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THE
QUEEN'S THEATRE, SOUTH SHIELDS The Death of The Queen's -The Arthur Lucan & Kitty McShane Connection The following is an extract from Michael Todd's website... On 9th April, 1941, the Queens (by now it had lost the apostrophe in its billings!) was playing host to Arthur Lucan and his wife, Kitty McShane. Their show, Old Mother Riley and her Daughter Kitty, was hugely popular all over the country, particularly with children, and they were playing to a capacity crowd. At this point I'd like to have pointed to a billing for that night - but the appalling quality of the microfilm from the South Shields library means that the copy I have is all but illegible. However, I can at least read the "Old Mother Riley pays us a visit", and "It's a Yell. A riot of laughter. You have never seen a funnier show." During the night that followed the show, South Shields was subjected to what the Gazette called "a savage attack on the North-East coast" by Nazi "moon raiders". Some 6,000 incendiary bombs and high explosives fell throughout the town. The Queens was one of the victims. By dawn, firemen were still playing water on the theatre. The Gazette reports "During the night they had fought the fire, increasingly ignoring the dangers to which they were exposed when huge tongues of flame leaped up into the sky and made the blazing building a target for the overhead bombers." Lucan and McShane lost most of their props - James Todd lost his valued Gobetti violin, and his theatrical career (although, like his brothers, he did continue to take an active role in musical events in the area). Although there was some talk in 1946 of rebuilding the theatre, the Queen's was never rebuilt. This
site was created and is maintained by Martyn
Peter Wilkinson. Quotes and images not my own
remain in the copyright of the originator or
else in the public domain. The information
contained in this web site is intended for
entertainment, educational, historical, and
informational purposes only. All rights Reserved Worldwide © 2001-2008
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The Queens Theatre, South Shields, shortly after being destroyed by German bombers on 9 April 1941
Michael Todd's website contains an extract from the Shields Gazette for 10 April 1941, detailing the bombing raid which detroyed the Queens Theatre, South Shields. |
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