Alhambra 'Moul' Collection

This collection contains papers, correspondence, scripts and photographs mostly relating to the Alhambra Theatre London, under the management of Alfred Moul. Correspondence and photographs from 1902 to 1913, covering the administration of the Alhambra and the booking of variety acts, ballets and revues. Included are letters from agents, proposing and describing various acts, and information relating to salaries, bookings etc.

Alfred Moul left a job in the tea trade in order to devote himself to music and was for a time a music critic in Melbourne. In 1984 he was asked to take over the Alhambra theatre, and apart from a break between1898 and 1902, he ran the theatre successfully and profitably until his retirement. The Alhambra Theatre began as the Royal Panopticon of Science and Art in 1854. After several different incarnations, including as the Alhambra Palace (a circus), The Alhambra Palace Music Hall, the Royal Alhambra Palace of Varieties, and the Royal Alhambra Theatre, the building burnt down in 1881. It was rebuilt and reopened as the Alhambra Theatre Royal in 1883, and became the Alhambra Theatre in 1890, a name which it retained until its demolition in 1936.

This collection is arranged as follows:

• THM/75/1 - Correspondence relating to costumes
• THM/75/2 - Material relating to galas, one-off performances and charitable events
• THM/75/3 - Reports on acts
• THM/75/4 - Productions at the Alhambra
• THM/75/5 - Dance Schools and proposals for
• THM/75/6 - Correspondence with individuals
• THM/75/7 - Revues at the Alhambra
• THM/75/8 - Administration, legal and technical material
• THM/75/9 - Photographs of revues staged at the Alhambra theatre
• THM/75/10 - Photographs of acts appearing at the Alhambra theatre

This archive collection is available for consultation in the V&A Blythe House Archive and Library Study Room by appointment only. Full details of access arrangements may be found here: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/archives/.

Access to some of the material may be restricted. These are noted in the catalogue where relevant.

Information on copying and commercial reproduction may be found here: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/archives/.

The following related material is available:

• THM/336 - Andre Charlot archive
• THM/142 - Alhambra Theatre Press Cuttings Collection (1909-1912)
• See also the core collections of the V&A Department of Theatre and Performance, including production files and biographical files.

Please ask for details.