Qualla: London Palladium https://qualla.com/london-palladium en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:15 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/london-palladium-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: London Palladium https://qualla.com/london-palladium London Palladium: Introduction https://qualla.com/london-palladium/ Photo credit Michael Reeve, CC BY-SA 3.0. On the night of 13 October 1963, around eighteen million Britons tuned in to ITV to watch Sunday Night at the London Palladium, and a newspaper headline writer searching for a phrase to describe the screaming crowds outside Argyll Street settled on a word that has not aged: Beatlemania. The Beatles played for less than ten minutes. The building they played inside had already been a circus arena, a real ice rink, and the largest variety theatre in Britain, and it would survive a German parachute mine that fell through its roof in 1941 and stopped ticking just long enough for a Royal Navy bomb disposal team to defuse it. The Palladium has been on Argyll Street since 1910 — a Grade II* address that has hosted nearly every star who mattered in twentieth-century light entertainment.

Read more: London Palladium on Qualla

Image: Michael Reeve | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/london-palladium-wp/gcpv-london-palladium-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full London Palladium: The Architect Who Built Britain's Stages https://qualla.com/london-palladium/ Photo credit Ricardalovesmonuments, CC BY-SA 4.0. Before the Palladium was a theatre, the Argyll Street site held a temporary wooden building called the Corinthian Bazaar, complete with aviary, then Hengler's Circus (a flooded ring for aquatic displays, a tightrope walker's son in charge), then the National Skating Palace, a rea...

Read more: London Palladium on Qualla

Image: Ricardalovesmonuments | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/london-palladium-wp/gcpv-london-palladium-the-architect-who-built-britains-stages.mp3 0:06 2 full London Palladium: The George Black Years https://qualla.com/london-palladium/ Photo credit km30192002, CC BY 2.0. In 1928 the Palladium was nearly bankrupt and had tried, briefly, to become a cinema. On 3 September of that year an impresario named George Black walked in as the new managing director and went back to first principles. Variety, with a capital V. Black brought over American acts...

Read more: London Palladium on Qualla

Image: km30192002 | CC BY 2.0

]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/london-palladium-wp/gcpv-london-palladium-the-george-black-years.mp3 0:06 3 full London Palladium: The Mine That Didn't Go Off https://qualla.com/london-palladium/ Photo credit Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0. On 11 May 1941, during the worst single night of the London Blitz, a German parachute mine smashed through the Palladium's roof and lodged itself directly above the stage. A Royal Navy bomb disposal team was dispatched. The fuse began ticking the instant it was touched. The team ...

Read more: London Palladium on Qualla

Image: Allan warren | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/london-palladium-wp/gcpv-london-palladium-the-mine-that-didnt-go-off.mp3 0:06 4 full London Palladium: Sunday Night and the Birth of a Word https://qualla.com/london-palladium/ Photo credit Chris McKenna, CC BY-SA 4.0. From 1955 to 1967 the Palladium was the source of the most-watched programme on British television. Sunday Night at the London Palladium aired live every week on ATV, produced by Val Parnell, owned by Lew Grade — and hosted in turn by Tommy Trinder, Bruce Forsyth, Norman Vaughan,...

Read more: London Palladium on Qualla

Image: Chris McKenna | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/london-palladium-wp/gcpv-london-palladium-sunday-night-and-the-birth-of-a-word.mp3 0:06 5 full London Palladium: What Still Plays Here https://qualla.com/london-palladium/ Photo credit Johnnyguitar01, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Palladium has settled into a working rhythm that mixes long musical runs with extraordinary one-night concerts. Madonna played here on her Madame X Tour in early 2020. Bob Dylan brought his Rough and Rowdy Ways tour in October 2022. Adele filmed her television comeback specia...

Read more: London Palladium on Qualla

Image: Johnnyguitar01 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/v/london-palladium-wp/gcpv-london-palladium-what-still-plays-here.mp3 0:06 6 full