About Graeme Smith
Graeme
Smith is a chartered accountant, mainly involved in the building of
new towns and the renewal of cities to enjoy the art of living. For
a period in the 1990s he was the secretary and financial director of
the Theatre Royal, Hope Street, Glasgow and
of Scottish Opera.
He assisted Ships for a Nation, the story of John Brown's of Clydebank. Graeme is also the author of two books on Glasgow's Theatre Royal and Alhambra (See details below).
Left - Graeme Smith on the heritage of Glasgow's Theatre Royal from STV Scotland
Graeme is an enthusiastic contributor to this site and has written a great many detailed articles on Theatres in Glasgow and other Scottish Towns and Cities, and very kindly sent them in for inclusion on the site, all illustrated with a plethora of wonderful archive images. Graeme can be seen talking about the Theatre Royal, Hope Street in a video from STV shown left.
Books by Graeme Smith
THE THEATRE ROYAL
Entertaining a Nation
Graeme Smith's book, 'THE THEATRE ROYAL: Entertaining a Nation', produced in full colour, with 280 pages and around 400 illustrations of the people, performances and city it grew up with, is available here. The introduction and list of contents are shown below. The book's text is copyright the author.
From
Cowcaddens to the Colosseum, from Hope Street to Hollywood... for
entertainment, drama, pantomime, music and song this is the fascinating
story... lavishly illustrated... of the Theatre Royal.
Emerging from Music Halls to an Opera House and the national home of
Scottish Opera and The Scottish Ballet the Theatre Royal is the oldest
Theatre in Glasgow, opening in 1867. It is also the largest example
in Britain of the Theatre designs of Charles Phipps.
Right - Graeme Smith's new book 'THE THEATRE ROYAL: Entertaining a Nation' Click for more details and to buy the book online.
Pantomime, plays, spectaculars, silent films, circuses, ballet, opera and television grew up with the Royal. Original documents trace its life and personalities, from its parentage in the 18th century, the influence of the Glover family here and overseas, its links with fine arts and the International Exhibitions, all expressing the confidence of Glasgow and the context of its times. It is also the birthplace of Howard & Wyndham Ltd, one of Britain's major Theatre companies, thanks to the Simons fruit businesses in Candleriggs; and the birthplace of commercial television in Scotland, thanks to Canadian Roy Thomson. For an encore there is a history of the previous Theatre Royal in Dunlop Street... Let the curtain rise!
List of Contents:
Programme
1867 onwards
James Baylis - Music Hall millionaire
Opening the Doors
Theatre Royal and the Glover family
Royal Performing
Theatre all Around
The Visit from Vulcan
Money, Managers and Musical Chairs
1888 onwards
Michael Simons creates Howard & Wyndham Ltd
The Great War, Pictures, Plays, Operas, and Pantomime
Stewart Cruikshank continues the Royal tradition
War and Peace
Fun in the Fifties …..and Farewell?
1957 onwards
Roy Thomson creates Scottish Television
Entertainment direct to your home
Continuing success from Cowcaddens
1975 onwards
Restoring the Theatre Royal, by public demand
Scottish Opera at home
The Scottish Ballet
The Scottish Theatre Company and Other Galaxies
Into the 21st Century
Encore
Theatres-Royal in Glasgow before 1867
List of Theatre Royal's owners and lessees from 1867
Howard & Wyndham Epilogue
Acknowledgements.
The Alhambra Glasgow
by Graeme Smith
Famous
for glamour and humour, variety, pantomime, musicals, ballet, opera,
drama and dance the immense Alhambra Theatre stayed ahead of other Theatres. Opening in 1910, at the corner of
Waterloo Street and Wellington Street, and designed by eminent architect
Sir John James Burnet, its managing director Sir Alfred Butt gave
“the best of European and American Vaudeville attractions”
in the “Resort of the Elite.” Its founders supported cinema,
jazz, cabaret and ballrooms.
The complete history of the Glasgow Alhambra is told for the first
time, in full colour, with 400 illustrations, in this new quality-bound
softback book by Graeme Smith and is highly recommended.
The book is priced just £20 and can be found in all good bookstores and online at the book's own website www.glasgowalhambra.co.uk
ISBN 978-0955942013
The Alhambra and other Theatres in Glasgow city centre also feature in a wider work by Graeme Smith titled 'Glasgow's Blythswood' published in 2021, shown left; further details here www.blythswoodsmith.co.uk.
THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW LIBRARY
Friendly Shelves
As
chairman of The Friends of Glasgow University Library, Graeme has
initiated and directed the publication in 2016 of an extensively illustrated
288 page book titled THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW LIBRARY – Friendly
Shelves, which through a series of guest authors describes the birth
and growth of the library since the 15th century to the present time
and showcases its unique and distinctive collections, many of international
status, including the Scottish Theatre Archive.
Founded under King James II in 1451, Glasgow University and its fledgling library has developed across the centuries from the Renaissance and the Reformation, through the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, to become one of the major universities of the world.
The Digital Revolution, equal to the fifteenth-century invention of the printing press which democratised learning, is enabling the Library to unlock its many treasures and make them more widely available here and overseas. All proceeds from the book are being donated to the library to support its programme of public engagement.
Further details of the book and how to buy it postage-free from Glasgow University Gift Shop are in the Friends of GU Library website here.