In Manchester, you had Arthur Fox and his Revue Bar. London had Paul Raymond’s Revue Bar, and Birmingham had Rhoda Rogers’ Revuebar at 114 Holiday Road, Soho Road, Handsworth. While at a commercial college in Birmingham, unbeknownst to her parents, Rhoda Rogers studied at a dancing academy. One Christmas, the Continue Reading
Shows and Clubs
Discover the influential shows and striptease clubs that played a pivotal role in shaping London’s Soho during the 1950s and ’60s —as well as look at Arthur Fox’s Revue Bar in Manchester and Rhoda Rogers’ Revuebar in Birmingham. Plus, some events we have held.
The Irving Theatre Club — Revues with Vues
In post-war England, local theatres and music halls struggled to keep their audiences in the face of stiff competition from cinema and the relatively new medium of television. Variety shows, along with their increasingly all-important ‘girlie’ shows and striptease acts, were used to attract audiences, but they had to abide Continue Reading
Danny Kaye at the London Palladium
Pamela occasionally interviewed the stars who appeared at the London Palladium for the magazine Show by Axtell Publications. Harrison Marks not unexpectedly got to take the pictures. Here’s a rare picture of Pamela with Danny Kaye in his dressing gown. For those of you too young to remember Danny Kaye was as an Continue Reading
Paris to Piccadilly
One of the stage productions Pamela Green starred in was the Folies-Bergère review Paris to Piccadilly at the Prince of Wales Theatre, in which Norman Wisdom appeared in half-a-dozen sketches scattered through the show. Pam found working at the Prince of Wales Theatre was a vast improvement on the London Casino Continue Reading
Murray’s Club Archive Exhibition
Vintage Poster collector, Charlie Jeffreys, in conjunction with the Museum of Soho have mounted an exhibition on Murray’s Cabaret Club at the Century Club on Shaftesbury Avenue. The club in London’s Soho was a notorious jazz and revue club which opened in 1913 on Beak Street. It was known for its extravagant Continue Reading
Murray’s Cabaret Club
Christine Keeler, who died earlier this month worked as a topless showgirl at Murray’s Cabaret Club in London’s Soho. She needs no introduction but who was Murray? Percival “Pops” Murray ran a café in Le Zoute, Belgium. In 1924 he had a club in Ostend, and by the late 1920s, Continue Reading
Get ’em off at the Nell Gwynn – Part 1
Get ’em off (1976) is an amusing and dated film about the history of stripping mainly filmed at the Nell Gwynn and The Gargoyle Club in London’s Soho. When George Harrison Marks and Pamela Green were living and working in Gerrard Street in the 1960s, they were just a stone’s Continue Reading
La Danse Apache
Besides performing an half-and-half act, Desiree did several double acts. This photo is from an original print by George Harrison Marks. It is labeled DeYoung and Desiree. It looks like they are performing La Danse Apache, a French dance that acts out an argument between a pimp and a prostitute. Continue Reading
Arthur Fox: My Striptease Shows Are Pure
Nice article in the News of the World from October 29, 1961, about the long-forgotten Arthur Fox — The King of Strip. Manager shut his eyes at strip girls But owner say ‘my shows are pure’ ARTHUR FOX, 53-year-old theatrical producer, is jointly charged with Empso, Ltd., with keeping a Continue Reading
Folies Striptease
Time for another Arthur Fox post. The design of this small handbill, for the Royal Pavilion in Blackpool, was probably used for a poster as well. It is for Arthur Fox’s Summer Revue, The Folies Striptease, starring Sabra Samarr, Blondie Haigh, Mademoiselle Desiree (a.k.a. Cynthia Keen) and Jane Eyre. It is Continue Reading