Moss Empires
Encyclopedia
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
company formed in Edinburgh from the merger of the theatre companies owned by Sir Edward Moss
Edward Moss
Sir Horace Edward Commitment Moss was a British theatre impresario and the founder chairman of the Moss Empires Ltd theatre combine which he created in the 1890s after first joining forces with Richard Thornton of Newcastle and later with Oswald Stoll then operating in Wales...
and Sir Oswald Stoll
Oswald Stoll
Sir Oswald Stoll was an Australian-born British theatre manager and the co-founder of the Stoll Moss Group theatre company...
in 1898. This created the largest British chain of music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
s. The business was successful, controlling 33 music halls, and by 1905 almost every sizeable town in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
had an Empire, or Coliseum theatre, managed by Stoll, and many newly constructed and designed by Frank Matcham
Frank Matcham
Frank Matcham was a famous English theatrical architect. He is buried in Highgate Cemetery.-Early career:...
.The group grew to over 50 theatres, until Stoll withdrew his to run them as a separate business. After some 30 years the Moss and Stoll companies reunited under Prince Littler
Prince Littler
Prince Frank Littler CBE was an influential British theatre impresario. He was also one of the major investors and a company director of Associated TeleVision, the second ITV network contractor to begin broadcasting in 1955.His brother Emile and sister Blanche were also major figures in the theatre...
. The company ended its promotion of music halls during the 1960s, due to increasing competition from other entertainment media.
The first Royal Command Variety Performance was planned for Sir Edward Moss`s Edinburgh Empire in the Coronation year 1911 but it burned down and instead was held at the London Palace Theatre in 1912, owned then by Sir Alfred Butt , a competitor of Moss, who later joined its alliance; with many subsequent performances being given at the London Palladium
London Palladium
The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...
. In 1945 Val Parnell
Val Parnell
Valentine Charles Parnell , known as Val Parnell, was a British television producer and theatrical impresario.-Life and career:...
became managing director of Moss Empires.
The company continues as Really Useful Theatres
Really Useful Group
The Really Useful Group Ltd. is an international company set up in 1977 by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is involved in theatre, film, television, video and concert productions, merchandising, magazine publishing, records and music publishing...
, formed from the merger of the Stoll Moss Group with RUG
Really Useful Group
The Really Useful Group Ltd. is an international company set up in 1977 by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is involved in theatre, film, television, video and concert productions, merchandising, magazine publishing, records and music publishing...
Theatres, during January 2000. They continue to manage seven theatres, the London Palladium
London Palladium
The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...
, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
, the Palace
Palace Theatre, London
The Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London. It is an imposing red-brick building that dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus and is located near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road...
, the New London
New London Theatre
The New London Theatre is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden...
, the Adelphi
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
, Her Majesty's
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
and the Cambridge Theatre
Cambridge Theatre
The Cambridge Theatre is a West End theatre, on a corner site in Earlham Street facing Seven Dials, in the London Borough of Camden, built in 1929-30. It was designed by Wimperis, Simpson and Guthrie; interior partly by Serge Chermayeff, with interior bronze friezes by sculptor Anthony Gibbons...
.
London
- Empire Theatre of Varieties, Leicester SquareLeicester SquareLeicester Square is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west...
- Hackney EmpireHackney EmpireThe Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in the London Borough of Hackney, built in 1901 as a music hall.-History:Hackney Empire is a grade II* listed building...
(1901) - London PalladiumLondon PalladiumThe London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...
(1910) - Coliseum TheatreColiseum TheatreThe London Coliseum is an opera house and major performing venue on St. Martin's Lane, central London. It is one of London's largest and best equipped theatres and opened in 1904, designed by theatrical architect Frank Matcham , for impresario Oswald Stoll...
(1904) - Theatre Royal, Drury LaneTheatre Royal, Drury LaneThe Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
(1812)
Provinces
- Bradford AlhambraBradford AlhambraThe Bradford Alhambra is a theatre in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It was built in 1913 at a cost of £20,000 for theatre impresario Francis Laidler, and opened on Wednesday 18 March 1914. In 1964 Bradford City Council bought the Alhambra for £78,900. In 1974 it was designated a Grade II...
(1914) - Liverpool OlympiaLiverpool OlympiaThe Liverpool Olympia is situated next to The Grafton Ballroom on West Derby Road, Liverpool, England.-History:The Liverpool Olympia was built in 1905 For Moss Empires Ltd by architect Frank Matcham as a purpose built indoor circus and variety theatre...
(1905) - Liverpool Empire TheatreLiverpool Empire TheatreLiverpool Empire Theatre is located on the corner of Lime Street and London Road in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The theatre is the second to be built on the site, and was opened in 1925. It has the largest two-tier auditorium in Britain and can seat 2,350 people...
(1925) - Newcastle Empire (1890)
- Nottingham Empire Palace (1898)
- Empire Palace TheatreEdinburgh Festival TheatreThe Edinburgh Festival Theatre is a performing arts venue located on Nicolson Street in Edinburgh Scotland used primarily for performances of opera and ballet, large-scale musical events, and touring groups. After its most recent renovation in 1994, it seats 1,915...
, Edinburgh (1892-1963) - Glasgow Empire TheatreGlasgow Empire TheatreGlasgow Empire Theatre, known as The Glasgow Palace Empire until the early 1900s, was a variety theatre in Glasgow, Scotland, which opened in 1897 on the site of the Gaiety Theatre at 31-35 Sauchiehall Street....
(1897-1963) - Empire Theatre, Oxford Street, Swansea (1900 - 1960)