Andrew LLoyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Evita tells the story of Eva Peron (1919-1952), wife of Argentine dictator Juan Peron, and one of the most controversial women in 20th century politics. She was in many respects a very remarkable woman and the  Hippodrome has been host to several of them in its recent history.

A prestigious coup for the Hippodrome was to stage the 1999 Royal Variety Performance in our centenary year in the presence of HM The Queen and Prince Philip. Other leading members of the Royal Family to attend shows here have been Princess Margaret, as Patron of Birmingham Royal Ballet, Princess Diana and Princess Anne. Our Visitors’ Book also contains the signature of Britain’s first woman Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, who came once to present awards at a business event. Evita portrays politics, which has been featured on our stage in many different ways during our 120-year history.

On Thursday, 14 November, 1907, the week’s Variety show was suspended for a day for a rally by the National Union of Conservatives. From the stage, Arthur Balfour, Conservative Leader of the Opposition, was “loudly cheered as he called for party unity and toleration in the party” Sounds familiar?

To maintain political balance, on Sunday, 15 November, 1908, Mr Victor Grayson, MP for Colne Valley, lectured on Socialist policies, in which he divided society into “the working class and the thieving class” and, after a bitter attack on Parliament, he argued to his Hippodrome audience that only Socialists could solve the country’s problems.Sounds familiar again?

On Sunday, 14 July, 1918, the Hippodrome was the venue for a meeting of the Birmingham One-Man Businesses Association, when a resolution was passed protesting against ” the manner in which businesses are being closed down through the country” and demanding concessions under the National Service Regulations.

In the week of the Armistice bringing WW1 to an end in November, 1918, a film was shown depicting the story of Ambassador Gerard’s book ” My Four Years in Germany”, described in the local Press as “an admirable substitute for a Variety programme”. It was shown three times daily at 2,45, 6.30 and 8.30 and seats could be booked in advance by telephoning the Box Office on MIDland 1784.

Back in the theatre’s earliest days, Balaclava Night was celebrated on 25 October, 1899 at the Tower of Varieties and Circus when Sergeant-Major Parkinson gave a spirited rendition of  The Charge of the Light Brigade to an enthusiastically patriotic audience. This was during the Boer War and, on 9 November, the audience was exhorted to “have revenge on the Boers by assisting the wives, mothers and children on their Benefit Night”.

Even within the usual Variety bill, politics sometimes was evident, albeit in a more entertaining form. In August, 1900, Driscoll and Beattie presented a comedy sketch entitled “McFee MP”. Comedienne Queenie May in June, 1908 sang a song in her act about “waiting for the Old-Age Pension” – a very political issue then.

During the golden age of Variety in the 1930s and 1940s, comedian George Robey appeared several times as “the Prime Minister of Mirth”. Although London-born, George moved to Birmingham as a clerk of works with the municipal tramways but his ambitions always lay in music hall, where he appeared in his guise of a small bowler hat and accentuated eyebrows, speaking pompously with long words.

Comedian Billy Russell, born in Birmingham in 1893, was another frequent visitor to our stage, haranguing his audience “on behalf of the working classes”. His first Hippodrome appearance was in 1930 and his last in 1967; he died in 1972, after a remarkable career of 72 years.

More recently. Ben Elton gave his audiences here more edgy, left-biased satire in 1989 and 1996. He then moved on to writing musicals, including “We Will Rock You” (2009 and 2011) and “Tonight’s the Night”, based on the songs of Rod Stewart (2006).

Political comedy was played out in “Yes, Prime Minister” in 2011, with Simon Williams as the hapless Jim Hacker and his wily Permanent Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby played by Richard McCabe.

Political themes may not immediately spring to mind when we think of Hippodrome shows and stars over the past 120 years but their inclusion in our productions has borne out the pre-WW1 branding of our theatre as the place “Where Everybody Goes” !

Ivan Heard. Hippodrome Heritage Volunteer