00. Many of the first artists of the
profession have trod the boards of the Old Theatre since the last-named
date, and Birmingham has cause to be proud of more than one of her
children, who, starting thence, have found name and fame elsewhere. The
scope of the present work will not allow of anything move than a few
brief notes, and those entirely of local bearing, but a history of the
Birmingham stage would not be uninteresting reading.

A wooden building in Moor Street, formerly a circus, was licensed March,
19, 1861; closed in 1863, and cleared off the ground in 1865.

Theatrical performances were licensed in Bingley Hall in 1854.

The Prince of Wales Theatre, previously Broad Street Music Hall, was
opened in 1862. It was reconstructed in 1876, and has accommodation for
an audience of 3,200.

The Holte Theatre was opened May 12, 1879, the license to the Lower
Grounds Co. being granted November 29, 1878.

The last new Theatre, the Grand, in Corporation Street, must rank as one
of the handsomest edifices in the town. It faces what was once the Old
Square, and has a frontage of 120ft., the height to the cornice of the
roof being 52ft., the whole being capped with a dome, supporting a
winged figure of Auroro, which, drawn in a car by prancing horses, is
15ft. high. The interior is laid out in the most improved modern style,
ornately decorated throughout, and provides accommodation for over 3,000
persons. The cost is put at L30,000, of which L17,000 went to the
builders alone, and the theatre is the property of Mr. A. Melville. The
opening day was Nov. 14th, 1883.

The "Interlude of Deritend Wake, with the representation of a
Bull-baiting" was part of the performance announced at the King street
Theatre, May 31, 1783.

Mrs. Sarah Siddons, whose _debut_ in London the previous season had been
anything but successful, came to Birmingham for the summer season of
1776. Henderson, one of her colleagues here, notwithstanding the Drury
Lane veto, declared that she was "an actress who never had an equal nor
would ever have a superior"--an opinion quickly verified.

One of Kean's benefits was a total failure. In the last scene of the
play "A New Way to Pay Old Debts," wherein allusion is made to the
marriage of a lady, "Take her," said Kean, "and the Birmingham audience
into the bargain."

Garrick was visiting Lord Lytton at Hagley on one occasion when news was
brought that a company of players were going to perform at Bir