Misplaced Pages

#199800

38-492: The Windmill Theatre in Great Windmill Street , London , was a variety and revue theatre best known for its nude tableaux vivants , which began in 1932 and lasted until its reversion to a cinema in 1964. Many prominent British comedians of the post-war years started their careers at the theatre. Great Windmill Street took its name from a windmill that stood there from the reign of King Charles II until

76-522: A cabaret club managed for a short duration by Debbie Raymond, Paul Raymond's daughter. A period as a television studio followed – the Sky television programme Jameson Tonight was produced in the studio. In 1989, Big Bang performed their Arabic Circus Tour at the Windmill Theatre. In 1994, the former theatre part of the building was leased to Oscar Owide as a Wild West venue which became after

114-637: A fan dance might be, but they do stand as another symbolic protest to the fact that homosexuals were not permitted to dance together in public or private spaces in New York City for decades. To see a tribe of these dancers together is poetry in motion. Out of the Darkness, an annual AIDS remembrance event every December 1st hosted by AREA , GMHC and Heritage of Pride , sponsored by the Keith Haring Foundation , has included such

152-476: A fan dancer in a gentleman's club (Series 2, Episode 1 "Murder Most Scandalous"). The 1963 film Gypsy is a musical about Gypsy Rose Lee a noted fan dancer. The 1983 film The Right Stuff , has an extended scene featuring an actress playing Sally Rand performing a fan dance. This movie is about the Mercury Seven , the military pilots who were selected to be the astronauts for Project Mercury ,

190-445: A museum and an anatomical theatre . He gave lectures and anatomical demonstrations from the new house, the first taking place on 1 October 1776. After his death, in 1783 he bequeathed the school and his house to his nephew, Dr Matthew Baillie , who taught there from 1783 to 1803. The Windmill Street School of Anatomy was incorporated into King's College London in 1829 and Charles Bell was its first professor of physiology. The house

228-456: A new theatre manager, Vivian Van Damm , who developed the idea of the Revudeville—a programme of continuous variety that ran from 2:30 pm until 11 pm. They began to put on shows with singers, dancers, showgirls, and specialty numbers. The first Revudeville act opened on 3 February 1932, featuring 18 unknown acts. These continued to be unprofitable; in all, the theatre lost £20,000 in

266-434: A parliamentary survey of 1658 the mill was described as "well fitted with Staves and other materials". The area was developed around 1665 but the building was speculative and of poor quality; this led to a royal proclamation in 1671 that prohibited unlicensed development in "Windmill Fields, Dog Fields and Soho". Later that year, Thomas Panton , one of the original speculators, was granted a licence to continue his scheme with

304-649: A seedier place. The Soho neighbourhood of the 1930s and 1940s had been a respectable place filled with shops and family restaurants. The Revudeville shows ran from 1932 to 1964, until the Windmill officially closed on 31 October 1964. The theatre then changed hands and became the Windmill Cinema (with a casino incorporated in the building), having been bought by the Compton Cinema Group run by Michael Klinger and Tony Tenser . On 2 November 1964,

342-627: A short time an erotic table-dancing club called The Windmill International, run by Oscar Owide and his son Daniel. Until 2009, the Paul Raymond Organisation occupied the Piccadilly Buildings section of the building as their offices. A "gas or electricity explosion" occurred in the male toilets of the Windmill Club on 3 March 2017, causing damage to the adjacent pavement, and leading to a brief evacuation of

380-404: A statue made of stone or bronze. Later, movement was introduced in the form of the fan dance , where a naked dancing girl's body was concealed by fans held by herself and four female attendants. At the end of the act the girl would stand stock still, and her attendants would remove the concealing fans to reveal her nudity. The girl would then hold the pose for about ten seconds before the close of

418-478: A tribe of fan and flag dancers as opening and closing performers for the evenings ceremonies many times noting in their program that these are ritual dances done upon a person's death. It is also a dance seen at a child's first birthday celebration of life where people remember all the children who did not survive those early months as bodies adjust to living outside the womb. In the UK, the fan dance has also been used in

SECTION 10

#1732776821200

456-636: Is a thoroughfare running north–south in Soho , London, crossed by Shaftesbury Avenue . The street has had a long association with music and entertainment, most notably the Windmill Theatre , and is now home to the Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum and the Trocadero shopping centre. The street took its name from a windmill on the site which was recorded 1585 and demolished during the 1690s. In

494-458: The Windmill Theatre where during the 1930s and 1940s Laura Henderson and Vivian Van Damm presented nude tableaux vivants . The theatre is now a table dancing club. No 41, accessed from Ham Yard and now somewhere within the new Ham Yard Hotel, housed many nightclubs over the decades both upstairs and in the basement: the Hambone cocktail bar opened in 1922 (at 15 Ham Yard), Club Eleven

532-481: The censor for all theatrical performances in London, that the display of nudity in theatres was not obscene: since the authorities could not credibly hold nude statues to be morally objectionable, the theatre presented its nudes — the legendary "Windmill Girls" — in motionless poses as living statues or tableaux vivants . The ruling: 'If you move, it's rude.' The Windmill's shows became a huge commercial success, and

570-580: The mod youth culture and bands that appeared there included the Rolling Stones and The Who . The street was also home to the Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum and the Trocadero shopping centre. Fan dance In the 1970s gay men removed the solid pin at the center of the fan and replaced it with knotted string allowing for a fluid curvaceous movement. This disco art has been seen in San Francisco's Trocadero (perhaps first before

608-598: The East's Paradise Garage), New York's Roseland Ballroom plus numerous circuit parties from Corbett Reynolds 1996 “Jungle Red” Party in Cleveland to the White and Winter Parties of Miami and London's 1998 Red Heart's Ball. More difficult to construct (and manipulate) than the flags commonly used today, there are but a handful of artists, male and female, who occasionally exhibit this style of dance. The 1997 and 2016 Dance on

646-518: The Palais de Luxe building and hired F. Edward Jones, an architect, to remodel the interior to a small 320-seat, two-tier (stalls and circle) theatre. It was then renamed the Windmill. It opened on 15 June 1931, as a playhouse with a new play by Michael Barringer called Inquest . Its existence as a theatre was short and unprofitable, and it soon returned to screening films, such as The Blue Angel (1930) starring Marlene Dietrich . Mrs Henderson hired

684-455: The Pier images both give a closer look at a pair of medium-sized fans caught in fast motion. At times these fans travel in a simple elliptical pattern seen as a circle by the audience while further into the choreography one might see a perfect windmill, helicopter blades, a set of wings or even Carmen's skirt. Hiding the body to evade morality codes does not factor into this reinterpretation on what

722-593: The Windmill Cinema opened with the film Nude Las Vegas . The cinema became part of the Classic Cinema chain in May 1966. On 9 June 1974, the Windmill Cinema closed. The cinema's lease was bought in February 1974 by nightclub and erotica entrepreneur Paul Raymond . Raymond returned it to a venue for nude shows "à la Revuedeville but without the comic element". The first production at the now renamed Windmill Theatre

760-418: The Windmill girls took their show on tour to other London and provincial theatres and music halls . The Piccadilly and Pavilion theatres copied the format and ran non-stop shows, reducing the Windmill's attendance. Van Damm produced a series of nude tableaux vivants based on themes such as Annie Oakley , mermaids , American Indians , and Britannia . Typically, nude performers would assemble onstage with

798-403: The Windmill to Van Damm. During his tenure, the Windmill was home to numerous famous comedians and actors who had their first real success there, including Jimmy Edwards , Harry Worth , Tony Hancock , Spike Milligan , Harry Secombe , Peter Sellers , Michael Bentine , George Martin , Bruce Forsyth , Arthur English , Tommy Cooper and Barry Cryer . Cryer was "a bottom of the bill" comic at

SECTION 20

#1732776821200

836-522: The Windmill's patrons were families and troops, as well as celebrities who came as Henderson's guests. These high society guests included Princesses Helena Victoria and Marie Louise (granddaughters of Queen Victoria ). For a time, on the opening night of every new Windmill show, the Royal Box was always reserved for the Rt. Hon. George Lansbury , a member of His Majesty's Government. The theatre ran into

874-530: The Windmill, while Forsyth performed as a juvenile performer — a superior post. A number of the most celebrated photographic pin-up models of the 1950s and early 1960s also did a stint as Windmill Girls, including June Palmer , Lyn Shaw, June Wilkinson , and Lorraine Burnett. Van Damm ran the theatre until his death on 14 December 1960, aged approximately 71. He left the theatre to his daughter, rally driver Sheila Van Damm . She struggled to keep it going, but by this time, London's Soho neighbourhood had become

912-507: The building and surrounding area. Oscar Owide died in December 2017. A month later, the Windmill lost its licence because it had been found to have broken the "no touching" requirement between performers and clients. In May 2021, it was announced that the Windmill would reopen as a 350-seat restaurant and bar, with a cabaret . There have been four films about or featuring The Windmill: Great Windmill Street Great Windmill Street

950-585: The condition that it was supervised and directed by Sir Christopher Wren who was the Surveyor General of the King's Works. By 1682, maps show that both sides of the street were developed along their whole length. In 1767 the Scottish anatomist and physician William Hunter FRS built a large house at number 16 after demolishing an earlier large dwelling. Hunter's house incorporated a large library,

988-452: The curtain down (i.e. out of sight of the audience) and then strike poses before the curtain went up. The performers would then hold those poses, remaining perfectly still until the curtain came down again. Alternatively, a succession of nude performers would stand in the wings on trolleys and be wheeled onstage from the wings by a fully-clothed stage-hand. In all cases the performers themselves had to remain completely motionless, as if they were

1026-577: The finals of the Miss Nude UK 2000 competition and for The Windmill in Soho where it replaced the tradition of nude tableaux which has since been replaced by table dancing . In 1998 Thelma Houston had 40 fan and flag dancers accompany her off the gangplank of the Queen of Hearts paddle wheel boat onto the stage at Chelsea Piers for the Dance on Manhattan fundraiser. Gloria Gaynor did similar

1064-639: The first four years after its opening. Amrit Walia, the co-founder, said: "In the 1930s Laura Henderson famously broke conventions and challenged norms to create the famous institution known as the Windmill Theatre". A breakthrough came when Van Damm began to incorporate glamorous nude females on stage, inspired by the Folies Bergère and Moulin Rouge in Paris. This coup was made possible by convincing Lord Cromer , then Lord Chamberlain , in his position as

1102-499: The late 18th century. In 1909 a cinema, the Palais de Luxe, opened on the site. It stood on the corner of a block of buildings that included the Apollo and Lyric theatres, where Archer Street joined Great Windmill Street, just off Shaftesbury Avenue . The building complex incorporates Piccadilly Buildings, an 1897 building which housed the offices of British Mutoscope and Biograph Company, an early producer of films. The Palais de Luxe

1140-412: The occasional problem with male patrons, but security guards were always on the lookout for improper behaviour. One of the more comical off-stage acts was the spectacle of the "Windmill Steeplechase" where, at the end of a show, patrons from the back rows would make a dash over the top of the seats to grab the front rows for the following show. When Mrs Henderson died on 29 November 1944, aged 82, she left

1178-499: The performance. Another way the spirit of the law was evaded, enabling the girl to move, and thus satisfying the demands of the audience, was by moving the props rather than the girls. Ruses such as a technically motionless nude girl holding on to a spinning rope were used. Since the rope was moving rather than the girl, authorities allowed it, even though the girl's body was displayed in motion. The theatre's famous motto "We Never Closed" (often humorously modified to "We Never Clothed")

Windmill Theatre - Misplaced Pages Continue

1216-649: The year prior with 16 men. Loleatta Holloway danced with just one man at the third of these annuals. In 1957 in the Perry Mason TV series, the last episode of 1957 was "The Case of the Fan-Dancer's Horse" . This is Episode 15 of Season 1. This episode contains two scenes with fan dancing. In an episode of the Australian TV series Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries set in the 1920s the protagonist, private detective Phryne Fisher, goes undercover as

1254-512: Was a play called Let's Get Laid , which opened on 2 September 1974, and starred Fiona Richmond and John Inman . A nude dance show called Rip-Off was the next production at the theatre; this show commenced on 10 May 1976. Paul Raymond re-introduced burlesque when he renamed the Windmill La Vie en Rose Show Bar and opened the venue as a supper club with a laser disco on 16 November 1982. The venue became Paramount City in May 1986,

1292-557: Was a reference to the fact that the theatre remained open, apart from the compulsory closure that affected all theatres for 13 days (4 to 16 September) in 1939. Performances continued throughout the Second World War even at the height of the Blitz . The showgirls, cast members, and crew moved into the safety of the theatre's two underground floors during some of the worst air attacks, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941. Many of

1330-595: Was an important social hub for political refugees from Germany in the mid-19 century, hosting the German Workers Educational Association which Marx was a member of. The Red Lion closed in around 2005 and in 2013 was the 'Be at One' Cocktail Bar and Lounge. Due to its association with Marx the pub is sometimes visited as part of the Karl Marx pub crawl . The street has had a long association with music and entertainment, most notably

1368-681: Was one of the first places where early silent films were shown. As larger cinemas were opened in the West End, business slowed and the Palais de Luxe was forced to close. It was re-opened briefly by Elsie Cohen in 1929 when it was briefly the first "art cinema" in Britain showing foreign films. Cohen would re-establish the idea at the Academy Cinema in Oxford Street in 1931. In 1930, after her husband's death, Laura Henderson bought

1406-458: Was there from 1948 until it moved to Carnaby Street in 1950. It was the first regular paid modern jazz club for London musicians, featuring musicians such as Ronnie Scott , Hank Shaw , Johnny Rogers , Lennie Bush , Tony Crombie and Laurie Morgan. After that came Cy Laurie 's Jazz Club in the 1950s, a key location in the trad jazz revival. In the 1960s, the Scene Club was associated with

1444-629: Was used for medical demonstrations until 1831. It now forms part of the dressing rooms and stage of the Lyric Theatre . The Red Lion public house was built on the corner with Archer Street in around 1793. In November 1847, the Communist League held its second congress in a room above the bar and it was here that Karl Marx and Frederick Engels submitted their proposals for writing the Communist Manifesto . The pub

#199800