Prowlina Pry and the Empire Theatre

Laura Ormiston Chant was horrified.  A writer of hymns and the editor of the National Vigilance Association magazine, she had been told about the painted ladies who paraded along the promenade of the Empire music-hall.  Even the outfits of the ballet dancers who performed there revealed too much.  Two American visitors warned her and she decided to prevent the ‘horrid slavery’ of these poor women.

Nicknamed ‘Prowlina Pry’, Chant said that she was no prude and she wasn’t against music-halls.  However, she disagreed with Walter McQueen Pope.  He wrote that these women were ‘caged tigresses’ who ‘never importuned’ and ‘made good wives and mothers’.

Chant fought against the renewal of the Empire’s licence and it was closed down by the London County Council in 1894.  It was soon reopened with canvas screens placed between the promenade and the auditorium.  This infuriated the audience who rushed on the ‘barricades’ and tore them down.  

Winston Churchill took the opportunity to make a speech.  “You have seen us tear down these barricades tonight.  See that you pull down those who are responsible for them at the coming election,” he said.  The promenade remained at the theatre.

The Symbol of the "Naughty Nineties"

Fire engines raced to the scene.  The young Prince of Wales and his friend, the Duke of Sutherland, were on one one of them.  They enjoyed the scene immensely as the horses were made to go faster and faster through the busy London streets of 1865.

Unfortunately, they couldn't save The Eldorado, a music-hall and restaurant.  Nineteen years later, a new music-hall replaced the old theatre.  Designed by Thomas Verity, an acclaimed theatre designer, the Empire Theatre in Leicester Square was to become one of the most famous music-halls.  It had a grand opening with Chilperic by Florimund Horne. It was also the site of the opening of the Lumiere Cinematrographe in 1896.

The music-hall was especially noted for its ballets.  Such eminent ballerinas as Adeline Genee appeared there.  Madame Katti Lanner, an Austrian dancer, ran a dance troupe.  The management even travelled to St.Petersburg to acquire new talent.

Unfortunately, the ballet stars were usually members of variety shows.  For example, one evening's entertainment included a juggler, a trapeze-swinging poodle and a contortionist.  This was not the only problem encountered by the girls who appeared in the ballet.  In those days,  actresses and girls in the ballet often had a bad reputation.  They were regarded as "easy game" by the young men of the town.  One MP, a Mr Winterbotham, later complained that dancers often became prostitutes.

The promenade at the back of the dress circle in the theatre was apparently notorious and the reason why the Empire Theatre was considered "the symbol of the Naughty Nineties". Prostitutes and courtesans strolled here hoping to attract the attention of the young aristocrats and dandies.  Winston Churchill wrote that "they also from time to time refreshed themselves with alcoholic liqueurs".  These scenes would result in a great scandal - the subject of my next post.