Oxford Music-Hall

Oxford Music-Hall, London, at the corner of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road. One of London's best-known music-halls, it opened under the management of Charles Morton in 1861, having on its act-drop and on the cover of its programmes a view of Magdalen Tower, Oxford. It had a successful career, both George Robey and Harry Tate making their London débuts there, and was rebuilt in 1869, 1873, and 1893. In 1917 it was taken over by C. B. Cochran, who renamed it the Oxford Theatre and presented there an extravaganza, The Better 'Ole, by Bruce Bairnsfather, the famous cartoonist and war correspondent, which ran for 811 performances. In 1920 the old hall was fully converted into a theatre, and it opened in 1921 with a spectacular long-running revue, The League of Notions. During 1922 it was used briefly for films, but returned to live theatre with plays starring Sacha Guitry and Yvonne Printemps and a visit from Eleonora Duse. In 1924 the Old Vic company made its first West End appearance at the Oxford, with productions by Robert Atkins of As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night, and Hamlet. A series of unsuccessful ventures followed, and the theatre closed in 1926. It was demolished in the following year.