Empire Palace of Varieties

The term Palace of Varieties (or Palace of Variety) seems to have been a generic name for a number of theatrical establishments in South Africa during the period 1889-1910. So too does the name Empire in the heyday of the British empire. The venues had a number of varying of names over the years, and never seem to be referred to consistently. These include The Empire Theatre, The Old Empire Theatre, The Empire Music Hall, The Empire Palace of Variety, The Empire Palace of Varieties, etc. It pretty much seems to depend on who is renting it and who is writing about it, though the term “music hall" was an earlier one, usually replaced by the more flamboyant “palace of varieties” – [TH, McM].

The Empire Palace of Varieties, Cape Town.

The Empire Palace of Varieties, Johannesburg.

There have been two theatres by this name in Johannesburg:

1894-1903

In 1894 this became the new name for the re-opened Globe Theatre at 47/49 Fox Street in Johannesburg. The Palace's bar became an informal stock exchange, and it was also the venue where the first motion picture was screened in South Africa in 1896 as the "Cinematographe", brought out by illusionist Carl Hertz.

The Empire remained continuously open from 1894 until October 1899, when it was closed by the Transvaal Government, due to the declaration of war. It re-opened on 26 May 1902 and the bioscope was restored on 7th March 1903. Fire again destroyed the stage after a performance on 19th November 1903, but the auditorium was saved by the effectiveness of the fireproof curtain, which became an innovation in theatres of that period.

The last play at the Empire was on 12 May 1906 and the owners decided to build another Empire in a better position. The old Globe building appears to have stood until the late 1940s (not as a running theatre) when it was eventually demolished.

1906-1935

A second, more famous, Empire Palace of Varieties opened at 135/7 Commissioner Street (corner of Kruis Street) in 1906. It was built by the building firm Gabriel & Ballantine at a cost of 70,000 Pounds.

An Edwardian building, designed by McIntosh and J.A. Moffat, it could house 1200 patrons, and had 18 boxes. The basement included a Billiards Room, while there were shops and a bar on the ground floor, and offices on the upper two floors. It appeared to be a very ordinary Edwardian office building. The only decorations were a few turrets and gables. The theatre lay beyond the offices, with the main entrance foyer in Commissioner Street, and the stage door, private box, and gallery entrances in Kruis Street.

The theatre was described as “a spectacle of Edwardian luxury with 18 boxes, plush upholstery, and drapes in green and gold – the most handsome theatre in the subcontinent”. The theatre was equipped with a sprinkler system and air-conditioning.

Many of the world’s greatest artists appeared on the Empire stage, including Sir Harry Lauder, George Robey, England’s master of broad comedy, Sir Seymour Hicks and Ellaine Terris, Irene Vanbrugh, Anna Pavlova, and Sybil Thorndike.

The Empire Theatre ran into financial difficulties and was taken over in 1913 by I.W. Schlesinger.

The theatre was very active and was finally pulled down in the 1935 to make way for the new Empire Theatre which opened in 1936.

Productions staged there include:

1916: The Million Dollar Girl (a revue); Venus Ltd

1917: S'Nice

1918: Very Good Eddie; The Bing Boys Are Here; A Funnier Fare.

1919: The Bing Boys on Broadway, Xtra Speshul and the pantomime The Babes in the Woods.

1921: The Jollity Seven (a revue featuring Elise Hamilton).

1925: Sally

For more information, see Empire Theatre.