The name derives from association with the Moorish palace in Granada, and was styled in "a cubic design with a colonnade of deep eaves, topped with twin oriental domes.

[3] The Alhambra opened with Yvonne Guilbert from France and specialised in variety, including artistes from America, Australia and Continental Europe.

Scottish performers included Harry Lauder, Will Fyffe, Alec Finlay and Harry Gordon; revues and musical plays were added, featuring Cicely Courtneidge, Jack Buchanan, Evelyn Laye, Jessie Matthews and Ivor Novello; and also opera, ballet and dance.

These shows included : Rikki Fulton, Jimmy Logan, Stanley Baxter, Fay Lenore, Eve Boswell, Kenneth McKellar, David Hughes,[10] Max Bygraves and Frankie Vaughan.

[12] The theatre had the distinction of staging Scotland's first Royal Variety Performance on 3 July 1958 attended by Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, and the second in 1963.