heritage Lottery Fund grant. Experts believe the Grade II-listed theatre is one of only six examples that can be fully attributed to Bertie Crewe.[4]

[edit] Trainees

  • Cecil Masey - designs include Stanford Hall Theatre, Loughborough. Trained in Crewe’s office working on the large theatres and music halls that Crewe designed before the First World War, and in the early 30s had worked for Sidney Bernstein on the creation on the Granada cinema circuit, including the famous Tooting Granada. At Stanford, the interior design was by J. E. Redding & Smith; and the safety curtain and various interior mural works by Beatrice MacDermott.[5]

[edit] Theatres

His list of theatre designs include:

Theatre Location Build Date Original Seating Capacity Screens Status Notes
Royal Court Theatre London 1888 642 as sub to Walter Emden. Next to the Metropolitan railway station (now Sloane Square tube). Reconstructed in 1952 and 1980. An unimpressive auditorium, whose sight-lines could be improved, is the strangely antique setting for modern drama that generally preaches change
Theatre Royal Lincoln 1889 Website inc. Present Program
Olympic London 1890 Demolished with W.G.R. Sprague
Euston Theatre of Varieties Euston 26 December 1900 1,310 Demolished 1960 with Wylson & Long. In use as a Cinema from the mid 1930's to 1950, then renamed the Regent Theatre[6]
Sadler's Wells London 1901 Fifth theatre demolished 1996 Remodelled
Liverpool Royal Hippodrome Liverpool 1902 4,000 Demolished 1984 The first of the Barrasford halls. The ceiling was painted by Secard, depicting flying cupids upon beds of clouds. From 1931-1967 it was a cinema
Lyceum London 1904 2,000 New Auditorium Built behind Samuel Beazley's original facade and portico
Pavillion Strathclyde, Glasgow 1904 1.499 Although dilapidated, the theatre is a remarkable original survivor as a commercial theatre
Palace Gorbals, Glasgow 1904 2,000 Demolished 1976 Cine-variety from 1914, sold to H Maitles. Bingo from 1962
Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds 1906 Alterations Designed by William Wilkins it opened on 11 October 1819. Redesigned by Crewe in 1906. Greene King purchased the freehold in 1920, but closed in 1925 and used as a barrel store. Air Vice-Marshal Stanley Vincent raised over £37,000 to restore and re-open the Theatre Royal in 1965, and leased to the National Trust in 1975 on a 999 year lease
Sheffield Hippodrome Sheffield 23 December 1907 Demolished 1963[7] one of several large Hippodromes opened by Tom Barrasford in direct opposition to Oswald Stoll, then managing director of Moss Theatres
Royal Hippodrome Belfast 1907 1,156 Demolished, now a Car Park Became cinema in 1935, Odeon in 1961, and New Victoria Cinema in 1974. Bingo Hall in approx 1987 with occasional theatre use. Closed 1988. Demolished 1997
Nottingham Hippodrome Nottingham 28 September 1908 The last Hippodrome to be erected by Tom Barrasford
Hippodrome Plymouth 1908 Destroyed by bombing and fire in 1941[8] Remains purchased in May 1958 by Plymouth Council for £4,000, building demolished[9]
Hoxton Hall London 1909 Internal Alterations Built 1863 by James Mortimer, now an Arts Centre
Kinston Empire Kingston upon Thames 1910 Converted to a pub and offices in 1956 with C J Bourne. Converted to a cinema in 1930, with Neon lighting was introduced to light the dome, the second theatre in the country to do this (the first being the London Coliseum) Sister theatre to Aldershot Hippodrome.
Stoll London 1911 2,600 Demolished 1958 for Oscar Hammerstein, sold to Oswald Stoll in 1913. 1916 renamed the Stoll Picture Theatre as a Cine-Variety. From 1952 solely as a theatre, including the London premiere of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess on 9 October 1952
Shaftesbury London 26 December 1911 changed to the Shaftesbury in 1963 originally Prince’s, it opened with the play The Three Musketeers[10]
London Opera House/Peacock London 1911 Owned by the London School of Economics, a lecture theatre by day and home of Sadler’s Wells’ West End programme by night Designed for Oscar Hammerstein, transformed into a cinema by Oswald Stoll in 1916. 1957 rebuilt as part of an office block to fulfil London County Council requirements, reopened as a theatre in 1970. Presented the Paul Raymond revues
Empire Burnley Burnley 1911 1,200 Auditorium reconstructed Built 1894 under G.B. Rawcliffe. Converted to a cinema in 1938, now a Gala Bingo
Aldershot Hippodrome Aldershot 3 Feb 1913 1,000 Demolished 1961 Partly refurbished, it reopened fitfully until about 1960
Golders Green Hippodrome Golders Green 1913 3,000 Abandoned Former home of the BBC Concert Orchestra[11]
The Holm Regents Park 1911 Private House First villa to be erected in Regents Park. Designed in 1816-18 by Decimus Burton aged 18 for his father,James Burton. Further wings were added in 1911 by Bertie Crewe. More alterations were carried out in 1935[12]
Palace Theatre Manchester 1913 Auditorium Reconstructed. Now leased to Apollo Leisure Built in 1891 by Alfred Darbyshire & F B Smith as the Manchester Palace of Varietie. The first computerised box office system in Europe was installed. Owned by the Palace Theatre Trust[13]
Palace Redditch 1913 399 £3.6M refurbishment and extension[14] Relatively small, it was used as a Bingo Hall from 1954-1971. Purchased by the council, converted to a theatre[15]
Coliseum Theatre Dublin 1915 3,000 Destroyed in the Easter Rising of 1916 with R.F. Bergin
Théâtre Mogador Paris 1919 1,800 Since the nineties the Théâtre Mogador is also used as a concert hall 1913 Sir Alfred Butt rents an area in Paris. Built during World War I in the year 1913. The inauguration guests include President Wilson, in France to negotiate the Treaty of Versailles[16]
Birmingham Hippodrome Birmingham 1899 1,817 Internal Changes Originally the Tower of Varieties and Circus, it is still a theatre as the Birmingham Theatre
Piccadilly Theatre London 1928 1,400 with Edward A. Stone as a private theatre for Edward Laurillard. Interior decoration by Marc-Henri Levy and Gaston Laverdet[17]
Phoenix London 1930 designed with Giles Gilbert Scott and Cecil Masey, with Theodore Komisarjevsky as Art Director. Hosted the opening production of Noel Coward's Private Lives, starring Coward, Gertrude Lawrence, Laurence Olivier and Adrienne Allen
Saville Covent Garden 1931 1,426 Converted to a twin screen cinema in 1970, now a quad screen with Leslie Scott Slaughter. Builders were Messers Gee, Walker and Slater and it was designed by architects T. P. Bennett & Son. Leased by Brian Epstein in the 60s and is where The Beatles filmed the videos of "Hello, Goodbye". Jimi Hendrix, Fats Domino, The Bee Gees, The Who, Pink Floyd, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Elton John, Chuck Berry, Harry Secombe and Leonard Rossiter[18]
New Bedford Theatre Camden 1898 1 Demolished Closed 1950
Capitol Cinema Southgate, London 1935 1 Demolished September 1982 Odeon opened on 16 October 1935 with Edward G. Robinson in "Passport to Fame"
Century Cinema Kings Cross 1900 1 Demolished closed on 4 April 1968 with David McCallum in "The Heroin Gang" and Deborah Kerr in "Eye of the Devil". Purchased by Camden Council, an extension to the Town Hall was built on the site
Gaumont Southend-on-Sea 1 Demolished
Olympia Theatre Shoreditch 1889 2,170 1 Demolished 1939 assisted by W.G.R. Sprague
Victoria Theatre Salford 1900 1 Bingo Hall from 1973 Grade 2 listed
Regal Cinema Kennington 1932 2,000 1 Presently boarded up, it is to be converted to flats, 2006 with Henry G. Kay, consultant for Duchy of Cornwall estate: Louis de Soissons. Probably Crewe's last project - he died the year it opened. Converted to a cinema in 1961

[edit] References

  1. ^ new venues in London
  2. ^ LMA Learning Zone > Theatreland > Architects > Bertie Crewe (d.1937)
  3. ^ Gallery
  4. ^ BBC NEWS | England | Hereford/Worcs | Rare theatre revamped to its best
  5. ^ Loughborough Cinemas
  6. ^ CinemaTour - Cinemas Around the World - Regent Theatre, London UK
  7. ^ Theatres and Halls in Sheffield, South Yorkshire - Past and Present
  8. ^ http://homepage.ntlworld.com/stephen.pomeroy/local/musichal.pdf
  9. ^ Plymouth, Hippodrome Theatre, Devonport
  10. ^ http://www.key2theatre.co.uk/theatre_guide.asp?query=s
  11. ^ history of television studios in London
  12. ^ The Holme
  13. ^ http://www.andreas-praefcke.de/carthalia/uk/uk_Manchester_palace.htm
  14. ^ Microsoft Word - Conservation Statement.DOC
  15. ^ Sansome Hall Architetcs, Milton Keynes UK - Theatre Refurbishment
  16. ^ Théâtre Mogador, Paris
  17. ^ Carthalia - London: Piccadilly Theatre
  18. ^ Cinema Treasures | Odeon Covent Garden

[edit] External links