Music hall is a form of entertainment that was at the height of its popularity in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s in the United Kingdom. The term also refers to the place where the entertainment was presented. Music hall attracted mainly the poorer working people, and most of the performers came from this class. The humor was broad and robust. Music halls had up to 20 turns (performances) on their bills (programs). During their peak of popularity, music halls outnumbered regular theaters in London and the English provinces.
Performers often appeared in three or four halls in one evening and toured all over the country. The most popular performers were comedians, acrobats, jugglers, dancers, singers, and magicians. Top performers included the singer Marie Lloyd and the male impersonator Vesta Tilley.
Music hall developed from the song-and-dance supper rooms of early Victorian England. Food and drink were served while singers, comedians, dancers, and other performers entertained the patrons. In 1852, Charles Morton opened the first music hall, a special room at a tavern called the Canterbury Arms in the Lambeth district of London. Known as the Canterbury Music Hall, it first presented classical music and ballad singing but eventually changed to comedy. Morton opened the Surrey Music Hall in London in 1861, the first facility built as a music hall. Other public houses opened similar halls. After World War I (1914-1918), music hall lost its popularity, partly because of competition from the cinema and radio. After World War II (1939-1945), it virtually ceased as popular entertainment.
