Post by Tomspy77 on Apr 9, 2015 16:28:48 GMT -6
Ghosts, Glitz and Glamour: A Brief History of The Olympia Theatre, Dublin
The Olympia Theatre is one of those opulent spectacles that we Dubliners are guilty of taking for granted despite the joy it has pumped into our collective hearts for over one hundred and thirty years and counting.
Though artistic endeavours date back as far as 1855 on the site the history of The Olympia Theatre is widely acknowledged as commencing with the opening of The Star of Erin music hall in 1879. The theatre went through numerous name changes before settling on The Olympia Theatre in 1923.
The music hall played service to the popular Irish and international Vaudeville acts of the day. However, the interior of the theatre was radically different from the one we are familiar with today. Up until 1897 when the theatre was completely rebuilt and became The Empire Palace Theatre of Varieties, access was via Crampton Court (which now services entrance to the upper levels of the theatre) and the stage was just above the front lobby as we know it today on Dame St.
The Star of Erin hosted the first screening of a cinematic film in Ireland on April 20th 1896, showing the early works of the Lumière brothers. These screenings had a profound effect on James Joyce and his sister who went on to open the Volta Electric Theatre, Ireland’s first cinema. Joyce also reflected music hall culture within his writing, including passages of Ulysses.
Maureen Grant on ghosts
“Charlie Parker” says Maureen Grant with a sigh that thunders “Holy Mother of Jesus”, “When I started here in 1949 I heard the story of the ghost but I never believed it and never had any reason to believe it.”
But that all changed when Mrs Grant entered the theatre following a day double jobbing at The Dublin Horse Show “A car was a novelty in those days and one of the guys from the Number One Army Band also played in the orchestra here and he gave me a lift, but he was a bit of a boyo you know.”
Having avoided the none too subtle advances of the stereotypical musician Maureen Grant found herself dealing with the unwanted advances of a second man – only this time from beyond the grave – as she freshened up before her second shift of the day.
“I was standing in my bra and pants and as I turned on the tap the door opened. I said ‘Who is that?’ No answer so I closed the door, thought it was the breeze or something, and the next thing is the door goes bang, my smock came off the door and my tips went flying. I got really scared and fucked my coat on and ran into the café as I was with nothing under my coat.”
Upon entering the café Maureen Grant was shocked to learn that it couldn’t have been the handy work of the orchestra boyo as he was sat at a table with his wife the entire time she’d been absent. A series of strange occurrences then unfolded in the Olympia, with light switches turning on lights they weren’t wired to and then a baby started to cry.
“It was getting worse and worse and worse and eventually we brought in the medium, and I spent three and a half hours going around with him. We went to all the places that the things used to happen.”
“The minute we walked into the toilet he (the medium) was startled and said ‘I’ve the answer before we begin this is where the crying baby is. It’s a boy and his second name is Parker’ The staff had already christened the baby ghost Charlie (it’s better than Casper) so it became Charlie Parker. But he wasn’t content with haunting the toilet anymore and he moved in here (Maureen’s Bar) to the tills.”
Ghost Parker became more physical in Maureen’s Bar (or maybe it was the drink); glasses started to fly from behind the bar and smash on the ground and the coins in the till started to jump up and down on a regular basis “We’ve it on the camera” says Mrs Grant referring, “The girls here get scared out of their lives regularly.”
Then staff began to see a pallbearer walk up and down the centre isle “He still goes around” says Grant “but he’s harmless. He’s a friendly ghost” But if Maureen Grant gets her own way the pallbearer won’t be the last ghost to haunt The Olympia Theatre. She will. “I want to die here” she tells us, and she knows just where she’s going to spend eternity; in a box on the left hand side overlooking her favourite place in the world – the Olympia stage.
Though artistic endeavours date back as far as 1855 on the site the history of The Olympia Theatre is widely acknowledged as commencing with the opening of The Star of Erin music hall in 1879. The theatre went through numerous name changes before settling on The Olympia Theatre in 1923.
The music hall played service to the popular Irish and international Vaudeville acts of the day. However, the interior of the theatre was radically different from the one we are familiar with today. Up until 1897 when the theatre was completely rebuilt and became The Empire Palace Theatre of Varieties, access was via Crampton Court (which now services entrance to the upper levels of the theatre) and the stage was just above the front lobby as we know it today on Dame St.
The Star of Erin hosted the first screening of a cinematic film in Ireland on April 20th 1896, showing the early works of the Lumière brothers. These screenings had a profound effect on James Joyce and his sister who went on to open the Volta Electric Theatre, Ireland’s first cinema. Joyce also reflected music hall culture within his writing, including passages of Ulysses.
Maureen Grant on ghosts
“Charlie Parker” says Maureen Grant with a sigh that thunders “Holy Mother of Jesus”, “When I started here in 1949 I heard the story of the ghost but I never believed it and never had any reason to believe it.”
But that all changed when Mrs Grant entered the theatre following a day double jobbing at The Dublin Horse Show “A car was a novelty in those days and one of the guys from the Number One Army Band also played in the orchestra here and he gave me a lift, but he was a bit of a boyo you know.”
Having avoided the none too subtle advances of the stereotypical musician Maureen Grant found herself dealing with the unwanted advances of a second man – only this time from beyond the grave – as she freshened up before her second shift of the day.
“I was standing in my bra and pants and as I turned on the tap the door opened. I said ‘Who is that?’ No answer so I closed the door, thought it was the breeze or something, and the next thing is the door goes bang, my smock came off the door and my tips went flying. I got really scared and fucked my coat on and ran into the café as I was with nothing under my coat.”
Upon entering the café Maureen Grant was shocked to learn that it couldn’t have been the handy work of the orchestra boyo as he was sat at a table with his wife the entire time she’d been absent. A series of strange occurrences then unfolded in the Olympia, with light switches turning on lights they weren’t wired to and then a baby started to cry.
“It was getting worse and worse and worse and eventually we brought in the medium, and I spent three and a half hours going around with him. We went to all the places that the things used to happen.”
“The minute we walked into the toilet he (the medium) was startled and said ‘I’ve the answer before we begin this is where the crying baby is. It’s a boy and his second name is Parker’ The staff had already christened the baby ghost Charlie (it’s better than Casper) so it became Charlie Parker. But he wasn’t content with haunting the toilet anymore and he moved in here (Maureen’s Bar) to the tills.”
Ghost Parker became more physical in Maureen’s Bar (or maybe it was the drink); glasses started to fly from behind the bar and smash on the ground and the coins in the till started to jump up and down on a regular basis “We’ve it on the camera” says Mrs Grant referring, “The girls here get scared out of their lives regularly.”
Then staff began to see a pallbearer walk up and down the centre isle “He still goes around” says Grant “but he’s harmless. He’s a friendly ghost” But if Maureen Grant gets her own way the pallbearer won’t be the last ghost to haunt The Olympia Theatre. She will. “I want to die here” she tells us, and she knows just where she’s going to spend eternity; in a box on the left hand side overlooking her favourite place in the world – the Olympia stage.