An
auditorium or
theatre which hosts a wide variety of traveling acts and entertainers. These can range from sites as large and well-known as the
Radio City Music Hall to smaller local venues like the Columbus Music Hall in
Ohio. Music halls first arose in
Great Britain, providing
entertainment to the masses during their
heyday from the
Gay Nineties until the
Second World War.
Music halls were crucial to the creation of panto, vaudeville and variety shows, spawning a great deal of British culture which then made its way to other countries.
The British Music Hall Society was formed in 1963 to preserve the memory of these things as they faded with the advent of television. They preserve theatrical memorabilia, hold study groups on various famous performers of the past, and put on monthly shows at the Central Conference Centre Theatre in London. They can be found at http://www.musichall.bigwig.net/Homex.html.
There is even a site providing "resources for circus, theatre, music hall/vaudeville, travellers, Gypsy-Romany and similar families" at
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~paulln/index.htm.