Tag Archives: 1920s London dining

Cabaret

The Cabaret Follies

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The Cabaret Follies 

When Jack Hylton’s Cabaret Follies show made its debut in London in the autumn of 1922 it was one of four big cabaret shows that made a Brighter London, the others being located at the Grafton Galleries (Midnight Revels), Murray’s Club (Murray’s Frolics) and the Hotel Metropole (the Midnight Follies). At first its status and popularity amongst London’s high society was unassailable, but when Jack Hylton relinquished control at the end of 1923, it floundered and ceased to be by the summer of 1924.

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Venues

The Queen’s Hall Roof

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The Queen’s Hall Roof

One of the more short-lived but nevertheless important dancing and cabaret venues in London in the Jazz Age was that of the Queen’s Hall Roof. As its name implied, it was in the roof of the magnificent Queen’s Hall in Langham Place, Regent Street, one of London’s landmarks. Designed by Thomas Knightley, the Queen’s Hall was London’s premier concert hall that opened in 1893 catering for an audience of 2,500.

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Venues

Hotel Metropole, London

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Hotel Metropole

The Hotel Metropole that opened in 1885 became one of London’s major hotels but after World War 1 it flowered with new vigour. The Restaurant des Ambassadeurs, the Café Anglais and the Whitehall rooms blossomed through the 1920s and the famous Midnight Follies cabaret created a brighter London.

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Cabaret

New Princes Frivolities First and Second Editions

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New Princes Frivolities First and Second Edtions

The first cabaret show at the New Princes Restaurant in Piccadilly was staged in February 1924 and became a regular feature of London’s Jazz Age nightlife for many years to come as the New Princes Frivolities.

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Venues

Princes Restaurant,  Piccadilly, London

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Princes Restaurant, Piccadilly, London

The Princes Restaurant and Hotel at 190-195 Piccadilly, London was created in the late 19th century and in 1924 became a Limited company retitled New Princes (Ltd). It combined a hotel with an entertainment hall or restaurant, galleries and other function rooms. In the Jazz Age of the 1920s it was one of the most popular social rendezvous in London and one of London’s major cabaret venues for the New Princes Frivolities.

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Venues

Devonshire Restaurant

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One of the most salubrious of restaurants in the West-End of London during the Jazz Age was the Devonshire Restaurant. It opened in late 1926 but despite an excellent cuisine, impeccable service and delightful décor it faltered and only lasted until the Spring of 1928. But then it was relaunched several times and did find success as the San Marco in the 1930s.

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Cabaret, Dolly Tree

Dolly’s Revels

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Dolly’s Revels
 
The first cabaret show to be presented by Harry Foster and Major E.O. Leadlay at the Piccadilly Hotel in Piccadilly, London was called Dolly’s Revels. It was staged by Edward Dolly, the brother of the famous Dolly Sisters in February 1924 and had costumes designed by Dolly Tree.

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Cabaret

Carnival Time, the Cabaret at the Criterion Restaurant, London

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After four successful years (1920-1924) of being one of London’s premier rendezvous for dining and dancing, the décor for the Criterion’s famous Italian Roof Garden was swept away and the room was re-decorated and became a cabaret with a show that was called Carnival Time.

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Cabaret, Venues

The Criterion Restaurant, London

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The Criterion in Piccadilly Circus, was a large collection of restaurants all housed in one building. It became an iconic rendezvous in London’s nightlife and a favoured haunt of London’s high society in the Jazz Age especially the splendid Italian roof garden that dazzled audiences from 1920-1924.

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