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 visiting circus at the Aston Hippodrome required a troupe of dancing girls. Rhoda applied and got the job, which lasted three weeks. Bitten by the showbiz bug, she became part of an adagio act. Around this time, she met her future husband, Cyril Dowler. They were quite a team, and together they toured in variety and ran revues, eventually forming a repertory company. Rhoda would often appear in panto, and she also did a bit of ice skating. She had a reputation as a brilliant performer and a perfectionist, both in her individual work and as a producer and choreographer. In 1960 she opened the Revue Bar with Cyril.
In 1964, for the 400th Anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare, Rhoda Rogers took part in a revue at the Casino de Paris Theatre in London called As you Like it, in which she portrayed Doll Tearsheet from Henry IV, Part II. By 1965 she was an active member of the Striptease Union.
Cyril Dowler was born and educated in Harrogate, Yorkshire. He persuaded his parents to finance a revue for him when he was only 17. He played principal comedy roles in revue, pantomime, and musical comedy, and successfully presented his own revues and pantomimes. In 1957, he appeared on his own programme for B.B.C. Television for a 12 weeks season. The Revuebar was his first foray into being a club proprietor. As a popular host, he was always willing to hand over the limelight to his wife, Rhoda Rogers, who performed one of the three striptease performances in the revue. The rest of the show consisted of various skits and showbiz acts.
The Revue Bar was a members-only club that catered mainly to company directors, business executives and commercial travellers. But it did attract a fair few top-line British stars from back in the day, such as the comedian and actor Jimmy Jewell, the singer David Whitfield and Bob Monkhouse.
To quote one harsh critic, “Like salad, Miss Rogers is more acceptable with a little dressing”.
I’m afraid I don’t know when the club closed, but if you have any info, memories, or memorabilia, please get in touch.
I went to the club regularly during the 80s and early 90s as far as I remember it closed around about 1993 /4 . In the last few years Margot a middle aged stripper also managed the place for a while. Towards the end only one strippeer was performing in the afternnons whereas there used to be 4 or 5 . Margot left a couple of months before the Revue Bar closed and went to work in a pub. She left there a few months later. I did see her daughter Sally , also a stripper, in Birmingham 1995 but didn’t get a chance to speak to her. Since then I have not once seen any of the lovely ladies from the club
Thanks for the info.