Tag Archives: Jack Hylton

The Cabaret Follies

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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The Queen’s Hall Roof

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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The Kit Cat Club

The Kit Cat Club

The fashionable Kit Cat Club in the Haymarket, which to many people today still epitomises the gay carefree days of the 1920s, was opened in the summer of 1925 and immediately became one of the most famous nocturnal haunts in London. Decked out with the last word in restaurant and dance floor equipment it was regarded as the most sumptuous resort in Europe and was the only club in London that had been built expressly for the purpose of a club.

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Welcome to the Cabaret

Welcome to the Cabaret

Cabaret was one of the defining features of the Jazz Age and these supper entertainments were staged in a venue other than a theatre all over the world. Besides providing food, drink, jazz music and an entertainment, customers could also dance. Indeed dancing was the key to the 20th century cabaret craze. Continue reading Welcome to the Cabaret

The Tragedy of May Vivian

The Tragedy of May Vivian

May Vivian (1903-1924) was a vivacious actress and dancer who had just made a name for herself in London cabaret and was destined for bright things, but her life was cut short when, with all the dramatic intensity of a film tragedy, she was shot dead in the Spring of 1924 by a jealous suitor in the South of France.

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Tricks and the Trix Sisters

The Trix Sisters

The Trix Sisters (Helen and Josephine) were an American vaudevillian team who made it big in Europe after the First World War. Although they appeared in some successful shows, their unique inimitable style of playing the piano, dancing and singing found even greater favour in the burgeoning cabaret circuit in London and Paris and their recordings became hugely popular. Continue reading Tricks and the Trix Sisters