Edinburgh Recollections - Pantomime at the King's Theatre

Recollections

Val Turner

Esk, Queensland, Australia

Thank you to Val Turner, formerly of Colinton, Edinburgh, and now living in Queensland, Australia who wrote:

Pantomime

Cinderella

"I remember going to the Christmas Pantomime at the King's Theatre with my Mum and my sisters. I remember at the end, when Cinderella married her Prince, she came out in a beautiful big sparkling coach drawn with a live white horse, a scene I can never forget!!"

Fish and Chips

"After the Pantomime, we'd go next door to have a fantastic fish and chip supper. We'd slide into the seats.

I remember the the vinegar on the table and a plate of bread and butter. They were the best chips ever!! I think it was 1s 9d but I can't be sure. What a treat!!"

Val Turner, Esk, Queensland, Australia: January 4, 2008.

Recollections

William Dutton

Colinton, Edinburgh

Thank you to Lorraine Bruce for sending me the story of her father's life, written by her father, William Dutton.

Most of William's recollections can be found on this page: Royston.

The notes below are his memories of watching the Pantomime and going to the theatre.

Pantomime and Theatre

"I saw my first Pantomime when I was about twelve, in the Theatre Royal, Leith Street. I thought it was for children, not for mature boys like myself.

But the variety acts impressed me, so much so, in fact that I couldn't wait until I had saved enough money to go to the Kings and the Palladium.

It was the Gaiety Theatre that hooked me for life I would learn all about the acts from reading the critics in the papers.

I saw:

- Jack Radcliff, comic

- Jack Milroy, comic

- Robert Wilson, tenor

- Locke and O'Conner, tenors

and all the big stars of the 1950s and 1960s."

William Dutton, Colinton, Edinburgh.

Message received from Lorraine Bruce, Dingwall, Ross & Cromarty, Scotland: September 7, 2010

Recollections

Matilda Martin

(née Tillie Kelly)

Coventry, West Midlands, England

The Palladium has already been mentioned, in Edinburgh Clubs and Discos, Recollections 31, after it had become The White Elephant in the 1960s.

Below, Matilda Martin recalls The Palladium a decade earlier.

Matilda wrote

Palladium Theatre

"I worked in the Palladium Theatre from 1955 till 1957. That's where I met my husband, through his father, Jay Morrell who produced many of the six-week variety shows which travelled around Scotland and Ireland.

In my father-in-law's time the shows only changed weekly. I never remember them changing twice weekly."

Matilda Martin (née Tillie Kelly), Coventry, West Midlands, England

Recollections

John Dickson

Royston, Edinburgh

Thank you to John Dickson, Royston, Edinburgh for sending me these programmes from the Gaiety Theatre at Kirkgate, Leith, from the 1940s and 1950s.

I found both the details of the shows and the adverts in the programmes to be interesting.

Programme Covers

Here are programme covers dating from:

- September 1945

- February 1946

- November 1949

- August 1953

I don't know which of these program covers refers to each of these dates.

The Program for 1953 refers to the Festival Water Show. Edinburgh Festival has been held annually from 1947 to date, for three weeks each year, beginning mid-August.

1946
Programme

Here are the inner pages from the February 1946 Programme

1953
Programme

Here are the inner pages from the August 1953 Programme.

John Dickson, Royston, Edinburgh: October 30, 2011