Enjoy the show!
London is a city where all sorts of cultures collide in intertwining lifelines. Thus, expressing one’s ideas has never been done in a better place. Full of life, London is, basically every day, witness to extraordinary stories put to life by extraordinary people. Where? In one of the 120 theatres currently active in London. Five of them are presented below:
Queen’s Theatre
Located in the City of Westminster, on the corner of Wardour Street and Shaftsbury Avenue, opened in 1907 (8th of October), it is a twin to Gielgud Theatre. In its foyer there is a portrait of Queen Alexandra. Although the first production was only put on stage about 36 times, it received very good reviews. Years later, when Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier was being put on stage, a German bomb destroyed the lobby and the facade of the building, thus the theatre remaining closed until Westwood Sons & Partners invested 250.000 pounds to restoring it 20 years later, restoration being finished on the 8th of July 1959.
Throughout its history, The Queen’s Theatre has seen such talents as Marlene Dietrich, Noël Coward, Peggy Ashcroft, Fred and Adele Astaire, Cedric Hardwicke, Kenneth Branagh, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Edith Evans, Jack Hawkins, Nigel Hawthorne, Celia Johnson and Alec Guinness. The latest refurbishment happened in 2009, when they improved the boxes and the seating areas.
Soho Theatre
Presenting new works and also cabaret and stand-up comedy shows, Soho theatre is located in none other than the Soho district, in the City of Westminster. The company was formed in 1969 by Fred Proud and Verity Bargate. It is now a Center home for a Writer’s Center, which provides support for new-comers. The building has roughly 140 seats in its auditorium and about 85/100 spots in the studio. There is also a small performance bar on the ground and lower floors, serving food and drinks from early to late.
Phoenix Theatre
Situated in the local borough of Camden, with the entrance on Phoenix Street, it opened in September 1930 with the première of Private Lives by Noël Coward. It was home to many musicals, including a musical version of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales which opened and ran for around two thousand performances. But the longest running production was in fact Blood Brothers, a musical written by Willy Russel, which ran for 21 years, ending in November 2012.
Royal Opera House
It is an opera house and major performing arts venue located in Covent Garden. Following the history of many of the theatres in London, it was also destroyed twice by fire, the current building being the third version of the theatre. The new building has the same traditional horseshoe-shaped auditorium as before, but with greatly improved technical, rehearsal, office, and educational facilities, a new studio theatre called the Linbury Theatre, and much more public space.
The “floral” hall (named as such because it formed part of the old Covent Garden Flower Market), acts as the atrium and main public area, with a restaurant and a bar and various hospitality services. The redevelopment of it was made possible due to 2 philanthropists, Alberto Vilar and Paul Hamlyn, each of whom donated £10m for its restoration.
Novello Theatre
Named after a Welsh composer and actor who became one of the most popular British entertainers in the first half of the 20th century, and built as one of a pair with Aldwych Theatre, the Novello Theatre is located on one side of the Waldorf Hotel. One of the longest runs here was “Arsenic and Old Lace”, a black comedy which ran for 1337 performances in the 1940’s. The Novello Theatre is one of the 40 theatres featured in the 2012 DVD documentary series Great West End Theatres, presented by Donald Sinden.
