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: ''For a general description of performances for the monarch, see Royal Command Performance''. The Royal Variety Performance is a gala evening held annually in the United Kingdom, which is attended by senior members of the British Royal Family, usually the reigning monarch. The reigning monarch either attends in person or is represented by another member of the Royal Family. Queen Elizabeth II and the Prince of Wales have alternately attended the performance for the last few years. The evening's performance is a variety show consisting of family entertainment, including comedy, singing, dancing, magic and other speciality acts, and many of the performers and hosts are celebrities. The event is organised on behalf of the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund of which Queen Elizabeth II is patron. All proceeds are donated to the fund. The performance is broadcast on television and is considered by many to be a tradition of the Christmas season, as it is held in late November or early December each year. ITV is now the sole broadcaster, having shared that responsibility with the BBC from 1960 to 2010.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=EABF - Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund / History of the Royal Variety )〕 ==Background== The first performance, on 1 July 1912, was called the Royal Command Performance, and this name has persisted informally for the event. This was held in the Palace Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, in the presence of King George V and Queen Mary. After correspondence with Sir Edward Moss the King said he would command a Royal Variety show in his Coronation Year 1911, provided the profits went to the Variety Artistes' Benevolent Fund, as the EABF was then known. It was planned to be in the Empire Theatre, Edinburgh, part of the vast Moss Empires group, but the building went on fire a month before the show. After the death of Sir Edward Moss, Alfred Butt was chosen as the impresario and it was staged in 1912.〔Graeme Smith (2011) ''Alhambra Glasgow'' ISBN 978-0955942-01-3 〕 This was a lavish occasion, and his London Palace Theatre was lavishly decorated, complete with some 3 million rose petals. Top performers included Vesta Tilley, George Robey, David Devant, Anna Pavlova (ballerina), Harry Lauder and Cecilia Loftus. The organisers did not invite Marie Lloyd, because of a professional dispute. Her act was deemed too risqué and her three public, unsuccessful marriages made her unfit to perform in front of royalty.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=1912, London Palace Theatre )〕 She held a rival performance in a nearby theatre, which she advertised was "by command of the British public". The name of the event was changed to prevent possible royal embarrassment. The Royal Variety became an annual event at the suggestion of King George V from 1921 and the British Broadcasting Corporation began to broadcast it on radio. From 1928 through to 1938, the impresario/producer and manager of the London Palladium, George Black, took over the presentation of the Royal Variety Performance. He would also facilitate as compere at the shows. His first production was held on 1 March 1928 at the London Coliseum and from 1930 to 1937 he held the shows at the London Palladium. His 1938 show returned to the London Coliseum. Throughout WW2 from 1939 - 1944 no shows were presented. The show resumed in 1945 after WW2 ended. From 1960 to 2010, the BBC and ITV broadcast a recorded version of the show, alternating the production between their two main channels, with the BBC producing and televising the 'even years' and ITV televising the 'odd years'. In both 1976 and 1978, the BBC broadcast the show live. The BBC usually staged the show in a West End theatre, and ITV in regional theatres outside London. From 2011, ITV have exclusive rights to televise the show.〔 The show has been frequently staged in the London Palladium theatre, and in the 1950s and 1960s a television show based on the same idea, called ''Sunday Night at the London Palladium'' and hosted by many entertainers, including Bruce Forsyth, ran for over 20 years. Almost every conceivable sort of act has at one time or another been presented to the monarch at the Royal Command Performance, including Laurel and Hardy in 1947, the Beatles in 1963, the Supremes in 1968 and the Blue Man Group in 2005. At the Beatles' show on 4 November 1963, John Lennon delivered a line to the well-heeled audience which has passed into legend: "For our last number I'd like to ask your help: Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewellery ..." The money raised by the Royal Variety Performance provides most of the funding for Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund and its home, Brinsworth House, a home for retired members of the entertainment profession and their dependants. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Royal Variety Performance」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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