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© City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council |
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The show must go on! |
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© City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council
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The Alhambra was built to accommodate a new type of public entertainment. The seedy, disreputable music halls of the 19th Century were now decreasing in popularity. The growth of the Edwardian middle class, and their associated aspirations, led to an appetite for a more refined, respectable form of public entertainment. Variety, or light entertainment, was born. In 1912 the first Royal Variety Performance was staged at the Palace Theatre in London.
The variety circuit was made up of extravagant theatres; their luxury was a deliberate rejection of the seedy, dank music hall the variety nights were replacing. The irony of the flamboyance and over-the-top architecture of the Alhambra in relation to the respectable and tempered down entertainment it housed seems to have been lost on theatre-goers of the time.
© City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council
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The popularity of the Alhambra during its early years owed much to the privations and sadness of the First World War: it provided a much-needed escape. The theatre put on shows twice a night. In the early years, seat prices ranged from 15s (75 pence) to 9d (4 pence). Going to the Alhambra was an affordable night out and in the 1920s, the heyday of variety entertainment, the sign 'Full House' was often displayed.
The Alhambra's success continued despite the arrival of the cinema. The growth and domination of the new breed of cinemas reached its peak in 1946 when a record 1.635 billion cinema tickets were sold in Britain. Though the age of variety may have passed, the Alhambra turned to pantomime and comedy to escape the cinema conversion suffered by many of its contemporaries.
© City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council
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In 1986 the Alhambra underwent a much-needed £8.2 million restoration. The distinctive domes were retained but a new glass exterior breathed life into the jaded building. Both performers and audience gained from the numerous changes. The stage was enlarged and the backstage and rehearsal areas, bars and toilets were modernised.
Today this unique jewel of the city's skyline continues to provide entertainment to theatre-goers from Bradford and nationwide. The Alhambra Theatre has managed to sustain the excitement it started nearly 90 years ago. Here, at least, the spirit of theatre definitely lives on.
"Tombstone for a comic"
The Alhambra has long been known as a notoriously difficult gig for comedians. An early programme carried a notice asking people to laugh and applaud - but to no avail. George Formby described the Alhambra as a "fine tombstone for a comic"! |
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