Then came a season of “Promenade” Concerts, and during the Franco-Prussian war the conductor, Mr. Jules Riviere, gave the “War Songs of Europe,” those of the French and Prussian nations evoking such passion that free fights occurred, and the theatre lost its music-hall licence; and the Directors of the Alhambra Company promptly secured a regular theatre licence from the Lord Chamberlain!
So on April 24th, 1871, the place was opened as the Alhambra Theatre, with an evening’s entertainment including a farce, “Oh, My Head!”; a comic opera, “The Crimson Scarf”; and two ballets, “The Beauties of the Harem” and “Puella.” Then followed another ballet “The Sylph of the Glen”; and then “A Romantic Tale,” by J. B. Johnston, and an extravaganza, “All About the Battle of Dorking.”
In September of the same year the Vokes, a famous family of dancers, made their appearance, the programme including “The Two Gregorys,” a comic ballet, and “The Mountain Sylph,” and “The Beauties of the Harem,” in which a Mlle. Sismondi appeared with much success. The Christmas pantomime which followed, with the title “Harlequin Prince Happy-go-Lucky, or Princess Beauty” (a title quite in the good old pantomime style), included a ballet, with such performers as Mlles. Pitteri, Sismondi, and another well-known dancing family, the Elliots.
There was a change of management in March, 1872, when John Baum, from Cremorne Gardens, took up the reins and produced Offenbach’s “Le Roi Carotte,” with M. Jacobi as musical director, and ballets as a feature of the production. Then followed “The Black Crook,” and Offenbach’s beautiful opera, “La Belle Hélène,” and then, in December, 1873, “Don Juan,” in each of the last two Miss Kate Santley playing “lead.”
In the spring of next year came “La Jolie Parfumeuse,” followed in the autumn with a ballet, “The Demon’s Bride,” and “Whittington,” an opéra bouffe, in which the honours were shared by Miss Kate Santley and Miss Julia Mathews.
In the autumn of 1875, with Mr. Joseph A. Cave as Manager and producer, came “Spectresheim,” and a comic ballet, “Cupid in Arcadia,” in which the Lauri family and “The Majiltons” appeared. A succession of farces, pantomimes, extravaganzas, light opera and ballets followed, the more noteworthy productions being Strauss’s “Die Fledermaus,” produced at the Alhambra on January 9th, 1877.
As an example of the lavish manner in which the audiences of those days were catered for, the programme for that evening is interesting. There was none of the “9 to 11” business about the theatres then. The “gallery boy” paid his sixpence, or the “pittite” his two shillings expecting a run for his money—and got it! The majority of theatres began their performance at 7.15 p.m.; and those that did not, started even earlier, sometimes as early as six o’clock, and often with four or five productions. On January 9th, 1877, the programme at the Alhambra was as follows:
| 7.15. | “A Warning to Parents.” | A Farce. |
| 8.0. | “Die Fledermaus.” | Opera Comique by Johann Strauss. |
| 10.0. | The Celebrated Girards. | Eccentric Dancers. |
| 10.15. | “The Fairies’ Home.” | A New Grand Ballet. |
“Die Fledermaus” had an excellent cast, including Miss Emma Chambers—a very popular soubrette of the time—and Mr. Harry Paulton; while in the ballet were a Mlle. Pertoldi, a very handsome danseuse of statuesque proportions, a Mlle. T. de Gillert, a clever mime, and among lesser lights Mlles. Sismondi, Melville, Rosa and Richards, who were for several years to be more or less prominently associated with the Alhambra ballet.
In September of the same year was staged Offenbach’s opéra bouffe, “Orphée aux Enfers,” with handsome, golden-tressed Cornélie d’Anka as the chief attraction; the same programme including the ballet of “Yolande,” “invented and designed” by Alfred Thompson, with music by Mons. G. Jacobi, and dances by Mons. A. Bertrand, from the Paris Opera, who was later to become more closely associated with Alhambra productions. The principal danseuses were Mlles. Passani, Pertoldi, de Gillert and M. A. Josset.