Nothing has changed so much in recent time as the entertainment fife of London. While New York has been building half-a-dozen theatres, London has built one, the Fortune, neat but small structure in Russell Street. The. era of the musie-hall is over, though there are igns that it will revive. The Empire is being rebuilt as a super-Jeinema; half the cost of £500,000 [being found by Mr. Solly Joel and half by American capitalists, with Sir Alfred Butt as the manager. The Hippodrome has gone in for lrovue, The Alhambra, the Coliseum and the Palladium alone remain faithful to variety, but somehow the glamour seems to have depart-Jed from them, though the patronage pectable. is as great as ever, and very res-
'The theatres are partly under [American control, which means an influx of American pieces, some good and most poor, with a keying up of the rates' of all prices. Thus the pit, as it once was known, has almost disappeared. In years gone by, the charge of admission {to a wide expanse of seats was 1/6: this rose to 2/6, then to 3/0, and Inext to 4/6, plus tax, and now there is a gradual introduction of bookble "pit-stalls" at.5/9, There often are no pit seats, but standing room is offered at 3/6 plus tax. The orchestra stalls are movable Jand when the piece is a success! occupy almost. all of "the oer space. They vary in price from 10/6. to 12/6 and 16/-, often to21/-, and on jeceasion to 24/-.In other words, the Management charges just as much fas it thinks it can get. All subsidiary charges are high, including the programmes and refreshment The stall holder pays. 1/- for exactly what the pittite gets for 4d.
Jreare is equally rare and when layed tall there is some freak accompaniment such as modern feostumes, in which both "Hamlet" and "Othello" have been given rejeently, The grand-daughter of Forbes Robertson has, though, made a hit as Juliet inthe past week or two in an experimental performance, Crook plays, revue land comedies with a touch of melo-lérama are the most popular.
The old-fashioned musical comedy seldom produced; it has been killed by the revue." Tt, shows, the character of this type of production, when we have the Charlot Show of 1926, which is a series of turns and. [dances strung together. 'The Cooptimists still hold their own at His Majesty's; they have in the last few years made £80,000 profit fand some' think they are declining Kittle in skill so possibly staleness is intervening. There are constant changes, in the personnel and the latest ladies-are not so good carded pantomime, which now only lexists at the Lyceum and the. Palfladium, Pantomime artistes of the Jold school are almost extinct. There jate many good actors and actresses, but none outstanding among the! younger generation. 'The—plays give them little scope and the artist nowadays is a Society person' and takes himself and herself less seriously save perhaps one or two Like Sybil Thorndike,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.