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 That's Entertainment
Colin Tooke
The first purpose-built theatre in the town opened in 1778 and for the next 150 years staged an almost continuous run of drama, comedy, pantomime and variety for the entertainment of the townsfolk. The first moving pictures were shown in the town in 1897 and quickly became part of every variety show; the first 'talkies' were screened in 1929 and the first Cinemascope in 1954. Seaside entertainment began with the minstrels and pierrots, but by the 1920s their place had been taken by the concert parties. In the 1920s and 1930s stars such as Lillie Langtry, Mary Lloyd, Paul Robeson and Fred Karno appeared in the town. When the seaside resort reopened after the war the concert parties were being replaced by radio personalities and, by the mid 1950s, television stars for the summer season. In the 1950s and 1960s almost every star from the world of light entertainment appeared in the resident summer shows and the Sunday concerts at six theatres. Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, Morecambe & Wise, Rolf Harris and many others became household names during the summer seasons. This book records all the entertainment venues in Great Yarmouth and Gorleston over the years, and lists over 170 resident summer shows and over 300 stars who appeared in the town from the 1940s to the 1990s.
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