Historic Guest Book Uncovers Southampton Theatre’s Inaugural Performers

A hotel guest register has brought to light information regarding a significant event in Southampton’s theatrical past, nearly a hundred years ago. This delicate, lined ledger bears the signatures of artists who participated in the inaugural production at Southampton’s Empire Theatre, presently known as the Mayflower Theatre, in 1928. The family that previously operated the guest house in the city’s Shirley district contributed it to the Mayflower’s archive. At present, volunteers are engaged in the digitisation of the Mayflower’s comprehensive collection of programmes, posters, tickets, and various other artifacts, making them available for online access. The register contains remarks from Cynthia Carlton and Rita Tate, who expressed gratitude to the guest house owner, Mrs Stevens, “for her kindness during our fortnight’s stay – a home away from home.” Holly Scott, the Mayflower archivist, stated: “This book is something we’ve never had in the archive before.” She added, “It helps us piece together the story of the performers – when they were here rehearsing and on the stage and where they stayed. It brings it all to life.” Ms Scott additionally investigated the family who managed the guest house, ascertaining that they were circus performers. She remarked, “There are definitely those moments where you feel excited because of the [theatre’s] history. When I first started this job I didn’t realise how exciting it would be.” These performers belonged to the extensive cast of Winona, a sumptuous operetta advertised on posters as a “new romantic spectacular musical play.” This production represented the most recent work by Rudolf Friml, known for composing the highly successful Rose Marie and The Vagabond King. Despite the show achieving commercial success during its two-week engagement in Southampton, varied critical reception led to the cancellation of plans to move the production to London’s West End. Readers can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the content of external websites. Information regarding our external linking policy is available.