Charles Morton

JUST JIM DALE: British Music Hall
by Roundabout Theatre Company - Jun 27, 2014

In Just Jim Dale, the British Music Hall is featured as both a family business (Jim Dale's grandmother ran a theatrical boarding house adjoining a local music hall) and as a major influence on Dale's career. Music hall entertainment evolved out of musical performances given at local taverns. These 'taproom concerts' were initially a background diversion, secondary to the eating, drinking, and debauchery common to early 19th century pubs. As the concerts gained popularity, pub owners took note, and by the mid-1830s, taverns often had entire 'song and supper rooms' devoted to the entertainment. In 1843, the Theatre Regulations Act differentiated music halls from the 'theatre proper' (theatres that housed ballet and opera performances). While smoking and drinking were banned in the theatre proper, they were allowed to continue in music hall entertainment, thus cementing the music hall's popularity as a hangout for working class audiences.