George Edwardes
George Joseph Edwardes was an English theatre manager and producer of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond. Edwardes started out in theatre management, soon working at a number of West End theatres, by the age of 20, he was managing theatres for Richard DOyly Carte. In 1885, Edwardes became a manager at the Gaiety Theatre with John Hollingshead, for the next three decades, Edwardes ruled a theatrical empire including the Gaiety, Dalys Theatre, the Adelphi Theatre and others, and sent touring companies around Britain and abroad. In the early 1890s, Edwardes recognised the changing tastes of theatre audiences and led the movement away from burlesque. Edwardes was born at Great Grimsby, England and he was the eldest of four sons and three daughters of James Edwards, comptroller of customs, and his wife, Eleanor Widdup. Edwardes parents were Roman Catholics from Wexford, Ireland and he attended St Jamess College, in Clee, after which he was sent to London to take the examination for the Royal Military Academy.
However, his cousins were Irish theatre managers John and Michael Gunn, Michael Gunn met Richard DOyly Carte in 1875 and became a partner in his production company. He and young Edwardes moved to London to work for Carte at the Opera Comique in the late 1870s, during this time, he added the e to his surname. While working at the Opera Comique, Edwardes met his wife, singer Julia Gwynne, whom he brought to the DOyly Carte Opera Company. The couple married in 1885 and produced three daughters, including one named Dorothy, and a son, DArcy, in 1885, Edwardes was hired to succeed John Hollingshead as manager at the Gaiety Theatre, producing the burlesques in which the Gaiety specialised. Together, they produced Little Jack Sheppard a burlesque in a format with an original score by Meyer Lutz. After this, in 1886, Hollingshead retired, and from on the Guvnor was in charge, with the assistance of the star player. These included Monte Cristo, Miss Esmeralda, Frankenstein, or The Vampires Victim, Faust up to Date, Ruy Blas and the Blasé Roué, Carmen up to Data, Cinder Ellen up too Late, John DAuban choreographed the Gaiety burlesques until 1891.
These new burlesques were very successful and toured widely in Britain, Dorothys runaway success showed Edwardes and other producers that topical, light comedies could be enormously successful. At the same time, the death of Fred Leslie and retirement of Nellie Farren by 1892 helped bring to an end the era of Gaiety burlesque, Edwardes produced shows at other theatres as well. For instance, in 1892, he took over the Prince of Wales Theatre, in addition, after Gilbert and Sullivan stopped working together exclusively in the 1890s, Edwardes produced Gilberts His Excellency at the Lyric Theatre in 1894. The earliest of these shows, taking a cue from Dorothy, had a style similar to the Gilbert. Into this mix, he incorporated some of the elements of the form that Harrigan & Hart had established on Broadway a decade earlier, like Thomas German Reed and W. S. Gilbert before him, Edwardes wanted to produce musical plays that were more respectable than risqué burlesque
Triage
Triage is the process of determining the priority of patients treatments based on the severity of their condition. This rations patient treatment efficiently when resources are insufficient for all to be treated immediately, the term comes from the French verb trier, meaning to separate, sift or select. Triage may result in determining the order and priority of emergency treatment, Triage may be used for patients arriving at the emergency department, or telephoning medical advice systems, among others. This article deals with the concept of triage as it occurs in medical emergencies, including the setting, disasters. The term triage may have originated during the Napoleonic Wars from the work of Dominique Jean Larrey, the term was used further during World War I by French doctors treating the battlefield wounded at the aid stations behind the front. For many emergency medical systems, a similar model may sometimes still be applied. In the earliest stages of an incident, such as one or two paramedics exist to twenty or more patients, practicality demands that the above, more primitive model will be used.
However once a full response has occurred and many hands are available, paramedics will usually use the model included in their service policy, as medical technology has advanced, so have modern approaches to triage, which are increasingly based on scientific models. The categorizations of the victims are frequently the result of triage scores based on specific physiological assessment findings, some models, such as the START model may be algorithm-based. As triage concepts become more sophisticated, triage guidance is evolving into both software and hardware decision support products for use by caregivers in both hospitals and the field and this section is for concepts in triage. This step can be started before transportation becomes available, at its most primitive, patients may be simply marked with coloured flagging tape or with marker pens. Pre-printed cards for this purpose are known as a triage tags, a triage tag is a prefabricated label placed on each patient that serves to accomplish several objectives, identify the patient.
Identify the priority of the patients need for treatment and transport from the emergency scene. Track the patients progress through the triage process, identify additional hazards such as contamination. Triage tags may take a variety of forms, some countries use a nationally standardized triage tag, while in other countries commercially available triage tags are used, and these will vary by jurisdictional choice. The most commonly used commercial systems include the METTAG, the SMARTTAG, E/T LIGHT tm, some of these tracking systems are beginning to incorporate the use of handheld computers, and in some cases, bar code scanners. For classifications, see the section for that topic. In advanced triage and specially trained nurses may decide that some seriously injured people should not receive advanced care because they are unlikely to survive
Listed building
A listed building or listed structure, in the United Kingdom, is one that has been placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. The statutory bodies maintaining the list are Historic England in England, Cadw in Wales, Historic Scotland in Scotland, the preferred term in Ireland is protected structure. In England and Wales, an amenity society must be notified of any work to a listed building which involves any element of demolition. Owners of listed buildings are, in circumstances, compelled to repair and maintain them. When alterations are permitted, or when listed buildings are repaired or maintained, slightly different systems operate in each area of the United Kingdom, though the basic principles of the listing remain the same. It was the damage to caused by German bombing during World War II that prompted the first listing of buildings that were deemed to be of particular architectural merit. The listings were used as a means of determining whether a building should be rebuilt if it was damaged by bombing.
Listing was first introduced into Northern Ireland under the Planning Order 1972, the listing process has since developed slightly differently in each part of the UK. In the UK, the process of protecting the historic environment is called ‘designation’. A heritage asset is a part of the environment that is valued because of its historic. Only some of these are judged to be important enough to have legal protection through designation. However, buildings that are not formally listed but still judged as being of heritage interest are still regarded as being a consideration in the planning process. Almost anything can be listed – it does not have to be a building and structures of special historic interest come in a wide variety of forms and types, ranging from telephone boxes and road signs, to castles. Historic England has created twenty broad categories of structures, and published selection guides for each one to aid with assessing buildings and these include historical overviews and describe the special considerations for listing each category.
Both Historic Scotland and Cadw produce guidance for owners, in England, to have a building considered for listing or delisting, the process is to apply to the secretary of state, this can be done by submitting an application form online to Historic England. The applicant does not need to be the owner of the building to apply for it to be listed, full information including application form guidance notes are on the Historic England website. Historic England assesses buildings put forward for listing or delisting and provides advice to the Secretary of State on the architectural, the Secretary of State, who may seek additional advice from others, decides whether or not to list or delist the building. In England and Wales the authority for listing is granted to the Secretary of State by the Planning Act 1990, Listed buildings in danger of decay are listed on the Historic England Heritage at Risk Register
Broadway theatre
Along with Londons West End theatres, Broadway theatres are widely considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. The Theater District is a popular tourist attraction in New York City, the great majority of Broadway shows are musicals. They presented Shakespeare plays and ballad operas such as The Beggars Opera, in 1752, William Hallam sent a company of twelve actors from Britain to the colonies with his brother Lewis as their manager. They established a theatre in Williamsburg and opened with The Merchant of Venice, the company moved to New York in the summer of 1753, performing ballad operas and ballad-farces like Damon and Phillida. The Revolutionary War suspended theatre in New York, but thereafter theatre resumed in 1798, the Bowery Theatre opened in 1826, followed by others. Blackface minstrel shows, a distinctly American form of entertainment, became popular in the 1830s, by the 1840s, P. T. Barnum was operating an entertainment complex in lower Manhattan.
In 1829, at Broadway and Prince Street, Niblos Garden opened, the 3, 000-seat theatre presented all sorts of musical and non-musical entertainments. In 1844, Palmos Opera House opened and presented opera for four seasons before bankruptcy led to its rebranding as a venue for plays under the name Burtons Theatre. The Astor Opera House opened in 1847, booth played the role for a famous 100 consecutive performances at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1865, and would revive the role at his own Booths Theatre. Other renowned Shakespeareans who appeared in New York in this era were Henry Irving, Tommaso Salvini, Fanny Davenport, lydia Thompson came to America in 1868 heading a small theatrical troupe, adapting popular English burlesques for middle-class New York audiences. Thompsons troupe called the British Blondes, was the most popular entertainment in New York during the 1868–1869 theatrical season, the six-month tour ran for almost six extremely profitable years. Theatre in New York moved from downtown gradually to midtown beginning around 1850, in 1870, the heart of Broadway was in Union Square, and by the end of the century, many theatres were near Madison Square.
Broadways first long-run musical was a 50-performance hit called The Elves in 1857, New York runs continued to lag far behind those in London, but Laura Keenes musical burletta The Seven Sisters shattered previous New York records with a run of 253 performances. It was at a performance by Keenes troupe of Our American Cousin in Washington, the production was a staggering five-and-a-half hours long, but despite its length, it ran for a record-breaking 474 performances. The same year, The Black Domino/Between You, Me and the Post was the first show to call itself a musical comedy, Tony Pastor opened the first vaudeville theatre one block east of Union Square in 1881, where Lillian Russell performed. Comedians Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart produced and starred in musicals on Broadway between 1878 and 1890, with book and lyrics by Harrigan and music by his father-in-law David Braham. They starred high quality singers, instead of the women of repute who had starred in earlier musical forms. Plays could run longer and still draw in the audiences, leading to better profits, as in England, during the latter half of the century, the theatre began to be cleaned up, with less prostitution hindering the attendance of the theatre by women
Piccadilly Circus tube station
Piccadilly Circus is a London Underground station located directly beneath Piccadilly Circus itself, with entrances at every corner. Located in Travelcard Zone 1, the station is on the Piccadilly line between Green Park and Leicester Square and on the Bakerloo line between Charing Cross and Oxford Circus. The station was opened on 10 March 1906 by the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway with the platforms of the Great Northern, Piccadilly, as originally built it had, like other stations, a surface booking hall. It was decided to construct a sub-surface booking hall and circulating area, work began in February 1925 and was completed in 1928. The architect was Charles Holden and the builder was John Mowlem & Co, eleven escalators were provided in two flights, leading to the two lines serving the station. Above these escalators was once a mural by artist Stephen Bone and this mural was replaced by advertising. This station can act as a terminus for southbound Bakerloo line trains. Piccadilly Circus is one of the few London Underground stations which have no associated buildings above ground, Piccadilly Circus is a proposed stop on the Chelsea-Hackney Line, known as the Crossrail 2.
It would be between Victoria and Tottenham Court Road stations, effectively a new station would have to be built under the existing levels, possibly as part of a major overhaul of the existing buildings. However, there only be a stop at Piccadilly Circus if the Chelsea-Hackney Line is part of the London Underground network. This is the situation with many stations on the proposed route in Central London. London Buses routes 3,6,12,13,14,19,22,23,38,88,94,139,159 and 453 and night routes N3, N18, N19, N22, N29, N38, N97, N109 and N136 serves the station. Archived from the original on 18 March 2008, original station building shortly after opening Sub-surface ticket hall in 19291936 poster showing cut away of underground station arrangement Underground Journeys, The Heart of London. Illustrated history of Piccadilly Circus station, archived from the original on 4 May 2011
London Ambulance Service
It is one of the busiest ambulance services in the world, and the busiest in the United Kingdom, providing care to more than 8.6 million people, who live and work in London. The service is currently under the leadership of chief executive Dr Fionna Moore MBE, the service employ around 4,500 staff. In exceptional cases, or where the service deems in necessary, specialist teams can be deployed from within the service, such as the Hazardous Area Response Team and these teams are specially trained and equipped to deal with incidents such as working at height or in confined spaces. It is one of 10 ambulance trusts in England providing emergency medical services, there is no charge to patients for use of the service, as every person in England has the right to the attendance of an ambulance in an emergency. The LAS responded to over 1.8 million calls for assistance, incidents rose by 20,000 in 2015/16, putting more pressure on the service. All 999 calls from the public are answered at the Emergency Operations Centre in Waterloo, to assist, the services command and control system is linked electronically with the equivalent system for Londons Metropolitan Police.
This means that police updates regarding specific jobs will be updated directly on the computer-aided dispatch log, to be viewed by the EOC, the first became operational at The South Eastern Fever Hospital, Deptford, in October 1883. In all, six hospitals operated horse-drawn land ambulances, putting almost the whole of London within three miles of one of them, each ambulance station included accommodation for a married superintendent and around 20 drivers, horse keepers and attendants, laundry staff and domestic cleaners. At Deptford, in order to transfer patients between the hospitals at Joyce Green and Long Reach near Gravesend, a horse-drawn ambulance tramway was constructed in 1897, in 1902, the MAB introduced a steam driven ambulance and in 1904, their first motor ambulance. The last horse-drawn ambulances were used on 14 September 1912, although the MAB was legally supposed to be transporting only infectious patients, it increasingly carried accident victims and emergency medical cases.
Also in 1915, the MAB Ambulance Section were the first public body to women drivers. By July 1916 the London County Council Ambulance Corps was staffed entirely by women, the LCC took control of the River Ambulance Service, but it was disbanded in 1932. During World War II, the London Auxiliary Ambulance Service was operated by over 10,000 auxiliaries, mainly women and they ran services from 139 Auxiliary Stations across London. A plaque at one of the last to close, Station 39 in Weymouth Mews, near Portland Place, in 1948 the National Health Service Act made it a requirement for ambulances to be available for anyone who needed them. On 1 April 1996, the LAS left the control of the South West Thames Regional Health Authority, as an NHS Trust, the LAS has a Trust Board consisting of 12 members. The board includes, a chairman, five of the Service’s executive directors. Special events in London are co-ordinated from the Services event control room, located in east London, during mass casualty incidents, the command structure works on three levels, gold and bronze.
Silver control, tactical command, from a point in the vicinity of the incident, Bronze control
West End theatre
West End theatre is a common term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of Theatreland in and near the West End of London. Along with New York Citys Broadway theatre, West End theatre is considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London, in 2013, ticket sales reached a record 14.4 million, making West End the largest English speaking audience in the world. Famous screen actors frequently appear on the London stage, helen Mirren received an award for her performance as the Queen on the West End stage, and stated, theatre is such an important part of British history and British culture. Theatre in London flourished after the English Reformation, the first permanent public playhouse, known simply as The Theatre, was constructed in 1576 in Shoreditch by James Burbage. It was soon joined by The Curtain, both are known to have been used by William Shakespeares company.
In 1599, the timber from The Theatre was moved to Southwark and these theatres were closed in 1642 due to the Puritans who would influence the interregnum of 1649. After the Restoration, two companies were licensed to perform, the Dukes Company and the Kings Company, performances were held in converted buildings, such as Lisles Tennis Court. The first West End theatre, known as Theatre Royal in Bridges Street, was designed by Thomas Killigrew and built on the site of the present Theatre Royal and it opened on 7 May 1663 and was destroyed by a fire nine years later. It was replaced by a new designed by Christopher Wren and renamed the Theatre Royal. Outside the West End, Sadlers Wells Theatre opened in Islington on 3 June 1683. Taking its name from founder Richard Sadler and monastic springs that were discovered on the property, it operated as a Musick House, with performances of opera, as it was not licensed for plays. In the West End, the Theatre Royal Haymarket opened on 29 December 1720 on a site north of its current location.
The Patent theatre companies retained their duopoly on drama well into the 19th century, by the early 19th century, music hall entertainments became popular, and presenters found a loophole in the restrictions on non-patent theatres in the genre of melodrama. Melodrama did not break the Patent Acts, as it was accompanied by music, these entertainments were presented in large halls, attached to public houses, but purpose-built theatres began to appear in the East End at Shoreditch and Whitechapel. The West End theatre district became established with the opening of small theatres and halls. South of the River Thames, the Old Vic, Waterloo Road, the next few decades saw the opening of many new theatres in the West End. It abbreviated its name three years later, the theatre building boom continued until about World War I
Edwardian musical comedy
Between In Town in 1892 and The Maid of the Mountains in 1917, this new style of musical theatre became dominant on the musical stage in Britain and the rest of the English-speaking world. The Gaiety Theatres well-loved but racy burlesques were coming to an end and these two genres had dominated the musical stage since the 1870s. A few lighter, more comic operas, beginning with Dorothy found success. The father of the Edwardian musical was George The Guvnor Edwardes and he took over the Gaiety Theatre in the 1880s and, at first, improved the quality of the old Gaiety Theatre burlesques. Perceiving that their time had passed, he experimented with a modern-dress, family-friendly musical theatre style, with breezy, popular songs, romantic banter and these drew on the traditions of Savoy opera and used elements of burlesque and of Americans Harrigan and Hart. Their plots were simple, and they included displays of contemporary fashion and scenery. These shows were widely copied at other London theatres and in America.
The first Edwardian musical comedy was In Town in 1892 and its success, together with the even greater sensation of A Gaiety Girl in 1893, confirmed Edwardes on the path he was taking. These musical comedies, as he called them, revolutionized the London stage and set the tone for the next three decades. According to musical theatre writer Andrew Lamb, The British Empire, Edwardes early Gaiety hits included a series of light, romantic poor maiden loves aristocrat and wins him against all odds shows, usually with the word Girl in the title. After A Gaiety Girl came The Shop Girl, The Circus Girl, the heroines were independent young women who often earned their own livings. The stories followed a plot line – a chorus girl breaks into high society. There was always a misunderstanding during act one and an engagement at the end, in the words of a contemporary review, Edwardes’ musicals were Light and enjoyable. Later Gaiety Theatre girl musicals included The Orchid, The Spring Chicken, The Girls of Gottenberg, Our Miss Gibbs, The Sunshine Girl and The Girl on the Film.
The Geisha and San Toy each ran for more than two years and found international success, capitalizing on the British craze for all things oriental. Other Edwardes hits included The Girl from Kays, The Earl, the chief glories of Edwardian musical comedies lie in their musical scores. At their best, these combined the delicacy and sophistication of operetta with the robust tunefulness of the music hall, the major composers of the genre were Sidney Jones, Ivan Caryll, Lionel Monckton, Howard Talbot, Leslie Stuart and Paul Rubens. Scores were constantly refreshed and re-arranged, often by a number of different composers and lyricists, important writers included Adrian Ross, Harry Greenbank, Percy Greenbank, Owen Hall, Charles H. Taylor and Oscar Asche
Edwardian era
The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victorian era. The new king Edward VII was already the leader of an elite that set a style influenced by the art. The Liberals returned to power in 1906 and made significant reforms, below the upper class, the era was marked by significant shifts in politics among sections of society that had been largely excluded from wielding power in the past, such as common labourers. The Edwardian period is sometimes imagined as a golden age of long summer afternoons and garden parties. This perception was created in the 1920s and by those who remembered the Edwardian age with nostalgia, the Edwardian age was seen as a mediocre period of pleasure between the great achievements of the preceding Victorian age and the catastrophe of the following war. Recent assessments emphasise the differences between the wealthy and the poor during the Edwardian era and describe the age as heralding great changes in political and social life. Robert Tressells popular novel The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists is an example of the eras social critique.
Despite this, this type of perception has been challenged more recently by modern historians, the British historian Lawrence James has argued that, during the early 20th century, the British felt increasingly threatened by rival powers such as Germany and the United States. There was a political awareness of the working class, leading to a rise in trade unions. The aristocracy remained in control of top government offices, the Conservatives – at the time called Unionists – were dominant from the 1890s to 1906. The party had many strengths, appealing to voters supportive of imperialism, the Church of England, a powerful Royal Navy, and traditional hierarchical society. There was a powerful leadership base in the aristocracy and landed gentry in rural England, plus strong support from the Church of England. Historians have used election returns to demonstrate that Conservatives did surprisingly well in working-class districts and they had an appeal as well to the better-off element of traditional working class Britons in the larger cities.
Nevertheless, the weaknesses were accumulating, and proved so overwhelming in 1906 that they did not return to power until 1922. The Conservative Party was losing its drive and enthusiasm, especially after the retirement of the charismatic Joseph Chamberlain, there was a bitter split on tariff reform, that drove many of the free traders over to the Liberal camp. Tariff reform was an issue that the Conservative leadership inexplicably clung to. Support among the top tier of the class, and in lower middle class weakened. The 1906 election was a landslide for the opposition, which saw its total vote jump 25 percent, the Liberal Party lacked a unified ideological base in 1906
Apollo Victoria Theatre
The Apollo Victoria Theatre is a West End theatre on Wilton Road in the Westminster district of London, across from London Victoria Station. The theatre is now the home of the musical Wicked, which has played for years at the venue as of 2017. The theatre was built by architects Ernest Wamsley Lewis and William Edward Trent in 1929 for Provincial Cinematograph Theatres, the theatre was built with two identical façades on Wilton and Vauxhall Bridge Roads. Construction is principally of concrete, with horizontal banding along the exterior sides of the auditorium. By contrast the entrances feature a cantilevered canopy, and are framed by vertical channelling, the theatre had a 74 feet by 24 feet stage and was equipped with 10 dressing rooms and two suites for principals. The theatre was Grade II* listed on 28 June 1972, the theatre opened as the New Victoria Cinema on 15 October 1930 with a film starring George Arlis in Old English, based on a stage play by John Galsworthy. It was equipped with a Compton 3 manual 15 rank theatre organ, played on the night by Reginald Foort.
The first show played during the opening was Hoop-La, variety quickly gave way to a specialisation in film performances, with occasional performances by big bands. From September 1940 to May 1941, the theatre was closed due to World War II, plans were made for demolition in the 1950s, but it was saved and presented a mixture of ballet, live shows and films. Led Zeppelin rehearsed there, on May Day,1980 and it reopened in 1981 as the Apollo Victoria Theatre with a Shirley Bassey concert. Musicals, including The Sound of Music and Fiddler on the Roof played at the theatre in the early 1980s. In 1984, the interior was modified by the introduction of a race track that ran through the audience. The show premièred on 27 March, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and directed by Trevor Nunn and ran for 7,406 performances, with the removal of the tracks, the interior was extensively restored by architects Jaques Muir and Partners. This included the removal of 3,500 incandescent lamps that had become difficult to maintain and these were replaced by 88,000 low power LEDs specially designed for the theatre, creating the first auditorium completely lit in this way.
Another Lloyd Webber production followed, Bombay Dreams premièred on 19 June 2002 and it was created by A. R. Rahman with lyrics by Don Black and was directed by Steven Pimlott, closing after 1,500 performances on 13 June 2004. This was followed by the return to the West End of the Bee Gees musical Saturday Night Fever on 6 July 2004 and this was followed on 10 April 2006 by the jukebox musical Movin Out, featuring the music of Billy Joel. This starred James Fox but ran for two months. Wicked has been seen by over 7 million people in London, the show claimed a record-breaking £761,000 taken at the box office, during its first eight performances and to date has grossed £150 million in London alone
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is an Inner London borough which holds city status. It occupies much of the area of Greater London including most of the West End. It is to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and it was created with the 1965 establishment of Greater London. Upon creation, Westminster was awarded city status, which had previously held by the smaller Metropolitan Borough of Westminster. Aside from a number of parks and open spaces, the population density of the district is high. Many sites commonly associated with London are in the borough, including St. Jamess Palace, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, much of the borough is residential, and in 2008 it was estimated to have a population of 236,000. The local authority is Westminster City Council, the current Westminster coat of arms were given to the city by an official grant on September 2,1964. Westminster had other arms before, which had an identical to the chief in the present arms.
The symbols in the two thirds of the shield stand for former municipalities now merged with the city, Paddington. The original arms had a portcullis as the charge, which now forms the crest. The origins of the City of Westminster pre-date the Norman Conquest of England, in the mid-11th Century king Edward the Confessor began the construction of an abbey at Westminster, only the foundations of which survive today. For centuries Westminster and the City of London were geographically quite distinct, Westminster briefly became a city in 1540 when Henry VIII created the short-lived Diocese of Westminster. Following the dissolution of Westminster Abbey, a court of burgesses was formed in 1585 to govern the Westminster area, Strand, Pimlico and Hyde Park. The Westminster Metropolitan Borough was itself the result of an amalgamation which took place in 1900. Sir John Hunt O. B. E was the First Town Clerk of the City of Westminster, the boundaries of the City of Westminster today, as well as those of the other London boroughs, have remained more or less unchanged since the Act of 1963.
On 22 March 2017, a terrorist attack took place on Westminster Bridge, Bridge Street and Old Palace Yard, five people - three pedestrians, one police officer, and the attacker - died as a result of the incident. More than 50 people were injured, an investigation is ongoing by the Metropolitan Police. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors, Westminster City Council is currently composed of 44 Conservative Party members and 16 Labour Party members
Apollo Theater
It was the home of Showtime at the Apollo, a nationally syndicated television variety show which showcased new talent, from 1987 to 2008, encompassing 1,093 episodes. The theater, which has a capacity of 1,506, opened its doors in 1914 as Hurtig & Seamons New Burlesque Theater and it became the Apollo in 1934, when it was opened to black patrons – previously it had been a whites-only venue. In 1983, both the interior and exterior of the building were designated as New York City Landmarks, and it is estimated that 1.3 million people visit the Apollo every year. The building which became the Apollo Theater was built in 1913-14 and was designed by architect George Keister. It was originally Hurtig and Seamons New Theater, which enforced a strict Whites Only policy, the theatre was operated by noted burlesque producers Jules Hurtig and Harry Seamon, who obtained a 30-year lease. It remained in operation until 1928, when Billy Minsky took over, the song I May Be Wrong by Harry Sullivan and Harry Ruskin, written in 1929, became the theme song of the theater.
During the early 1930s, the fell into disrepair and closed once more. The show ran for an engagement and was highly praised by the press. Leo Brechers Harlem Opera House was another competing venue, to improve the shows at the Apollo, Cohen hired noted talent scout John Hammond to book his shows. However, the deal fell through when Cohen died, and the end result was the merger of the Apollo with the Harlem Opera House, the Opera House became a movie theater, but the Apollo, under the ownership of Brecher and Schiffman, continued to present stage shows. Schiffman hired Clarence Robinson as in-house producer, Originally, a show presented at the Apollo was akin to a vaudeville show. As the years progressed, such variety shows were presented less often, comic acts appeared on the Apollo stage, including those who performed in blackface, such as Butterbeans and Susie, much to the horror of the NAACP and the elite of Harlem. Gospel acts which played the Apollo include the Staple Singers, Mahalia Jackson, The Clark Sisters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Clara Ward and Sam Cooke with the Soul Stirrers.
Performers of soul music on the Apollo stage included Ray Charles, Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin, and jazz was represented as well, by acts such as Art Blakey and Horace Silver. The theaters audience was often mixed, in the 1940s it was estimated that during the week about 40% of the audience was white, Jazz singer Anita ODay headlined for the week of September 21,1950, billed as the Jezebel of Jazz. Schiffman had first introduced a night at the Lafayette Theater, where it was known as Harlem Amateur Hour. At the Apollo, it was originally called Audition Night, but became Amateur Night in Harlem, held every Monday evening and broadcast on the radio over WMCA, the Apollo grew to prominence during the Harlem Renaissance of the pre-World War II years. Fitzgeralds performances pulled in an audience at the Apollo and she won the opportunity to compete in one of the earliest of its Amateur Nights
Piccadilly Circus
