Jan Hunt: ‘Music hall has never really gone away’
Jan Hunt is a woman on a mission. She wants to get music hall back on our televisions – and back in public consciousness.
“And I am not going to give up!” she laughs.
Jan will be offering her Horsham audience a glorious trip down memory lane to the glamorous heyday of music hall when The Magnificent Music Hall comes to The Capitol on Tuesday, March 26 (2.30pm).
“I have been doing this for quite a while! I started music hall back in the early ’70s. I was watching The Good Old Days with my family, and this young lady came on and was very good. I thought I would just love to do something like that. I loved the characters, the stage looked amazing and I loved the way they were getting across to the audience. I just wanted to do it.”
She phoned her agent the next day and within a month she was making her music hall debut. It has been a huge part of her life ever since.
“They have started running repeats of The Good Old Days on the BBC. They do a spell at a time and then they have a break, but it must be getting good audience figures otherwise they would not be doing it. I would love to get it back on television, new programmes, but it is very hard getting past these young producers. They all think music hall is old hat. But when I do my afternoon shows, I am getting 800-900 people.”
Jan isn’t going to give up hope: “I think it could happen. They say that everything comes around again. I do feel that there is a love for the genre of music hall still. I know that from my shows, but the audiences are, of course, the older generation, which is why I do lots of workshops and auditioning to try to bring in young performers who might bring in new audiences.
“Music hall is part of our heritage, and the songs are so brilliant. They are all telling a story. There is pathos. There is history, and there are great characters. And I love talking to the audience. I love hearing them sing. People always talk about that fourth wall in all showbusiness, and in a lot of shows you have got to keep that magic, but in music hall, you are allowed to break that fourth wall.
“I think it has to be the old songs you are singing, songs that have been around for decades and that have stood the test of time. Music hall has never really gone away. It just needs people like me who are flying the flag. It’s like pantomime. Pantomime is part of our heritage and it has survived because it is very well looked after.”
It has also survived because it brings in such a young audience – a selfrenewing audience.
“But that is what music hall has got to do. I always try to have some younger people on the stage.”
Tickets cost £16.50. Call 01403 750220 or visit www. thecapitolhorsham.com.