Dressing Rooms
by Valantyne Napier
This article was first published in The Call Boy journal in Autumn 1994 (Volume 31, No. 3, page 9).
One of the distinguishing features of the Great VARIETY THEATRES built between 1879 and 1912 was the provision of decent dressing rooms for the performers. In the old Music Halls such accommodation was limited to one room for males and one for females so with up to, or sometimes more than, twenty “Turns” on the M.H. bills, some of the “Turns” changed on the side of the stage. There is no clear account of conditions then but from some accounts it appears that the artistes arrived at the Music Halls already dressed and made-up, ready to go on stage. That could account for the rather exaggerated make-up sometimes portrayed with excessively rouged cheeks etc. The gaslighting in their homes or digs not being very good!
The well-designed Variety Theatres had sufficient dressing rooms for the eight to ten acts on the VARIETY bills to each have their own dressing room. The rooms were allocated according to the size of print and position on the bills. Compared to general living conditions of the period, the dressing rooms in Variety Theatres were comfortable, even salubrious. A long wooden bench and mirrors. A sink with running water, even hot and cold water was found in Variety Theatres before it was found in most homes! Hooks for costumes along one wall and adequate lighting.
Electricity was first introduced in theatres in 1881 and most theatres were electrified by 1905. There was usually an auxiliary gaslighting system in auditoriums and dressing rooms in case the electric power went off in emergency conditions. The gas brackets in dressing rooms were useful for tying an end of a line for the washing! The floors were either bare concrete or linoleum covered. No carpets. As wardrobe trunks and skips were placed in the dressing rooms carpets would not have been suitable. Some accounts of dressing rooms given by male comics in their autobiographies, give a very distorted picture. Maybe because they just arrived with bare essentials of one suit (?) and a couple of sticks of make-up. For the majority of Variety acts their dressing rooms became a home-from-home. As soon as the trunks were unpacked there were flowered cretonne covers on the dressing table bench. Covers along the wall for the costumes (both under and over the costumes to keep them clean) an ironing place set out, covers on the trunks and skips, and the tea making apparatus set out. Even best china cups etc!!
Many acts toured pets. It was not unusual for four or five acts on a bill to each have a dog in their dressing room. At least one act toured a cat! Chimpanzee acts had the chimps in the dressing room so carpets would not have been as easily cleaned as lino or concrete. Pros occupied their time between houses with many and varied hobbies. Writing books, various handcrafts from sewing and knitting to leather work and rug making. In the mornings the dressing rooms became offices for signing contracts and commission notes which had come in the mail, writing letters for digs and sending off photos for future dates.
In between morning practice on the stage, which most physical acts did to keep their skills honed to perfection, there would be morning tea or coffee either in the dressing room or at a nearby café. The railway representative might call in to ask about the next weeks journey and advise the best route and timetable. Other acts might pop in for a cuppa or the Front of House Manager might come around for conversation.
Like most old pros who worked Variety year in year out I guess I’ve spent about a quarter of my life in dressing rooms. My father used to make the dressing rooms into a real family room with rugs and pillows on top of the large Taylor trunk where the children could be put to bed. I recall my friends Lotus & Josie making a bed for their young son Roger in a similar fashion and I’m sure Rex & Bessie did for young Ray. Most speciality acts were family acts and the majority had young children travelling with them. The children learned to read, write, and draw in the dressing rooms. As a speciality act on Variety bills we usually had No. 3, 4, 5 or 6 dressing room, according to the size of the theatre. In Revues I usually had No. 2 or 3. The poor dancing acts usually got No. 8 or 10 if it was a ten act bill. Second spot comics would get No. 7 or No.9. The theatres with the best dressing room accommodations were probably Glasgow Empire, Wood Green Empire and Brixton Empress. There were even showers at Glasgow and Brixton! A long way from the old Music Halls with only two rooms or dressing on the side of the stage!! However I understand that after the great Variety Theatres closed the performers were forced back to those dreadful conditions in the clubs and pubs. The enlightened days of real Variety and the purpose built Variety Theatres had gone. The backstage conditions and the dressing rooms portrayed in the TV series Lost Empires was totally misleading. A splendid portrayal of Variety Theatre dressing room was given in RED PEPPERS with Joan Collins and Anthony Newley. It was perfect. A real home-from-home with washing on a line and a meal on the top of the skip. Even Joan doing some knitting in between the houses!!! As a daughter of a Variety agent and as “real pros” they knew what it was really like. I commend everyone to watch that if they want the “feel” of a Variety Theatre.
Footnote: the worst dressing room accommodation was at The City Varieties in Leeds where The Good Old Days was filmed. There were only five dressing rooms and very poor. The only theatre where I had to share!!! Not to mention the dreadful smell of stale fish from the rubbish bins near the stage door. I’m sure anyone who ever worked C.V. will know what I mean!
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Valantyne Napier (1923- 2003 ) was a regular contributor to The Call Boy journal. She was the daughter of performers, Hector and Dorothy Napier, and followed them into the business. Valantyne had a successful career on the stage, both as a contortionist and a dancer. She worked in variety, vaudeville, revue and pantomime, often presenting a variation on her father’s Human Spider act. In later years Napier published several books about the variety industry, including ‘Glossary of Terms Used in Variety’ (1996).
Lost Empires referred to was the 1986 Granada Television adaptation of JB Priestley’s novel of the same name.
Red Peppers with Joan Collins and Anthony Newley was a made for television adaptation of Noel Coward’s Tonight at 8.30 first broadcast in April 1991.
