Vaudeville Theatre

The Vaudeville Theatre refers to two venues:

a 19th century theatre in Cape Town

a performance venue in Bloemfontein at the start of the 20th century.

In 2009, a burlesque supper club called Vaudeville opened in Cape Town.

Vaudeville Theatre, Bloemfontien

Mr. Harry Friedman, who was well-known as a promoter of dramatic enterprises, was lessee of The Vaudeville Theatre in Bloemfontein. He was said to have done a great deal to provide the residents with suitable amusements.

Vaudeville Theatre, Cape Town

The theatre was located on Loop Street (eastern side of Longmarket Street) in Cape Town. It was designed by architect Frederick (Fred) Cherry.

1889: Our Flat was performed by Lionel Brough as part of his repertoire while on tour in South Africa under the auspices of Luscombe Searelle.

1890: The Bells of Haslemere and In the Ranks were performed in the Vaudeville Theatre by the Chambers Theatrical Company, under the management of Emma Chambers.

1890: Gounod's opera, Faust, was performed in the Vaudeville Theatre, by the visiting Verdi Opera Company.

1891: A scratch company performed a season of plays at the theatre that included The Idler (Chambers), The Silver King (Jones and Herman), Mr Barnes of New York (Gunter/Collier-Edwards) and Forget-me-Not (Merivale and Grove).

1892/1893: The theatre was leased by the Emilie Bevan Comedy Company. Productions staged by the company include (in the first season) first season consisted of The Old Love and the New (Howard/Albery), The Silver King (Jones and Herman), The English Rose (Sims and Buchanan), Jane (Nicholls and Lestocq), The Bells of Haslemere (Pettitt and Grundy), The Profligate (Pinero), The Lights o' London (Sims), Sweet Lavender (Pinero), Moths (Ouida), The Late Lamented (Bison/Horner), The Magistrate (Pinero), Diplomacy (Sardou/Rowe & Rowe), Held by the Enemy (Gillette), Judah (Jones), In His Power (Quinton), The Colleen Bawn (Boucicault), The Private Secretary (Hawtrey) and Struck Oil (Anon.). The company made a return in April 1893 with a shorter season at the Vaudeville Theatre that included Niobe (Paulton and Paulton), Betsy (Burnand) and The Pink Dominoes (Hennequin and Delacour/Alberry).

1892: Emma Chambers returned to the theatre with The Ticket-of-Leave Man (December).

1893: Little Lord Fauntleroy, Niobe, L'Enfant Prodigue and Dandy Dick were presented by the Wheeler Company.

1893: Ruy Blas was presented in English by Vernon Reid and his company.

1895, Een Hulde aan Nederlands Koningin ("A tribute to the Queen of the Netherlands") was performed by the amateur company of Door Yver Bloeit de Kunst in the Vaudeville Hall, Cape Town, on 1 October, 1895, as part of a programme that also included performances of De Minnebrief van Steven (Anon.) and De Gravin de Moranges (Delcourt).

Vaudeville, Cape Town (2009-?)

Established by Robert Sawyer and Tom Pearson-Adams. This was a 300-seater Vaudevillian burlesque supper club built in the old Cape Town rubber factory on Mechau Street on the Foreshore. The club presented a show featuring circus-like acts who performed during a three-course meal.

It opened on 10 December 2009 with a nine-act show compèred by Irit Noble and produced by Will Hutton and Andrew Florenca.