102-653: The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at the junction of Denman Street and Sherwood Street, near Piccadilly Circus , in the City of Westminster , London. It opened in 1928. In its early years the theatre presented a wide range of productions, and was briefly a cinema. During the Second World War it presented productions ranging from the premiere of Noël Coward 's Blithe Spirit to John Gielgud 's lavish production of Macbeth . Later productions in
204-650: A "hit black blues show", opened on 28 September and ran until 23 July 1988. It was followed in August by Stop! In the Name of Love , celebrating female singing groups of the 1960s; this ran until November. The theatre was closed from then until March 1989, when a musical adaptation of the 1927 science fiction film Metropolis opened; one of the West End's most expensive shows up to that time, it closed in September, making
306-694: A (probable) poisoner, and ran from July 1957 for 212 performances. Benn Levy 's comedy The Rape of the Belt was a modern treatment of a classical legend, starring Hammond as Hippolyta , John Clements as Heracles, Constance Cummings as Antiope, Richard Attenborough as Theseus and Nicholas Hannen as Zeus; it ran for 298 performances from December 1957. André Roussin's comedy Hook, Line and Sinker , adapted by and starring Robert Morley , co-starred Joan Plowright and Bernard Cribbins ; it opened in November 1958 and ran until 28 March 1959. The Marriage-go-Round ,
408-671: A Song for It , transferred from the intimate King's Head Theatre and ran briefly in May 1979, followed later in the month by Can You Hear Me at the Back? , a drama by Brian Clark; it ran for 300 performances. Educating Rita , starring Julie Walters , opened at the Piccadilly in August 1980 and ran until September 1982; Shirin Taylor took over the title role in April 1981. In January 1983 what
510-433: A big star. Broadway success, marriage and a child (Sonny) soon follow. Before long, Molly begins an affair with John, a mutual friend. Molly eventually abandons Al, and takes Sonny with her to Paris. Before leaving, she announces she will seek a divorce while overseas. Heartbroken, Al becomes a loner until friends from Blackies rescue him from a life on the streets. Soon, Al is back in lights. But another crisis awaits: Al gets
612-421: A comedy by Leslie Stevens starring Hammond, Clements and Angela Browne opened in November 1959 and ran for 210 performances. For the Piccadilly the decade started with two conspicuous failures. The Golden Touch , a musical depicting a colony of beatniks on a Greek island, opened and closed in May 1960, and Bachelor Flat , described by The Stage as "yet another American play based on the well-worn theme of
714-530: A high proportion of straight drama, Shakespeare , other classic plays and premieres of new plays by leading playwrights—for example David Hare 's play Pravda starring Anthony Hopkins which was described by The Telegraph as "one of the biggest hits in the history of the National Theatre." Successful productions from the non-commercial theatres sometimes transfer to one of the commercial West End houses for an extended run. The Royal Opera House
816-598: A leading light comedian. During the 1950s and 1960s, many plays were produced in theatre clubs, to evade the censorship then exercised by the Lord Chamberlain's Office . The Theatres Act 1968 finally abolished censorship of the stage in the United Kingdom. "Theatreland", London's main theatre district, contains approximately 40 venues and is located in and near the heart of the West End of London . It
918-602: A limited season from 20 January to 21 March 1970. Ian McKellen played the title roles, and the company included Timothy West , James Laurenson , Robert Eddison and Peggy Thorpe-Bates . A thriller, Who Killed Santa Claus? , starring Honor Blackman , ran from April to September 1970. The following month Vivat! Vivat Regina! by Robert Bolt transferred from the Chichester Festival with Eileen Atkins as Elizabeth I, Sarah Miles as Mary Queen of Scots and Richard Pearson as Cecil; The Guardian called it
1020-538: A loss of £2.5 million. The Piccadilly's last production of the 1980s was a revival of Stephen Sondheim 's musical A Little Night Music , from the Chichester Festival, starring Dorothy Tutin , Peter McEnery and Susan Hampshire . It opened on 10 October and ran until 17 February 1990. In one of its many revivals The Rocky Horror Show opened at the Piccadilly in July 1990 and ran until June 1991. Over
1122-460: A message at the theater that Sonny is back in town and dying. Al visits him in the hospital, and moments after singing "Sonny Boy" to him, Sonny passes away. Al returns to the theater devastated, but decides to go on with the show that evening. As a tribute to his deceased son, he sings "Sonny Boy" to a huge ovation. Al collapses as the curtains close, but vows to his friend Grace to never give up on life again. Like The Jazz Singer , The Singing Fool
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#17327727961951224-400: A musical adaptation of Little Women – opened. It starred Joan Heal and Denis Quilley , and ran until the following May. It was followed by Peter Ustinov 's romantic and satirical comedy Romanoff and Juliet , which ran from May 1956 for 379 performances. Four fairly successful runs followed in the next three years. Rodney Ackland 's courtroom drama A Dead Secret starred Scofield as
1326-473: A musical with words by Guy Bolton and Graham John and music by Jerome Kern , starred Evelyn Laye ; it ran at the Piccadilly and then at Daly's Theatre for a total of 276 performances. The Piccadilly was briefly taken over by Warner Brothers and operated as a cinema using the Vitaphone system ; among the films shown was The Singing Fool with Al Jolson . The theatre reopened in November 1929, with
1428-794: A musical, Instant Marriage , starring Joan Sims . Despite being described in The Times as "wretchedly written ... ill-constructed", it ran for 366 performances from 1 August 1964. 1965 was mainly a year of short runs, including seasons of folk dancers and further ballets. Neil Simon 's comedy Barefoot in the Park , starring Mildred Natwick , Daniel Massey and Marlo Thomas , ran for 243 performances between November 1965 and June 1966. A revival of Lionel Bart 's musical Oliver! opened in April 1967, starring Barry Humphries and Marti Webb , running for 331 performances. The next musical, Man of La Mancha , with Keith Michell , opened in April 1968, and
1530-493: A musical, starred Maria Friedman and ran from 19 March 2003 to 14 June 2003. Noises Off returned for a limited eight-week season, from 4 August to 8 November 2003, and was followed by the National Theatre 's production of Stoppard's comedy Jumpers , with Simon Russell Beale , which ran from 14 November 2003 to 6 March 2004. Jailhouse Rock – The Musical ran for a year, from 19 April 2004 to 23 April 2005, and
1632-619: A nine-week season from 27 July. The last production of the 1990s at the Piccadilly was the musical Spend Spend Spend which opened in October and ran until August 2000. The musical La Cava transferred from the Victoria Palace Theatre , opening on 21 August 2000 for a six-month run. After a short season of Shockheaded Peter between February and April 2001, the National Theatre 's revival of Michael Frayn 's farce Noises Off played its first West End engagement from
1734-584: A play adapted from the novella A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens —who came to several stage rehearsals during which he made suggestions—with his book published weeks earlier in December 1843. The Criterion Theatre opened on Piccadilly Circus on 21 March 1874, and in 1881, two more houses appeared: the Savoy Theatre in The Strand, built by Richard D'Oyly Carte specifically to showcase
1836-555: A production of The Student Prince , which was followed in January 1931 by Folly to be Wise , a revue by Dion Titheradge and Vivian Ellis , starring Cicely Courtneidge with Nelson Keys and Mary Eaton ; it ran for 257 performances. The next production (September 1933) was James Bridie 's A Sleeping Clergyman , considered by some to be Bridie's best play, according to the theatre historians Mander and Mitchenson ; Ernest Thesiger and Robert Donat both scored great successes in
1938-641: A record-breaking nine Olivier Awards in 2017. "Theatre is such an important part of British history and British culture" —Dame Helen Mirren after receiving the Evening Standard Award in 2013 for her performance as the Queen in The Audience . The following shows are confirmed as future West End productions. The theatre in which they will run is either not yet known or currently occupied by another show. The term "West End theatre"
2040-555: A revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum , which ran until 27 December. In February and March 1987 Fascinating Aida played a limited season. Lady Day , a musical about Billie Holiday , then ran briefly, followed by a three-month run of Tom Stoppard 's comedy Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead , from June to September. "Blues in the Night", described by The Times as
2142-602: A revival of Robert E. Sherwood 's 1931 romantic comedy Reunion in Vienna , starring Nigel Patrick and Margaret Leighton . The play – though not the actors – received lukewarm notices and the production closed after 44 performances. After that was a transfer from the Prince of Wales Theatre of The Threepenny Opera , with Joe Melia as Macheath, and in July 1972 there was a new British musical "for kids of all ages", Pull Both Ends . In November another musical, I and Albert ,
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#17327727961952244-468: A show rated by the Telegraph as the second worst: Which Witch , received even worse reviews: Michael Billington of The Guardian described the show as "three mind-numbing hours ... an all-too-graphic glimpse of purgatory" and two critics referred to it as "the musical from hell". It opened on 22 October 1992 and ran for ten weeks, closing on 12 December. In February 1993 a third musical in succession
2346-422: A showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan —was entirely lit by electricity in 1881. The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) announced that 2018 was a record year for the capital's theatre industry with attendances topping 15.5 million for the first time since the organisation began collecting audience data in 1986. Box office revenues exceeded £765 million. While attendance in 2019
2448-519: A site behind Piccadilly Circus occupied by derelict stables, and built a theatre there. It was designed by Bertie Crewe and Edward A. Stone. A simple façade concealed an elaborate Art Deco interior designed by Marc-Henri Levy and Gaston Laverdet, with a 1,232-seat auditorium decorated in shades of pink; it was claimed that if all the bricks used in the building were laid in a straight line, they would stretch from London to Paris. The theatre opened on 27 April 1928. The opening production, Blue Eyes ,
2550-613: Is Les Misérables , produced by Cameron Mackintosh , which has been running in London since October 1985. It overtook Andrew Lloyd Webber 's Cats , which closed in 2002 after running for 8,949 performances and 21 years, as the longest-running West End musical of all time on 9 October 2006. Other long-runners include Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera , Willy Russell 's Blood Brothers , and Abba jukebox musical Mamma Mia! which have also subsequently overtaken Cats . However,
2652-615: Is a complete absence of jazz or swing ... the songs are sung, not crooned, and the singers have the voices to sing them". Despite this, the show did not have a long run, closing after 86 performances. The second musical was Cole Porter 's Panama Hattie , starring Bebe Daniels , Max Wall and Claude Hulbert . It ran for 308 performances. Towards the end of the war the Piccadilly was damaged by German bombing, and remained closed for some months. It reopened with Agatha Christie 's thriller Appointment with Death in March 1945. Mary Clare led
2754-728: Is generally used to refer specifically to commercial productions in Theatreland. However, the leading non-commercial theatres in London enjoy great artistic prestige. These include the National Theatre , the Barbican Centre , Shakespeare's Globe (including the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse ), the Old Vic , Royal Court Theatre , Sadler's Wells Theatre , and the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre . These theatres stage
2856-407: Is missing from extant prints of the film. This is due to a lawsuit initiated by the song's author, Billy Merson. Merson claimed that he, as a performer, owed his income to his own renditions of the song, and that Jolson's version would diminish his ability to earn a living. The song was removed from all prints of "The Singing Fool" shown in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, the only surviving copies of
2958-637: Is traditionally defined by the Strand to the south, Oxford Street to the north, Regent Street to the west, and Kingsway to the east. However, a few other nearby theatres are also considered "West End" despite being outside the area proper; an example is The Apollo Victoria Theatre , in Westminster . Prominent theatre streets include Drury Lane , Shaftesbury Avenue and the Strand. The works staged are predominantly musicals, classic and modern straight plays , and comedy performances. Many theatres in
3060-693: Is widely regarded as one of the greatest opera houses in the world, comparable with the Palais Garnier and La Scala . Commonly known simply as Covent Garden due to its location, it is home to the Royal Opera , Royal Ballet and a resident symphony orchestra, and hosts guest performances from other leading opera, ballet and performance companies from around the world. In 1735 its first season of operas, by George Frideric Handel , began and many of his English oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres here. Likewise,
3162-510: The Alice books ) debuted at the Prince of Wales Theatre . Its author Lewis Carroll was involved in the stage adaptation, and he attended a performance seven days later. The Palace Theatre opened in 1891. Opened in 1892, the Duke of York's Theatre debuted J. M. Barrie 's play, Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up , on 27 December 1904. One of the most popular playwrights in London in
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3264-559: The Duke's Company and the King's Company . Performances were held in converted buildings, such as Lisle's Tennis Court . The first West End theatre, known as Theatre Royal in Bridges Street, was designed by Thomas Killigrew and built on the site of the present Theatre Royal, Drury Lane . It opened on 7 May 1663 and was destroyed by a fire nine years later. It was replaced by a new structure designed by Christopher Wren and renamed
3366-742: The First World War . In 1930, Laurence Olivier had his first important West End success in Noël Coward's Private Lives . A number of other actors made their West End debut prior to the Second World War, including John Gielgud , Alec Guinness , Vivien Leigh and Rex Harrison ; the latter's performance in Terence Rattigan 's 1936 comedy French Without Tears at the Criterion Theatre established him
3468-724: The London Coliseum is the resident home to the English National Opera . The theatre is also the London base for performances by the English National Ballet , who perform regular seasons throughout the year when not on tour. The Peacock Theatre is located on the edge of the Theatreland area. Now owned by the London School of Economics and Political Science , it is used in the evenings for dance performances by Sadler's Wells , who manage
3570-1009: The Lyric Hammersmith , Theatre Royal Stratford East , Rose Theatre, Kingston , New Wimbledon Theatre , the Rudolph Steiner Theatre in Westminster , the Ashcroft Theatre in Croydon , Secombe Theatre in Sutton , the Churchill Theatre in Bromley and the Hackney Empire in Hackney . London theatres outside the West End also played an important role in the early history of drama schools . In 1833, actress Frances Maria Kelly managed
3672-689: The Pavilion Theatre in Whitechapel . The comic theatrical genre the harlequinade was also popular among London audiences. Its most famous performer, Joseph Grimaldi , best known for developing the modern day white-face clown , made his stage debut at Drury Lane in 1780. The West End theatre district became established with the opening of many small theatres and halls, including the Adelphi in The Strand on 17 November 1806. South of
3774-693: The River Thames , the Old Vic , Waterloo Road , opened on 11 May 1818. The expansion of the West End theatre district gained pace with the Theatres Act 1843 , which relaxed the conditions for the performance of plays, and The Strand gained another venue when the Vaudeville opened on 16 April 1870. The next few decades saw the opening of many new theatres in the West End. The Adelphi hosted A Christmas Carol; or, Past, Present, and Future in 1844,
3876-790: The Royal Strand Theatre in Westminster where she funded and operated a dramatic school, the earliest record of a drama school in England. In 1840 she financed the Royalty Theatre in Soho which opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School. There are a number of annual awards for outstanding achievements in London theatre: The Singing Fool The Singing Fool is a 1928 American sound part-talkie musical drama motion picture directed by Lloyd Bacon which
3978-580: The Savoy , and continued until early in 1964. The next big success at the Piccadilly was Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , which opened in February 1964. For the first weeks of the run the leading roles were played by Uta Hagen and Arthur Hill , who had created them on Broadway; they were succeeded in May by Constance Cummings and Ray McAnally . The production transferred to the Globe in July to make way for
4080-507: The Victoria Palace Theatre following the run of Billy Elliot in 2016. The Dominion Theatre refurbishment was completed in 2017 with the unveiling of a new double-sided LED screen, the largest and highest resolution projecting screen on the exterior of a West End theatre. In 2012, gross sales of £529,787,692 were up 0.27% and attendances also increased 0.56% to 13,992,773-year-on-year. In 2013, sales again rose this time by 11% to £585,506,455, with attendances rising to 14,587,276. This
4182-466: The interregnum of 1649. On 24 January 1643, the actors protested against the ban by writing a pamphlet titled The Actors remonstrance or complaint for the silencing of their profession, and banishment from their severall play-houses . After the Restoration (1660), Puritan legislation was declared null and void, and theatre (among other arts) exploded. Two companies were licensed to perform,
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4284-401: The 1890s, Oscar Wilde , premiered his second comedy, A Woman of No Importance , at Haymarket Theatre in 1893. The subject of widespread public and media interest, Lillie Langtry (an associate of Wilde) made her West End debut in the comedy She Stoops to Conquer in 1881. In 1878, Ellen Terry joined Henry Irving 's company as his leading lady, and for more than the next two decades she
4386-531: The 1940s and 1950s included Cole Porter 's Panama Hattie (1943), Coward's revue Sigh No More (1945) and Peter Ustinov 's Romanoff and Juliet (1956). In 1964 the Piccadilly presented the British premiere of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , but by this time musicals had begun to outnumber non-musical plays at this theatre, with revivals of Oliver! and Man of La Mancha , and later productions including Gypsy (1973), A Funny Thing Happened on
4488-455: The 3rd May until 26 January 2002. The Chichester Festival Theatre presented the London premiere of My One and Only for a six-month run from February 2002, 19 years after the show premiered on Broadway. The English language premiere of the French musical Romeo and Juliet by Gérard Presgurvic opened on 4 November, though bad reviews resulted in its closing three months later. Ragtime ,
4590-484: The Boy-Meets-Two-Girls order", and closed after 62 performances. Mander and Mitchenson describe the next six years as a period of short runs and transfers. A Question of Fact by Wynyard Browne (December 1953) had a cast headed by Pamela Brown , Paul Scofield and Gladys Cooper , and ran for 332 performances. A spell of unsuccessful presentations followed until December 1955, when A Girl Called Jo –
4692-536: The Christmas season Cilla Black starred in a pantomime , Jack and the Beanstalk . In March 1991 a musical, Moby Dick , described as "Sixth-form girls perform Herman Meville's novel in their school swimming-pool", opened to poor notices, and closed in early July. In 2015 it was rated by The Daily Telegraph in an article about flops as the sixth worst West End musical so far. The Piccadilly followed it with
4794-498: The Devil by Anthony Pelissier , featuring Yvonne Arnaud , John Mills and Naunton Wayne . After this the theatre became a receiving house for transfers of long runs at reduced prices. From the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 the Piccadilly was closed until Noël Coward 's Blithe Spirit premiered there in July 1941, starring Fay Compton , Kay Hammond , Cecil Parker and Margaret Rutherford . The play ran at
4896-522: The House (1946), a crime story, starred Flora Robson and Basil Sydney . Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra with Edith Evans and Godfrey Tearle (1946) divided critical opinion. Tearle received uniformly excellent notices, but Evans ( aetat 59) convinced some critics more than others. John van Druten 's The Voice of the Turtle (1947) was described by The Observer as "a little New York piece of
4998-726: The Piccadilly in Clarence Darrow in July 1975; it ran for 47 performances, and was followed by two musicals, Kwa Zulu , which ran for 166 performances from September, succeeded in March 1976 by a revival of Bolton and Kern's 1915 musical Very Good Eddie , which had a run of 411 performances. The Royal Shakespeare Company occupied the Piccadilly for transfers of two of its productions: the 1791 comedy Wild Oats in April 1977 (324 performances), and Privates on Parade in February 1978 (208 performances). Vieux Carré by Tennessee Williams opened in August 1978; it divided critical opinion, which ranged from The Observer's view that it
5100-450: The Piccadilly in the rest of the 1970s included Alun Owen 's Male of the Species , a set of three short plays (24 October 1974); and a thriller by Francis Durbridge , The Gentle Hook (142 performances from December 1974; Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys opened in May 1975 starring Alfred Marks and Jimmy Jewel ; it ran for 77 performances, falling far short of the original Broadway run of 538. Henry Fonda made his British stage debut at
5202-406: The Piccadilly reopened after redecoration and the addition of new bars and stalls entrances, with Choose your Time , a novel form of entertainment devised by Firth Shephard . It consisted of a miscellaneous programme of newsreels , a live "swingphonic" orchestra, individual turns, Donald Duck films, and, as what The Stage called its pièce de résistance , a one-act stage comedy called Talk of
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#17327727961955304-430: The Piccadilly until March 1942, before transferring to the smaller St James's and later the Duchess Theatres to complete its run of 1,997 performances. Other wartime productions at the Piccadilly included Macbeth in 1942 starring John Gielgud and Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies in a lavish production designed by Michael Ayrton and John Minton , with music by William Walton . After that came two musicals, both in 1943;
5406-516: The Piccadilly until the end of April, before transferring to the Comedy Theatre . This was followed by a revival of Nell Dunn 's comedy Steaming with Jenny Eclair , which ran from 16 May to 14 June 1997. and then a limited twelve-week run from June to September of the 1977 musical Elvis . Adventures in Motion Pictures returned in October, this time with their production of the ballet Cinderella , which ran until mid-January 1998. The Hall company returned again in March 1998, in association with
5508-418: The Saville in January 1961, with a cast headed by Laye. It completed a total run of 911 performances in February 1962. For the rest of 1962 the Piccadilly had a series of short runs – some limited seasons and others unsuccessful productions. The former included a Festival of French Theatre and two seasons by Marcel Marceau . On 8 October the West End production of the musical Fiorello! opened. The show, about
5610-415: The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. One of the first actresses on the stage, Nell Gwyn became a star of restoration comedy. Outside the West End, Sadler's Wells Theatre opened in Islington on 3 June 1683. Taking its name from founder Richard Sadler and monastic springs that were discovered on the property, it operated as a "Musick House", with performances of opera; as it was not licensed for plays. In
5712-404: The Way to the Forum (1986), A Little Night Music (1989), The Rocky Horror Show (1990), Guys and Dolls (2005), Grease (2007), Jersey Boys (2014) and Moulin Rouge! (2022). The house has had more success with revivals than with premieres of musicals, and has been the scene of several new shows that closed shortly after opening. The theatre has been home to many productions of
5814-474: The West End are of late Victorian or Edwardian construction and are privately owned. Many are architecturally impressive, and the largest and best maintained feature grand neo-classical, Romanesque, or Victorian façades and luxurious, detailed interior design and decoration. However, owing to the age of the buildings, leg room is often cramped, and audience facilities such as bars and toilets are often much smaller than in modern theatres. The protected status of
5916-482: The West End, the Theatre Royal Haymarket opened on 29 December 1720 on a site slightly north of its current location, and the Royal Opera House opened in Covent Garden on 7 December 1732. John Gay 's ballad opera The Beggar's Opera ran for 62 performances in 1728, and held the record for London's longest run for nearly a century. It has been called "the most popular play of the eighteenth century." Another musical show, Tom and Jerry, or Life in London (1821),
6018-408: The best historical play in London for a decade; it ran for 442 performances. In November 1971, again from Chichester, came Jean Anouilh 's Dear Antoine , with Isabel Jeans in the role of Carlotta (created at Chichester by Edith Evans) and Clements in the title role. Despite enthusiastic notices the production closed after 45 performances. In February 1972 there was a further transfer from Chichester,
6120-481: The buildings and their confined urban locations, combined with financial constraints, make it very difficult to make substantial improvements to the level of comfort offered. In 2003, the Theatres Trust estimated that an investment of £250 million over the following 15 years was required for modernisation, and stated that 60% of theatres had seats from which the stage was not fully visible. The theatre owners unsuccessfully requested tax concessions to help them meet
6222-475: The cast in May 1994 bookings slumped and the show closed on 18 June. Only the Lonely , a musical play about Roy Orbison , opened in September 1994 and ran until October the following year. After prolonged negotiations the 1974 Broadway musical Mack and Mabel had its West End premiere at the Piccadilly on 7 November, running until 29 June 1996. On 11 September 1996 Matthew Bourne 's award-winning production of Swan Lake , first seen at Sadler's Wells Theatre
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#17327727961956324-448: The cast, which also included Joan Hickson and Carla Lehmann . Later productions included Coward's revue Sigh No More (1945), starring Cyril Ritchard , Madge Elliott , Joyce Grenfell and Graham Payn . Despite several songs that later became well known, such as "I Wonder What Happened to Him", "That Is the End of the News" and "Matelot", it fell far short of the success of Blithe Spirit , running for 213 performances. A Man About
6426-589: The classics, with plays by Shakespeare, Marlowe , Molière , Shaw and more modern authors including Samuel Beckett , Arthur Miller , Alan Bennett , Tom Stoppard and Willy Russell . Among the actors appearing at the Piccadilly have been Henry Fonda , Frankie Howerd , Marcel Marceau , Ian McKellen , Simon Russell Beale , Paul Scofield and Timothy West ; actresses have included Gladys Cooper , Edith Evans , Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies , Joyce Grenfell , Angela Lansbury , Evelyn Laye , Prunella Scales and Julie Walters . The impresario Edward Laurillard acquired
6528-539: The comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan , opened in October (the first theatre and public building to be lit by electric lights, with The Times recording, "the success of the new mode of illumination was complete, and its importance for the development of scenic art can scarcely be overrated"), and five days later the Comedy Theatre opened as the Royal Comedy Theatre on Panton Street in Leicester Square . It abbreviated its name three years later. On 23 December 1886, Alice in Wonderland (the first major production of
6630-481: The costs. Starting in 2004, there were several incidents of falling plasterwork, or performances being cancelled because of urgent building repairs being required. These events culminated in the partial collapse of the ceiling of the Apollo Theatre in December 2013. Of these earlier incidents, only one led to people being hurt, but at the Apollo 76 people needed medical treatment for their injuries. A number of West End theatres have undergone refurbishments, including
6732-419: The dialogue was "a little halting" and that Dunn was "not convincing", but recognized that the main point of interest in the film was "not in its transparent narrative, but in Mr. Jolson's inimitable singing", and on that basis it was "capital entertainment." John Mosher of The New Yorker also recommended the film, writing, "Fortunately, throughout this picture one has Al Jolson's own songs to listen to, for
6834-415: The early 19th century, however, music hall entertainments became popular, and presenters found a loophole in the restrictions on non-patent theatres in the genre of melodrama . Melodrama did not break the Patent Acts, as it was accompanied by music. Initially, these entertainments were presented in large halls, attached to public houses , but purpose-built theatres began to appear in the East End , such as
6936-428: The first was Oscar Hammerstein II and Sigmund Romberg 's Sunny River , presented by Emile Littler , starring Laye, Dennis Noble , Edith Day and Bertram Wallis . The critic James Agate wrote that the plot did not hold water but he nonetheless rated it the best musical show since Coward's 1929 Bitter Sweet , for numerous reasons, chief of which were that "the plot is not more nonsensical than any other ... there
7038-412: The highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world . Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London . Famous screen actors, British and international alike, frequently appear on the London stage. There are approximately 40 theatres in the West End, with the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane , opened in May 1663, the oldest theatre in London. The Savoy Theatre —built as
7140-507: The impresario Bill Kenwright , for a year-long season that began with Waiting for Godot , with Alan Dobie and Julian Glover , followed by Molière's The Misanthrope , Shaw's Major Barbara , Eduardo de Filippo 's Filumena , and Alan Bennett 's Kafka's Dick . After a brief run for Slava's Snowshow in March 1999, Prunella Scales and Timothy West starred in Harold Pinter 's The Birthday Party , which ran from 20 April to 3 July. A jukebox musical , 4 Steps to Heaven , ran for
7242-490: The majority of movie audiences, The Singing Fool became their first experience with a talking film, since few movie theaters had been equipped with a sound system in 1927. The film's positive reception was also viewed as a signifier that sound films were here to stay. "Here is complete vindication for the advocates of sound pictures", wrote Film Daily . " The Singing Fool is the finest example of sound pictures made to date." Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times wrote that
7344-535: The most popular child star since Jackie Coogan . Lee was re-teamed with Jolson in Say It With Songs and starred in a few other films—including 1929's Sonny Boy —until his parents pulled him out of the movie business. The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: Popular songs from the catalogs of DeSylva, Brown and Henderson, and Rose and Jolson were primarily used. Al Jolson's rendition of " The Spaniard That Blighted My Life "
7446-561: The movie world; not until Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs would any sound-era film be more financially successful than this audience-pleasing blend of sentiment and show biz. With a worldwide gross of $ 5.9 million, it would remain the most successful film in Warner Bros. history until the release of Sergeant York in 1941. According to Warner Bros records the film earned $ 3,821,000 domestically and $ 2,095,000 foreign. For
7548-473: The musical Moulin Rouge! , which previewed from 12 November 2021, opened in January 2022 and was due to run until 28 May, but the run was extended and was still booking in September 2024. West End theatre West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London . Along with New York City 's Broadway theatre , West End theatre represents
7650-399: The musical genre. The film entered the public domain on January 1, 2024 . After years of hopeful struggle as a comedian/waiter at Blackies Cafe, Al Stone (Jolson) is on his way to stardom. One night, he sings a song he wrote for his long time crush Molly, impressing the head of a Broadway theater that was in attendance that night. Molly immediately falls for Al, knowing that he will soon be
7752-564: The non-musical Agatha Christie play The Mousetrap is the longest-running production in the world, and has been performed continuously since 1952. Running since 2011, Matilda the Musical , an adaptation of Roald Dahl 's Matilda , won a then-record seven Olivier Awards in 2012. Running since 2016, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child , a two-part play written by Jack Thorne based on an original story by J. K. Rowling , won
7854-471: The performances range from classic plays, to cabaret, to plays in the languages of London's ethnic minorities . The performers range from emerging young professionals to amateurs. Productions at the Donmar included the 1980 play Educating Rita which starred Julie Walters in the title role before she reprised the role in the 1983 film . There are many theatres located throughout Greater London , such as
7956-545: The piece. It had 230 performances and was followed by Counsellor at Law by Elmer Rice (April 1934, 126 performances) and Queer Cargo by Noel Langley (August 1934, 109 performances). After that there was, in Mander and Mitchenson's words "a bad patch in this theatre's history", during which the Windmill Theatre , known for its nude tableaux vivants , extended its activities to the Piccadilly. In December 1937
8058-506: The political reformer Fiorello La Guardia , had been a big success on Broadway , running for 795 performances, but reviewers felt that the London cast failed to put the show across with suitable Broadway flair and vigour, not helped by interpolations intended to explain New York politics to British audiences. It closed on 24 November after 56 performances, and Marceau returned for his second limited season (19 performances). A stage version of
8160-458: The popular television comedy series The Rag Trade , starring Peter Jones and Miriam Karlin , did not match the appeal of the small-screen original, and ran for 85 performances from 19 December 1962 to 23 February 1963. Most of 1963 was occupied by what Mander and Mitchenson describe as "seasons of ballet, an Italian musical and some French plays". In September Ronald Millar 's adaptation of C. P. Snow 's novel The Masters , transferred from
8262-566: The previous November, opened at the Piccadilly. Ballet was a rarity in the commercial West End theatre, but Bourne had the support of the impresario Cameron Mackintosh . The orchestra was reduced to thirty from the usual full symphonic forces, and the most remarked aspect of the production was the corps de ballet , consisting of bare-torsoed male dancers as the swans. The production ran at the Piccadilly until 1 February 1997. Hall's company returned in March with Molière 's The School for Wives , starring Peter Bowles and Eric Sykes, which ran at
8364-427: The story has been contrived to exploit to the full his special talents. Whenever the action begins to slump and lag, Al has only to step forward and do his stuff, and the day is saved." One trade paper commentator stated that The Singing Fool "will be to talking pictures what The Birth of a Nation has been to silent pictures". For a time, the film also made Davey Lee , Jolson's 3 1 ⁄ 2 year old co-star,
8466-738: The story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons ; Annie (23 May 2017 – 18 February 2018; and Strictly Ballroom , starring Will Young , which ran from 24 April to 27 October 2018. The other three productions at the theatre during the decade were all non-musical dramas. The first two were National Theatre productions in limited seasons, first The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (29 November 2018 – 27 April 2019); and then The Lehman Trilogy (11 May 2019 – 31 August 2019), with Russell Beale, Adam Godley and Ben Miles ;. The third
8568-764: The teenage girl, half-baby, half-sophisticate" ran for less than a week in June 1960. A revival of Shaw's Candida from the Oxford Playhouse starred Michael Denison and Dulcie Gray and ran for 160 performances at the Piccadilly and then at Wyndham's Theatre . After a season of foreign dance companies, the Dublin Festival Company appeared in a revival of The Playboy of the Western World starring Donal Donnelly as Christy and Siobhan McKenna as Pegeen; it ran for 110 performances. That
8670-656: The theatre on behalf of the school. There is a great number of stage productions in London outside the West End. Much of this is known as fringe theatre (referred to as Off West End ) which is the equivalent of off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway theatre in New York City. Among these are the Menier Chocolate Factory , Bush Theatre and the Donmar Warehouse . Fringe venues range from well-equipped small theatres to rooms above pubs, and
8772-475: The title Y , opened in June, and ran until July 1984. In September 1984 an American musical, Pump Boys and Dinettes opened, running at the Piccadilly until June 1985, when it continued its run at another theatre. Mutiny – a musical telling of the mutiny on the Bounty , by and starring David Essex – opened on 18 July 1985 and ran until October the following year. In November 1986 Frankie Howerd starred in
8874-602: Was Death of a Salesman (24 October 2019 – 4 January 2020), from the Young Vic , starring Wendell Pierce and Sharon D Clarke . Pretty Woman , starring Danny Mac and Aimie Atkinson previewed from 13 February and opened on 1 March 2020, but its run was curtailed within a fortnight, when West End theatres closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic . (The show reopened at the Savoy in July 2021.) The Piccadilly reopened with
8976-625: Was a melodrama with musical interludes, and as such was one of the film industry's first musical films. Produced during the transition period between silent film and talkies , the movie was released in both sound and silent versions. The Singing Fool was a part-talking feature, which featured a synchronized musical score with sound effects along with synchronized musical and talking sequences, although in this film roughly 66 minutes of talking and singing were included. Al Jolson's first all-talking feature, Say It With Songs , would appear in 1929. The Singing Fool solidified Jolson's position atop
9078-697: Was considered the leading Shakespearean and comic actress in Britain. Opened in 1903, the New Theatre debuted The Scarlet Pimpernel in 1905, a play that introduced a heroic figure with an alter ego into the public consciousness. The theatre was renamed the Noël Coward Theatre in 2006 after the playwright Noël Coward . Constructed in 1897, Her Majesty's Theatre hosted a number of premieres, including George Bernard Shaw 's Pygmalion in 1914. The theatre building boom continued until about
9180-415: Was described as "a unique £1.5 million theatre experiment, backed entirely by continental money" was announced for the Piccadilly. In an attempt to convert Londoners to a new style of entertainment, the auditorium was converted to resemble a nightclub for the opening of a new musical called i in March. The show was scrapped before the opening night, with heavy losses for its backers. A replacement show, given
9282-521: Was despite slightly fewer performances occurring in 2013. On 16 March 2020, following government advice due to the COVID-19 pandemic , all theatres in the West End were closed until further notice. Theatres in London were allowed to re-open (with social distancing) on 17 May 2021, with full capacity permitted from 19 July. Opening in October 2022, @sohoplace is the first new West End theatre in 50 years. The length of West End shows depends on ticket sales. The longest-running musical in West End history
9384-730: Was down 1.4% compared to the previous year, box office revenues reached a record £799 million. The majority of West End theatres are owned by the ATG Entertainment , Delfont Mackintosh Theatres , Nimax Theatres , LW Theatres , and the Nederlander Organization . Theatre in London flourished after the English Reformation . The first permanent public playhouse, known as The Theatre , was constructed in 1576 in Shoreditch by James Burbage . It
9486-421: Was followed by another musical, a revival of the 1950 show Guys and Dolls , which previewed from 18 May 2005, opened on 31 May, and ran until 14 April 2007; the opening cast included Ewan McGregor , Jane Krakowski , Jenna Russell and Douglas Hodge . The last production of the 2000s was the musical Grease , which ran from 25 July 2007 to 30 April 2011. The production ran for more than 1,300 performances and
9588-519: Was followed in November 1960 by Lilian Hellman 's drama, Toys in the Attic , with Wendy Hiller , Diana Wynyard , Coral Browne and Ian Bannen . In December it emerged that the impresarios Bernard Delfont and Donald Albery were in rival bids to take over the theatre; Albery won, and installed his son Ian as general manager. The Alberys had the theatre refurbished, and installed back-stage improvements. The comedy The Amorous Prawn transferred from
9690-524: Was followed over the Christmas season by a musical adaptation of Daisy Ashford 's novel, The Young Visiters with Alfred Marks as Mr Salteena and Jan Waters as Ethel. Man of La Mancha returned in the new year, this time with Richard Kiley (who had created the title role on Broadway) in the lead. The Prospect Theatre Company presented a transfer from the Edinburgh Festival of Shakespeare's Richard II and Marlowe 's Edward II in
9792-454: Was on the same level as A Streetcar Named Desire to The Guardian's that it was "a vortex of silliness ... dire bathos". It had a run of 118 performances, which was 112 more than it had achieved when premiered in New York. Over the 1978–79 Christmas season the theatre presented matinées of Toad of Toad Hall and evening performances of Barry Humphries's one-man show A Night with Dame Edna . An evening based on French songs, The French Have
9894-535: Was presented but is described by Mander and Mitchenson as an expensive failure, closing after 120 performances. In May 1973 the Piccadilly had a solid success with the musical Gypsy starring Angela Lansbury , who was later succeeded by Dolores Gray . It ran for 300 performances. In March 1974 Tennessee Williams 's popular melodrama A Streetcar Named Desire was revived with Claire Bloom , Joss Ackland and Martin Shaw , and ran for 243 performances. Productions at
9996-446: Was released by Warner Bros. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system. The film stars Al Jolson and is a follow-up to his previous film, The Jazz Singer . It is credited with helping to cement the popularity of American films of both sound and
10098-575: Was soon joined by The Curtain . Both are known to have been used by William Shakespeare 's company. In 1599, the timber from The Theatre was moved to Southwark , where it was used in building the Globe Theatre in a new theatre district formed beyond the controls of the City corporation. Regarding theatre as sinful, these theatres were closed in 1642 due to the Puritans who would later influence
10200-523: Was staged at the Piccadilly – Robin: Prince of Sherwood . The production was notable for cheap ticket prices ("Kids all seats £5!") and for playing on Sundays – highly unusual in the West End – but the show was not well received. The Stage remarked "Come back Which Witch , all is forgiven". The show ran for four months. In December 1993 the Peter Hall Company presented Piaf by Pam Gems , with Elaine Paige as Edith Piaf . When Paige left
10302-447: Was the first London production to reach 100 consecutive performances . Tom and Jerry' s combination of a tour of London interspersed with song and dance, gave rise to numerous similar, loosely constructed entertainments, and "planted the seeds for later musical comedy and revue". The Patent theatre companies retained their duopoly on drama well into the 19th century, and all other theatres could perform only musical entertainments. By
10404-519: Was the longest running show in the theatre's history. The leads were cast via ITV 's Grease Is the Word , with Danny Bayne and Susan McFadden playing Danny and Sandy. The first six productions of the 2010s at the Piccadilly were all musicals: Ghost the Musical (19 July 2011 – 6 October 2012); Viva Forever (27 November 2012 – 29 June 2013); Dirty Dancing (13 July 2013 – 22 February 2014); Jersey Boys (15 March 2014 – 26 March 2017) based on
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