Towards the end of the Victorian period a visit to the seaside became one of the great British traditions. Alongside ice cream and donkey rides, music halls, theatres, opera houses, and even zoos could be found at new resorts from Brighton to Blackpool, offering ordinary people glimpses of the spectacular and entertainment they might only experience once a year, from Punch and Judy to end-of-the-pier sell-out “Summertime Specials”.

Pierrot groups first appeared on our shores in the 1890’s. Before long there were 3 or 4 different pierrot troupes in each seaside town, vying with one another for the attention of the holiday makers as they became an established feature of the seaside until the Second World War.

Music hall stars always played a summer season, and after the war a new generation of variety stars emerged to top the bill. Laurel and Hardy played Margate’s Winter Gardens in the 1940s and the Beatles were part of a summer season bill there in the early 1960s.

We follow in this great tradition of summertime entertainment, with the Brick Lane Music Hall Summertime Show. This year’s show includes seaside music hall, comedy and variety, not to mention mind reading, and introducing our very own pierrot troupe!

The Brick Lane Music Hall Summertime Show opens June 28th, starring Vincent Hayes, Paul James, Andrew Robley, Ben Goffe, Chris Draper, Lucy Reed and Ciara Power, with special guest artist, magician and mind reader, Edward Crawford. Olé!