Fair was thus responsible for introducing to the London stage some of the most famous music hall acts, including Bessie Bellwood and JH Stead.

On 22 January 1907, a long brewing dispute between artists, stage hands and managers of the theatres came to a head at the Holborn Empire.

Eventually the managements were forced to give in, in the face of solidarity by major stars like Marie Lloyd, and additional payments for matinee performances were introduced.

[10][11] In 1926, comedians Flanagan and Allen were booked by Val Parnell for a début at the theatre,[12] and Margaret Lockwood made her first stage appearance at the age of 12, in 1928, as a fairy in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

The theatre was closed as a result of an unexploded time bomb near the stage door,[13] during the Blitz on the night of 11–12 May 1941, and the show transferred to the London Palladium.