Popular History
Memories of The ‘Royal’ James Cagney, seen here with The Royalettes, played the Royal for one night in November 1958
Thomas Myler recounts the glorious history of Dublin’s celebrated theatre, The Royal, whose capacity of nearly 4,000, was the largest theatre in Ireland and Britain, and second biggest in Europe.
When the workers with their pneumatic drills, shovels and the wrecking ball moved into downtown Dublin one sunny morning in July 1962, it was truly the end of an era. The Theatre Royal, an iconic showplace in Hawkins Street for generations of fans and where all the big international stars appeared on its expansive stage, was being demolished to make way for a building long considered an eyesore. Hawkins House is headquarters of the Department of Health. The stars who played the Theatre Royal reads like the index to a who’s who of show business. Besides legendary Irish entertainers such as Jimmy O’Dea, Noel Purcell, Jack Cruise, Cecil Sheridan, Danny Cummins, 12 Senior Times l January - February 2017 l www.seniortimes.ie
Frankie Blowers, Eamon Andrews, Eddie Byrne, Count John McCormack and many more, the Royal played host to the likes of Bob Hope, Gracie Fields, Joan Hammond, Maurice Chevalier, Judy Garland, James Cagney, Margot Fonteyn, Danny Kaye, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Yehudi Menuhin, Arthur Rubinstein, Bill Haley, Frankie Vaughan, Paul Robeson, George Formby, Anna Neagle, the Three Stooges, Frankie Laine, Johnnie Ray, Liberace, Nat King Cole, Allan Jones and many others. That impressive cast over the years would match any list of big names anywhere, including London and Broadway. It was said in the entertainment world abroad that if you were not on the Royal, you hadn’t really made it internationally. The theatre was a ‘must’ stopover – and the