100 years of Darlington Operatic Society at the Hippodrome

That century of song is worthy of celebration, especially as this weekend the society launches into its 11 day run of its autumn spectacular, Made in Dagenham.

But more than just starting 100 years of entertainment, the deal meant that the operatics and their pool of talent were always on hand when the theatre was in trouble, and it is no exaggeration to say that over the decades, if there had been no DOS there would be no Hip today.

Signor Rino Pepi`Indeed, Pepi, whose ghost still haunts the theatre, probably only did the deal in 1924 when the theatre’s finances were perilous and he saw the society as a guaranteed income at a time when musichall theatre was dying and the new cinemas were stealing away his audience.

READ MORE: THE CHEEKY WAY DARLINGTON OPERATIC SOCIETY HAS PROMOTED ITS SHOWS OVER THE DECADES

However, over the years, the society has itself seen great drama, flirting with collapse, even though it enjoyed the backing of some of the biggest names in the town.

The beginnings of DOS can be traced to 1912, when a society combining music and theatre put on its first shows, of songs, in Feethams Hall.

Feethams Hall, on the corner of Feethams and Beaumont Street, in April 1976, shortly before its demolition. DOS's first show was in here in 1912One of the driving forces was George A Williams, who had just opened a music shop in Grange Road. Mr Williams had started his business in 1910 by selling pianos from the back of a horse and cart and it was said that he once sold a piano to a pitman who was basking in a tin bath in front of his fire. Williams, memorably based in Blackwellgate, grew to have 17 outlets across the country and was one of the country's largest retailers of sheet music and musical instruments until its collapse in 2007.

In 1913, George was instrumental in choosing the name “Darlington Operatic Society”, and in 1914, DOS performed its first operetta, HMS Pinafore, by Gilbert and Sullivan, at the Theatre Royal in Northgate (now the derelict cinema).

Despite receiving good reviews and making £38 profit, the society could not perform again until after the First World War. Members regrouped in 1920 for another Gilbert and Sullivan show, Trial by Jury, which they performed at St James’s schoolroom on Albert Hill.

Mr Williams was the musical director and the producer was William McIntyre, and after the first two nights sold out, two more were added.

Therefore, the next show, The Pirates of Penzance, was performed in the larger Temperance Institute in Gladstone Street but again paying customers were turned away due to lack of room.

So for Williams and McIntyre’s next production, The Gondoliers, a week at the Hippodrome was booked from December 5, 1921. It, too, was a success, with the society distributing the profits to local charities, principally Greenbank Hospital.

DOS was now supported by the biggest names in the district: Lord Barnard, of Raby Castle, became the first president, and the vice-presidents included Lord Southampton, of Rockliffe at Hurworth, Sir Henry Havelock-Allan of Blackwell Grange, the chief mechanical engineer of the North Eastern Railway Sir Vincent Raven, the owner of Darlington Forge Sir Thomas Putnam, the Darlington MP Herbert Pike Pease and his brother, Sir Arthur Francis Pease, and the Darlington mayor Sir Charles Starmer – this clearly was a high society.

The New Hippodrome and Palace Theatre of Varieties opened in Parkgate in 1907In 1924, DOS decided to put on its first show that had not been written by the ever-popular Gilbert & Sullivan. Merrie England, by Edward German, was chosen, and cheekily, Mr McIntyre wrote to the composer in London and offered him expenses and hospitality if he would come and conduct one night in the Hippodrome.

Mr German declined, but wrote back saying: “I wish all concerned every possible success. Judging from the high tone which has always distinguished the productions of the Darlington Operatic Society, I have not the least doubt as to the result.”

It was a success. It made £164 that went to local charity and Signor Pepi did a deal over costs and profits which made the Hippodrome the home of DOS.

But, in 1927, Pepi died. He had been the life force of the theatre since he had opened it in 1907 and immediately cinema companies came sniffing around it, sizing up its plot on Parkgate for a new super-cinema.

William McIntyreTo see them off, a private company of Darlingtonians – many of them members of the society – was formed to take ownership of the theatre and it appointed Mr McIntyre as theatre manager on £5-a-week. Mr McIntyre was a civil engineer by trade but an opera and theatre lover by heart.

But as an engineer, he found the 20-year-old building riddled with defects, and even as a theatre lover, he couldn’t make a go of it. In 1932, heartbroken by his failure, he resigned from the Hippodrome, from his beloved operatic society and even left his hometown of Darlington.

Sir Charles Starmer, second president of DOSThe trouble at the theatre, the loss of McIntyre and then the death of the society’s second president, Sir Charles Starmer, plunged DOS into the doldrums. Its bank account was in the red – it had given away £1,200 to charity in 14 years but was £45 overdrawn – and there was competition in the form of the Darlington Light Opera Company.

The two societies had to merge, and by 1937 they were united enough to return to the Hippodrome and stage The Maid of the Mountains to rave reviews in the local papers.

The Northern Despatch, the Echo’s former evening sister paper, said: “It really looks as though amateur operatics have come back to Darlington to stay.”

But, no. War broke out. The Hippodrome practically became a 24-hour rolling soft porn cinema, catering to the thousands of servicemen (and women) passing through the town on the way to the camps in Teesdale.

In 1945, the Darlington Operatic Society re-formed, with the redoubtable Lady Cecilia Starmer as president, and Robert Farrage the musical director. They decided that Edward German’s Merrie England “would best meet the sentiment of the times”, and began a weeklong run at the Hip on October 29 with all proceeds going to King George’s Fund for Sailors.

It was a triumph, making £188 profit and, more importantly, lifting the mood in the town.

The Darlington & Stockton Times said: “The Darlington production has brought a much needed sparkle into the somewhat sombre atmosphere created by the war, and signalled, let us hope, the end of the winter of our discontent at wartime restrictions.”

DOS was now on a roll, and the post-war programmes reveal the first appearances of people who would be with the society into the 21st Century.

Greta Sanderson making her debut in 1947For instance, in 1947, Greta Sanderson made her debut in Goodnight Vienna as a 16-year-old and she continued to appear until she was 85 in 2007. Greta was a Murray, from the family of bakers who were closely connected to DOS for decades, until she met Bernard Sanderson during rehearsals for The Vagabond King in 1951.

Joy Beadell, in 1967. She made her debut in 1947 and went onto produce many DOS performances until she emigrated to New Zealand in 1988The second show of 1947, The Duchess of Dantzic, marked the debut as Dancing Mistress of Joy Beadell, who had just moved to Darlington with her husband, Dr John Bishop, who had been appointed as the town’s assistant medical officer. In her youth, Joy had been advised to try ballet to overcome the aftereffects of scarlet fever and, as well as becoming the leading light in the society, she taught hundreds of Darlingtonians to dance until she emigrated to New Zealand in 1988.

And then, the stage manager of those post-war productions was Fred Thompson, who had moved to Darlington in 1934 to set up a leather merchant’s business. He would lead the society into deep controversy as it tried to save the Hippodrome…

READ THE NEXT INSTALLMENT ABOUT HOW THE OPERATIC SOCIETY SAVED THE THEATRE HERE TOMORROW

AND: MADE IN DARLINGTON: DOS MEMBERS WHO HAVE GONE FROM THE STAGE OF THE HIPPODROME TO THE WIRELESS OR THE WEST END