60-593: The Playhouse Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster , located in Northumberland Avenue , near Trafalgar Square , central London. The Theatre was built by F. H. Fowler and Hill with a seating capacity of 1,200. It was rebuilt in 1907 and still retains its original substage machinery. As of November 2021, the theatre has been refurbished and advertised as the Kit Kat Club while it
120-519: A commercial receiving house with several seasons of Almeida Theatre and Cheek by Jowl productions, including the popular but critically panned premiere of David Hare's The Judas Kiss . Successes at the Playhouse since the late 1990s have included Naked (1998); J. B. Priestley 's An Inspector Calls (2001) and Journey's End , directed by David Grindley. American theatrical producers Ted and Norman Tulchin's Maidstone Productions purchased
180-530: 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
240-658: A live Pink Floyd concert was broadcast from the theatre. When the BBC left around 1976, the theatre went dark and was in danger of demolition. In 1986, rock band Queen used the Playhouse Theatre as the set for their " A Kind of Magic " music video. The theatre was restored to its 1907 design by impresario Robin Gonshaw, opening again in October 1987 with the musical Girlfriends . A commercial building, Aria House,
300-641: 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"
360-613: 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,
420-794: 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
480-485: Is hosting a revival of the musical Cabaret . Built by Sefton Henry Parry as the Royal Avenue Theatre , it opened on 11 March 1882 with 1,200 seats. The first production at the theatre was Jacques Offenbach 's Madame Favart . In its early seasons, the theatre hosted comic operas , burlesques and farces for several years. For much of this time, the low comedian Arthur Roberts , a popular star of
540-635: 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 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
600-488: Is used in Highlander by Connor MacLeod ( Christopher Lambert ) as a description of his immortality. Roger Taylor liked the phrase so much that he used it as inspiration for the song. There are references to the film in the lyrics: "one prize, one goal"; "no mortal man"; and "there can be only one". The single's cover art features an image of Clancy Brown in character as the film's villain, The Kurgan . Taylor wrote
660-693: 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,
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#1732791365177720-517: 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
780-473: The COVID-19 pandemic . Following renovations to the theatre during the pandemic, the theatre re-opened as the Kit Kat Club to house a new revival of Cabaret starring Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley which began previews on 15 November 2021. The renovations included converting the theatre into an in-the-round layout and reducing the capacity to 550. West End theatre West End theatre
840-809: 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 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,
900-466: 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 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
960-597: The English Reformation . The first permanent public playhouse, known as The Theatre , was constructed in 1576 in Shoreditch by James Burbage . It 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
1020-724: 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
1080-1068: 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
1140-715: 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: A Kind of Magic (song) " A Kind of Magic " is the title track of
1200-534: The Savoy Theatre in The Strand, built by Richard D'Oyly Carte specifically to showcase 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
1260-469: The music halls , starred at the theatre. By the 1890s, the theatre was presenting drama, and in 1894 Annie Horniman , the tea heiress, anonymously sponsored the actress Florence Farr in a season of plays at the theatre. Farr's first production was unsuccessful, and so she prevailed upon her friend, George Bernard Shaw , to hurry and make his West End début at the theatre with Arms and the Man in 1894. It
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#17327913651771320-658: The 1986 album of the same name by the British rock band Queen . It was written by the band's drummer, Roger Taylor , for the film Highlander and featured as the ending theme. The single reached number three in the UK Singles Chart , top ten in a number of European countries, and #42 on the US Billboard Hot 100 . The song is the opening track on the band's compilation albums, Greatest Hits II , and Classic Queen . The phrase "a kind of magic"
1380-651: 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 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
1440-1149: The Playhouse for the occasion. The new theatre had a smaller seating capacity of 679. W. Somerset Maugham 's Home and Beauty premièred at the Playhouse on 30 August 1919, running for 235 performances, and Henry Daniell appeared here in February 1926 as the Prince of Karaslavia in Mr. Abdulla . Nigel Bruce appeared in February 1927 as Robert Crosbie in Somerset Maugham's The Letter , and again in May 1930 as Robert Brennan in Dishonoured Lady . Alec Guinness made his stage début here in Ward Dorane's play Libel ! on 2 April 1934. Daniell returned in November that year as Paul Miller in Hurricane . In 1951 it
1500-539: The Playhouse to American investment banker Patrick Sulaiman Cole, whose first production was a critically acclaimed revival of Henrik Ibsen 's A Doll's House in 1996, directed by Anthony Page and starring Janet McTeer . Later that year, the theatre was closed for complete refurbishment under the direction of English Heritage , with the auditorium luxuriously decorated, with grandiose murals, caryatids , golden pillars, carved balustrades , and shining gold decoration. It reopened in 1997 with Sulaiman Cole's production and
1560-573: The Restoration (1660), Puritan legislation was declared null and void, and theatre (among other arts) exploded. Two companies were licensed to perform, 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
1620-722: 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 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
1680-478: The West End première of Anton Chekhov 's The Wood Demon . This was followed by Sulaiman Cole's production of a first ever West End Snoo Wilson premiere, "HRH", directed by Simon Callow , about the British Royal Family 's Duke and Duchess of Windsor , which opened the day after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales . The play was harshly reviewed as anti-Royal. The theatre returned to life as
1740-469: The West End, with the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane , opened in May 1663, the oldest theatre in London. The Savoy Theatre —built as 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
1800-477: 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 the West End are of late Victorian or Edwardian construction and are privately owned. Many are architecturally impressive, and
1860-770: The basement bar area of the theatre was converted into a private restaurant, Shaws, but the enterprise was unsuccessful and the space was later converted back into a bar/cafe. In 1992, Archer sold the Playhouse to the writer and impresario Ray Cooney for just over £2 million. That year Cooney staged the West End premiere of his latest farce It Runs in the Family at the Playhouse. This was followed by Jane Eyre (1993), adapted by Fay Weldon and starring Tim Pigott-Smith ; Frederick Lonsdale 's On Approval , (1994), starring Simon Ward , Martin Jarvis and Anna Carteret ; and Ray Cooney 's Funny Money in 1995. In 1996, Cooney sold
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1920-530: 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 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
1980-713: 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, 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:
2040-507: The controls of the City corporation. Regarding theatre as sinful, these theatres were closed in 1642 due to the Puritans who would later influence 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
2100-516: The finger clicks with which the song opens. The song was a live favourite on The Magic Tour of the same year, which proved to be Queen's last tour before the death of Freddie Mercury. Taylor often included the song in solo set lists, and those with his band The Cross . On the Rock the Cosmos Tour of Europe, Taylor took lead vocals for the song at some concerts. The music video for this song
2160-597: The first time since the organisation began collecting audience data in 1986. Box office revenues exceeded £765 million. While attendance in 2019 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
2220-465: The hobos into the Queen members, dressed regularly with their instruments, then back to hobos again as he leaves. Throughout the video, cartoon images dance to the beat of the song which were produced by The Walt Disney Company . As May later remembered, the theater was old and derelict, and lacking central heating, so the band were quite cold during the March filming. The single was certified platinum in Brazil for more than 100,000 digital downloads of
2280-489: 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 the buildings and their confined urban locations, combined with financial constraints, make it very difficult to make substantial improvements to
2340-529: 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 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
2400-429: 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 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
2460-573: The musical Dancing in the Streets , The Adventures of Tintin based on the famous comic-book detective, The Harder They Come , and La Cage Aux Folles . In December 2013, ATG had acquired 100 percent ownership of the Playhouse. From December 2019, it was announced that The Jamie Lloyd Company would take up residence with a series of revivals, beginning with Cyrano de Bergerac starring James McAvoy , The Seagull starring Emilia Clarke and A Doll's House starring Jessica Chastain . The Seagull and A Doll's House were cancelled due to
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2520-448: 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
2580-402: 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 the Victoria Palace Theatre following the run of Billy Elliot in 2016. The Dominion Theatre refurbishment
2640-418: 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
2700-400: The property, it operated as a "Musick House", with performances of opera; as it was not licensed for plays. In 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
2760-433: 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), 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
2820-404: The roof and wall of the theatre. This resulted in the deaths of three people in the station, and three workmen on the theatre site and injuries to many more. The theatre was repaired and re-opened as The Playhouse on 28 January 1907 with a one-act play called The Drums of Oudh and a play called Toddles , by Tristan Bernard and Andre Godferneaux. Shaw wrote a sketch entitled The Interlude at
2880-414: 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 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
2940-429: The single. Queen's compilations The Platinum Collection , Classic Queen , and Greatest Hits II all make an unsubstantiated claim that the song reached #1 in 35 countries around the world, but it reached number one in Spain in 1986, the only country where it topped the charts. Musical theatre actress Elaine Paige recorded the song on her album of Queen covers The Queen Album in 1988. The song serves as
3000-503: 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 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
3060-433: The song, which originally appeared in the movie Highlander . Brian May described this original version as "quite lugubrious and heavy". For the album version, Freddie Mercury created a new bass line, added instrumental breaks, and changed the song's order to make it more chart friendly. Mercury and David Richards produced this new version. In a radio interview in September 2017, Chris Rea claimed that he performed
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#17327913651773120-416: 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 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
3180-420: The theatre at the end of 2002, with the venue managed by ATG Entertainment . The Playhouse hosted Richard Eyre 's 2003 Olivier Award -winning production of Vincent in Brixton , starring Clare Higgins ; Eyre's 2005 production of Hedda Gabler , starring Eve Best ; and Megan Dodds in a transfer of My Name Is Rachel Corrie by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner in 2006. More recent successes include
3240-451: 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
3300-507: 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 was despite slightly fewer performances occurring in 2013. On 16 March 2020, following government advice due to
3360-428: Was directed by Russell Mulcahy , director of Highlander . Brian May did not use his famous Red Special guitar in the music video, but instead a 1984 copy. In the video, Mercury is dressed as a magician type figure. He enters an abandoned theatre (The Playhouse Theatre in London) where May, Taylor and John Deacon (all dressed as stereotypical tramps) are asleep until awakened by Mercury's entrance. Mercury transforms
3420-621: Was erected above the theatre. In 1988, novelist and politician Jeffrey Archer bought the Playhouse for just over £1 million. The following year, the theatre was offered commercial sponsorship by a financial services' company, and for a while it was known as the MI Group Playhouse. In 1991, the Playhouse became home to the Peter Hall Company, and a number of critically and commercially successful plays were performed there, including Tennessee Williams ' The Rose Tattoo (1991), starring Julie Walters and Moliere 's Tartuffe (1991), starring Paul Eddington and Felicity Kendal . Around this time
3480-453: 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 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
3540-448: Was successful enough to allow him to discontinue music criticism to focus full-time on play writing. The actress Gladys Cooper managed the theatre for some years. The theatre was rebuilt in 1905 to the designs of Blow and Billerey. During the work, part of the roof of the adjacent Charing Cross railway station collapsed. The roof and girders fell across the train lines but part of the station's western wall also fell and crashed through
3600-422: Was taken over by the BBC as a recording studio for live performances. The Goon Show and the radio versions of Hancock's Half Hour and Steptoe and Son were recorded here, although at least the first two shows were also recorded at other venues during their runs. The stage also hosted live performances by KISS , Queen , Led Zeppelin , The Who , The Beatles and The Rolling Stones . On 3 April 1967,
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