Vintage Views with Aled Jones: The Grand Pavilion was a thriving hub for live entertainment
Wonderful old postcards, like this one, bring to life many of the talented entertainers who performed at our seaside resort over the years.
It spotlights a musical at the Grand Pavilion on the Promenade. This former theatre presented variety entertainments throughout the summer, with many household names on the billing.
The 1946 postcard was published by W. Foster Brigham (Mr Snaps) of Prince Street. It features Harry Benet’s “Gaiety Fayre” Company on stage after a show.
A top touring variety theatre act, the company regularly brought seaside entertainment, music hall comedy, and musical revues to resort towns across England.
Harry Benet was a famed theatrical producer who managed multiple major touring ventures in the forties and fifties. Alongside “Gaiety Fayre”, he was noted for running “Harry Benet’s Royal Majestic Circus” and holding the sole rights to iconic touring stage productions like the live-action version of Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs!
“Gaiety Fayre” was a spectacularly lavish and classic style of musical variety revue. It featured a talented group of dancers – most famously Pat McKay and the Florodora Girls (pictured) – alongside an exciting line-up of comedians, vocalists, and acrobats. Regular performers included national variety icons like Bunny Doyle, Mollie Mozelle, and Alec Turner.
The Grand Pavilion, which opened in 1937, was a thriving hub for live entertainment, avidly welcoming touring companies like Benet’s.
The facility restored faith lost by the demise of the Victoria Rooms. Classical artwork enhanced the interior of its Fly Tower, a majestic five-arched structure so indicative of the Art Deco style.
The interior of the theatre resembled one of the finer Odeon cinemas, with much concealed lighting in Art Moderne troughs.
The Grand Pavilion Gardens were tastefully laid out by Bridlington Corporation, to include spacious seating areas and planted borders.
The complex eventually became a leisure hub called Leisure World, which was superseded in 2014 by East Riding Leisure Bridlington.
The first Grand Pavilion stood at the northern end of Prince’s Parade from 1906 to 1936. It should’ve stood the test of time but was erased on the pretext that it obscured the view across the Bay!