An historic number of West End theatres celebrate important anniversaries this year, including 80th birthdays for three theatres in September.
A boom in theatre building in the Art Deco 1930’s has resulted in six West End theatres celebrating their 80th anniversaries in 2010.
September proves a particularly important month, with three theatres celebrating their 80th: the Cambridge Theatre on Earlham Street on 4 September; Charing Cross Road’s Phoenix Theatre on 24 September; and the Trafalgar Studios on Whitehall, formerly known as the Whitehall Theatre, on 29 September.
Already this year the Prince Edward Theatre has celebrated its 80th birthday on 3 April, and later in the year the Apollo Victoria Theatre will mark its 80th on 15 October and the Adelphi Theatre on 3 December.
Celebrations will include a charity gala for the Apollo Victoria on 10 October featuring the cast of the venue’s current show, Wicked, and past productions including Starlight Express.
Advisory Body, The Theatres Trust, commented on the anniversaries: “The West End theatres that celebrate their 80th anniversaries this year are among the UK’s best examples of art deco and moderne style venues. Each is distinctive and unique, built to appeal to a public eager for entertainment, plays, films, variety and musicals. It is a mark of their quality that they continue to do so to this day.”
2010 also marks theatrical milestones for a number of other venues, notably the 100th anniversary of the famous London Palladium on 26 December. A special Facebook page has been set up for the London Palladium’s centenary allowing theatregoers and theatre professionals to remember the historic venue. Also, on Radio 2 this autumn a two-part documentary series, The London Palladium Story, will tell the story of the theatre, narrated by Michael Grade.
Also this year the Peacock Theatre, originally called the Royalty Theatre, will celebrate its 40th birthday in June, and the former Leicester Square Theatre, now the Odeon West End cinema, will turn 80.
QUICK THEATRE FACTS
Adelphi Theatre
Opened: 3 December 1930
Designed: Ernest Schaufelberg, incorporating parts of the former Sans Pareil theatre
Location: Strand, London, WC2E 7NA Adelphi Theatre Map
First production: Ever Green by Benn W. Levy and Lorenz Hart
Current production: Love Never Dies
Apollo Victoria Theatre
Opened: 15 October 1930
Designed: E. Wamsley Lewis and W E Trent
Location: 17 Wilton Road, London, SW1V 1LL Apollo Victoria Theatre Map
First production: originally opened as a cinema (film: George Arlis in Old English)
Current production: Wicked
Cambridge Theatre
Opened: 4 September 1930
Designed: Wimperis, Simpson and Guthrie with Serge Chermayeff
Location: Earlham Street, London, WC2 9HU Cambridge Theatre Map
First production: Charlot’s Masquerade by Ronald Jeans
Current production: Chicago
London Palladium
Opened: 26 December 1910
Designed: Frank Matcham
Location: London Palladium, Argyll Street, London, W1F 7TF London Palladium Map
First production: A Variety Show and one act play called The Conspiracy.
Current production: Sister Act
Peacock Theatre
Opened: June 1960
Designed: Lewis Solomon and Kaye and Partners
Location: Portugal Street, London, WC2A 2HT Peacock Theatre Map
First production: opened as a cinema
Current productions: include La Boheme, Euridice
Phoenix Theatre
Opened: 24 September 1930
Designed: Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, Bertie Crew, and Cecil Masey, with Theodore Komisarjevsky
Location: Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0JP Phoenix Theatre Map
First production: Noel Coward’s Private Lives
Current production: Blood Brothers
Prince Edward
Opened: 3 April 1930
Designed: Edward A. Stone with Marc-Henri and Laverdet and Gaston Laverdet
Location: Old Compton Street, London, W1D 4HS Prince Edward Theatre Map
First production: Rio Rita by Harry Tierney
Current production: Jersey Boys
Trafalgar Studios
Opened: 29 September 1930
Designed: Edward A. Stone with Marc-Henri and Laverdet and Gaston Laverdet
Location: Whitehall, London, SW1A 2DY Trafalgar Studios Map
First production: The Way To Treat A Woman by Walter Hackett
Current productions: include Shirley Valentine, Educating Rita, State Fair
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