| P3 has note
| - This silk playbill was produced for the Farewell Benefit of the well-known dancer Esther Austin at Lusby's Summer & Winter Palace. The bill notes that the occasion was Esther Austin's penultimate performance in this country. Because of the extra expense of their production, silk playbills were produced less often for music halls than for established theatres. The wording on the playbill announcing the Farewell Benefit: ‘on Friday next June 29th 1877’ must have come from type that had been set up at the printers' to print an advance notice on paper, since a silk would only have been produced for the event itself and not handed out in advance.
A silk playbill would have been seen as appropriate for the final Benefit for such a star as Esther Austin. Born Caroline Esther Austin in London in March 1842, Esther Austin first came to notice as a ‘Harlequina á la Watteau’ in pantomime at Astley’s Circus in December 1866, appeared at the Theatre de la Gaiêté, Paris, in early 1867, and on 2 June 1867 was describing herself in an advertisement in <i>The Era</i> as ‘Première Danceuse Characteristique’. She became well-known for dancing the can-can, and for her troupe of performers. Despite this silk announcing her 'farewell', Esther Austin and her Troupe appeared at the Canterbury Music Hall in 1886, when the reviewer noted: ‘It is so long since Miss Esther Austin was seen in London that her reappearance now introduces her to most people for the first time. This, however, should make her none the less welcome, and she and her clever company of dancing ladies are likely to be a great attraction.’
Lusby’s Summer & Winter Palace was run by William Lusby from 1874 until 1878. During Lusby’s management the name was changed to Lusby’s Music Hall, presumably when the ‘summer gardens’ which feature on this bill, were closed. Situated in London’s Mile End Road, it was originally the Eagle Public House, first licensed as such in 1848. From 1878 until 1883 it was managed by Charles Spencer Crowder and George Adney Payne and in 1885, when under the management of Crowder alone, was re-built as the Paragon Music Hall to the plans of the noted theatre architect Frank Matcham, with 2,000 seats and standing room for another 1,000. By 1910, it had been re-named Paragon Theatre of Varieties, and films were being screened as part of the variety programme. From 30 March 1912 it was taken over by Alexander Bernstein and was re-named the Mile End Empire Theatre. By December 1913, it was in use as a variety theatre and cinema, and by November 1923, it was operating as a full time cinema. (en)
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