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69-409: Tom Taylor (19 October 1817 – 12 July 1880) was an English dramatist , critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of Punch magazine. Taylor had a brief academic career, holding the professorship of English literature and language at University College, London in the 1840s, after which he practised law and became a civil servant. At the same time he became a journalist, most prominently as

138-485: A Mecca Ballroom in 1951, styled the Lyceum Ballroom , where many well-known bands played. The Lyceum was closed in 1986 but restored to theatrical use in 1996 by Holohan Architects. Since 1999, the theatre has hosted The Lion King . The first Lyceum Theatre was housed in a building erected in 1765 on a site adjacent to the present theatre, with its entrance on The Strand , by the architect James Paine for

207-679: A leader writer for the Morning Chronicle and the Daily News . He was also art critic for The Times and The Graphic for many years. He edited the Autobiography of B. R. Haydon (1853), the Autobiography and Correspondence of C. R. Leslie , R.A. (1860) and Pen Sketches from a Vanished Hand , selected from papers of Mortimer Collins , and wrote Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1865). With his first contribution to Punch , on 19 October 1844, Taylor began

276-522: A melodrama produced at the Olympic in 1863. Taylor also wrote a series of historical dramas (many in blank verse ), including The Fool’s Revenge (1869), an adaption of Victor Hugo 's Le roi s'amuse (also adapted by Verdi as Rigoletto ), ' Twixt Axe and Crown (1870), Jeanne d'arc (1871), Lady Clancarty (1874) and Anne Boleyn (1875). The last of these, produced at the Haymarket in 1875,

345-482: A murder mystery play which is the longest-running West End show , it has by far the longest run of any play in the world, with its 29,500th performance having taken place as of February 2024. Contemporary playwrights in the United States are affected by recent declines in theatre attendance. No longer the only outlet for serious drama or entertaining comedies, theatrical productions must use ticket sales as

414-449: A contributor to, and eventually editor of, Punch , a humour magazine. In addition to these vocations, Taylor began a theatre career and became best known as a playwright, with up to 100 plays staged during his career. Many were adaptations of French plays, but these and his original works cover a range from farce to melodrama . Most fell into neglect after Taylor's death, but Our American Cousin (1858), which achieved great success in

483-572: A dramatist that Taylor made the most impression – his biographer in the Dictionary of National Biography ( DNB ) wrote that in writing plays Taylor found his true vocation. In thirty-five years he wrote more than seventy plays for the principal London theatres. A substantial portion of Taylor's prolific output consisted of adaptations from the French or collaborations with other playwrights, notably Charles Reade . Some of his plots were adapted from

552-411: A fire, the house was rebuilt and reopened on 14 July 1834 to a design by Samuel Beazley . The building is unique in that it has a balcony overhanging the dress circle. It was built by the partnership of Peto & Grissell . The theatre then played opera, adaptations of Charles Dickens novels and James Planché 's "fairy extravaganzas", among other works. From 1871 to 1902, Henry Irving appeared at

621-512: A form of playwright. Outside of the Western world there is Indian classical drama , with one of the oldest known playwrights being Śudraka , whose attributed plays can be dated to the second century BC. The Nāṭya Shāstra , a text on the performing arts from between 500BC-500AD, categorizes playwrights as being among the members of a theatre company, although playwrights were generally the highest in social status, with some being kings. In

690-466: A playwright and eventually produced about 100 plays. Between 1844 and 1846, the Lyceum Theatre staged at least seven of his plays, including extravanzas written with Albert Smith or Charles Kenney , and his first major success, the 1846 farce To Parents and Guardians . The Morning Post said of that piece, "The writing is admirable throughout – neat, natural and epigrammatic". It was as

759-654: A playwright, winning awards for his play The Phoenix at both the New York International Fringe Festival in 1999 and the Route 66 American Playwriting Competition in 2000. Today, theatre companies have new play development programs meant to develop new American voices in playwriting. Many regional theatres have hired dramaturges and literary managers in an effort to showcase various festivals for new work, or bring in playwrights for residencies. Funding through national organizations, such as

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828-543: A pugilistic jaw and eyes which glittered like steel". Known for his remarkable energy, he was a keen swimmer and rower, who rose daily at five or six and wrote for three hours before taking an hour's brisk walk from his house in Wandsworth to his Whitehall office. Some, like Ellen Terry , praised Taylor's kindness and generosity; others, including F. C. Burnand , found him obstinate and unforgiving. Terry wrote of Taylor in her memoirs: Most people know that Tom Taylor

897-692: A small farm in Cumberland and had risen to become co-owner of a flourishing brewery in Durham . After attending the Grange School in Sunderland, and studying for two sessions at the University of Glasgow , Taylor became a student of Trinity College, Cambridge in 1837, was elected to a scholarship in 1838, and graduated with a BA in both classics and mathematics. He was elected a fellow of

966-525: A source of income, which has caused many of them to reduce the number of new works being produced. For example, Playwrights Horizons produced only six plays in the 2002–03 seasons, compared with thirty-one in 1973–74. Playwrights commonly encounter difficulties in getting their shows produced and often cannot earn a living through their plays alone, leading them to take up other jobs to supplement their incomes. Many playwrights are also film makers . For instance, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock began his career as

1035-562: A stricter interpretation of Aristotle, as this long-lost work came to light in the late 15th century. The neoclassical ideal, which was to reach its apogee in France during the 17th century, dwelled upon the unities , of action, place, and time. This meant that the playwright had to construct the play so that its "virtual" time would not exceed 24 hours, that it would be restricted to a single setting, and that there would be no subplots. Other terms, such as verisimilitude and decorum, circumscribed

1104-473: A thirty-six year association with the weekly humour and satire magazine, which ended only with his death. During the 1840s he wrote on average three columns a month; in the 1850s and 1860s this output doubled. His biographer Craig Howes writes that Taylor's articles were generally humorous commentary or comic verses on politics, civic news, and the manners of the day. In 1874 he succeeded Charles William Shirley Brooks as editor. Taylor also established himself as

1173-632: Is Hans Sachs (1494–1576) who wrote 198 dramatic works. In England, The Second Shepherds' Play of the Wakefield Cycle is the best known early farce. However, farce did not appear independently in England until the 16th century with the work of John Heywood (1497–1580). Playwright William Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted. Most playwrights of

1242-590: Is a West End theatre located in the City of Westminster , on Wellington Street , just off the Strand in central London. It has a seating capacity of 2,100. The origins of the theatre date to 1765. Managed by Samuel Arnold , from 1794 to 1809 the building hosted a variety of entertainments including a circus produced by Philip Astley , a chapel, and the first London exhibition of waxworks by Madame Tussauds . From 1816 to 1830, it served as The English Opera House . After

1311-443: Is from Middle English pleye , from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsperson or builder (as in a wheelwright or cartwright ). The words combine to indicate a person who has "wrought" words, themes, and other elements into a dramatic form—a play. (The homophone with "write" is coincidental.) The first recorded use of

1380-419: Is now remembered chiefly as the play Abraham Lincoln was attending when he was assassinated, but it was revived many times during the 19th century with great success. It became celebrated as a vehicle for the popular comic actor Edward Sothern , and after his death, his sons, Lytton and E. H. Sothern , took over the part in revivals. Howes records that Taylor was described as "of middle height, bearded [with]

1449-542: Is still useful to playwrights today is the " French scene ", which is a scene in a play where the beginning and end are marked by a change in the makeup of the group of characters onstage rather than by the lights going up or down or the set being changed. Notable playwrights: Greek theater was alive and flourishing on the island of Crete. During the Cretan Renaissance two notable Greek playwrights Georgios Chortatzis and Vitsentzos Kornaros were present in

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1518-625: The Lyceum Ballroom . The Miss World contest was staged at the venue every year from 1951 to 1968. Many big bands played here, including the Oscar Rabin Band which performed frequently. From the 1960s to the 1980s, the theatre was used as a pop concert venue and for television broadcasts. T.Rex and its earlier incarnation Tyrannosaurus Rex, the Sex Pistols , the Grateful Dead , The Groundhogs , The Clash , Bob Marley and

1587-624: The National Endowment for the Arts and the Theatre Communications Group , encouraged the partnerships of professional theatre companies and emerging playwrights. Playwrights will often have a cold reading of a script in an informal sitdown setting, which allows them to evaluate their own plays and the actors performing them. Cold reading means that the actors haven't rehearsed the work, or may be seeing it for

1656-407: The 19th century, remains famous as the piece that was being performed in the presence of Abraham Lincoln when he was assassinated in 1865. Taylor was born into a newly wealthy family at Bishopwearmouth , a suburb of Sunderland , in north-east England. He was the second son of Thomas Taylor (1769–1843) and his wife, Maria Josephina, née Arnold (1784–1858). His father had begun as a labourer on

1725-593: The 2007 CD/DVD re-release of their 1980 album Duke . A proposed redevelopment of Covent Garden by the GLC in 1968 saw the theatre under threat, together with the nearby Vaudeville , Garrick , Adelphi and Duchess theatres . An active campaign by Equity , the Musicians' Union , and theatre owners under the auspices of the Save London Theatres Campaign helped save the theatre. In 1973,

1794-449: The 4th century BCE, Aristotle wrote his Poetics , in which he analyzed the principle of action or praxis as the basis for tragedy. He then considered elements of drama: plot ( μύθος mythos ), character ( ἔθος ethos ), thought ( dianoia ), diction ( lexis ), music ( melodia ), and spectacle ( opsis ). Since the myths on which Greek tragedy were based were widely known, plot had to do with

1863-543: The 5th century it was institutionalised in competitions ( agon ) held as part of festivities celebrating Dionysos (the god of wine and fertility ). As contestants in the City Dionysia's competition (the most prestigious of the festivals to stage drama), playwrights were required to present a tetralogy of plays (though the individual works were not necessarily connected by story or theme), which usually consisted of three tragedies and one satyr play. For

1932-546: The Lyceum. Irving and Terry began with Hamlet in 1878. Their 1879 production of The Merchant of Venice ran for an unusual 250 nights, and success followed success in the Shakespeare canon as well as in other major plays. Other celebrated productions included Much Ado About Nothing , The Lady of Lyons by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1878), Romeo and Juliet , King Lear , The Lyons Mail by Charles Reade (1883),

2001-561: The Middle Ages, the earliest of which is The Play of the Greenwood by Adam de la Halle in 1276. It contains satirical scenes and folk material such as faeries and other supernatural occurrences. Farces also rose dramatically in popularity after the 13th century. The majority of these plays come from France and Germany and are similar in tone and form, emphasizing sex and bodily excretions. The best known playwright of farces

2070-611: The Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and the end of the 17th century, classical ideas were in vogue. As a result, critics of the time mostly rated Shakespeare below John Fletcher and Ben Jonson. This period saw the first professional woman playwright, Aphra Behn . As a reaction to the decadence of Charles II era productions, sentimental comedy grew in popularity. Playwrights like Colley Cibber and Richard Steele believed that humans were inherently good but capable of being led astray. The Italian Renaissance brought about

2139-661: The Wailers , Led Zeppelin , Queen , The Police , The Ramones , The Who , Emerson, Lake & Palmer , both incarnations of Adam and the Ants , U2 , Colosseum , The Smiths , Iron Maiden and Pink Floyd all played here. Bob Marley and the Wailers' Live! album was recorded here on 18–19 July 1975. Genesis filmed a performance here in May 1980 for broadcast on the Old Grey Whistle Test . This footage appears on

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2208-584: The age of 62 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery . After his death, his widow retired to Coleshill , Buckinghamshire, where she died on 22 May 1905. Dramatist The earliest playwrights in Western literature with surviving works are the Ancient Greeks . William Shakespeare is amongst the most famous playwrights in literature, both in England and across the world. The word "play"

2277-420: The ancient Greeks, playwriting involved poïesis , "the act of making". This is the source of the English word poet . Despite Chinese Theatre having performers dated back to the 6th century BC with You Meng , their perspective of theatre was such that plays had no other role than "performer" or "actor", but given that the performers were also the ones who invented their performances, they could be considered

2346-404: The arrangement and selection of existing material. Character was determined by choice and by action. Tragedy is mimesis —"the imitation of an action that is serious". He developed his notion of hamartia , or tragic flaw, an error in judgment by the main character or protagonist , which provides the basis for the "conflict-driven" play. There were also a number of secular performances staged in

2415-402: The artist John Wycliffe Taylor (1859–1925) and Laura Lucy Arnold Taylor (1863–1940). Taylor and his family lived at 84 Lavender Sweep, Battersea , where they held Sunday musical soirees. Celebrities who attended included Lewis Carroll , Charles Dickens , Henry Irving, Charles Reade , Alfred Tennyson , Ellen Terry and William Makepeace Thackeray . Taylor died suddenly at his home in 1880 at

2484-800: The bar of the Middle Temple in November 1846. He resigned his university post, and practised on the northern legal circuit until he was appointed assistant secretary of the Board of Health in 1850. On the reconstruction of the board in 1854 he was made secretary, and on its abolition in 1858 his services were transferred to a department of the Home Office , retiring on a pension in 1876. Taylor owed his fame and most of his income not to his academic, legal or government work, but to his writing. Soon after moving to London, he obtained remunerative work as

2553-500: The closure of the theatre in 1939. In 1939, the London County Council bought the building, with plans to demolish it to make room for road improvement. The theatre closed that year with a landmark performance of Hamlet directed by Sir John Gielgud (Ellen Terry's great nephew). The road improvement plans collapsed, and after the war, in 1945, it was converted to a huge ballroom and reopened by Matthews and Sons, as

2622-403: The college in 1842 and received his MA degree the following year. Taylor left Cambridge in late 1844 and moved to London, where for the next two years he pursued three careers simultaneously. He was professor of English language and literature at University College, London , while at the same time studying to become a barrister , and beginning his life's work as a writer. Taylor was called to

2691-468: The days before international copyright protection. Taylor wrote, "I have no wish to screen myself from literary criticism behind the plea that my plays were meant to be acted. It seems to me that every drama submitted to the judgment of audiences should be prepared to encounter that of readers". Many of Taylor's plays were extremely popular, and several survived into the 20th century, although most are largely forgotten today. His Our American Cousin (1858)

2760-405: The exhibitions of The Society of Artists. The Society of Artists was not a success, and the building was then leased out for dances and other entertainments, including musical entertainments by Charles Dibdin . Famed actor David Garrick also performed there. In 1794, the composer Samuel Arnold Sr rebuilt the interior of the building, making it into a proper theatre, but through the opposition of

2829-439: The existing patent theatres , he was not granted a patent. Therefore, he leased it to other entertainments again, including Philip Astley , who brought his circus there when his amphitheatre was burned down at Westminster. It was also used as a chapel, a concert room, and for the first London exhibition of waxworks displayed by Madame Tussauds in 1802. The theatre finally became a licensed house in 1809, and until 1812 it

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2898-530: The façade and portico of the original building. The theatre presented music hall and variety , in an attempt to compete with the Palace Theatre and the new Stoll built London Coliseum , but this was not a success, and the theatre soon returned to presenting drama. From 1909–38 the Melville Brothers ran a successful series of spectacular melodramas. In 1919, additional minor alterations to

2967-515: The first modern English opera . It was followed by Fair Rosamund in 1837 and Farinelli in 1839 (both at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane ), and Blanche of Jersey here in 1840. In 1841–43, composer Michael William Balfe managed the theatre and produced National Opera here, but the venture was ultimately unsuccessful. From 1844 to 1847 the theatre was managed by husband and wife team Robert Keeley and Mary Anne Keeley , during which period

3036-551: The first time, and usually, the technical requirements are minimal. The O'Neill Festival offers summer retreats for young playwrights to develop their work with directors and actors. Playwriting collectives like 13P and Orbiter 3 gather members together to produce, rather than develop, new works. The idea of the playwriting collective is in response to plays being stuck in the development process and never advancing to production. Lyceum Theatre, London The Lyceum Theatre ( / l aɪ ˈ s iː əm / ly- SEE -əm )

3105-434: The ghost-haunted burgomaster. The piece ran to sell-out crowds for 150 nights, which was an unusually long run at the time. Charles I , in 1872 was another hit, running for 180 nights. In 1874, Irving played Hamlet at the theatre, perhaps his greatest triumph, running for 200 nights. In 1878, after Bateman's death, Irving took over management of the theatre from his widow. The Builder , 28 September 1878 reported that there

3174-516: The house became associated with adaptations of Charles Dickens 's novels and Christmas books. For instance, an adaptation of Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit ran for over 100 performances from 1844–45 here, a long run for the time. The Lyceum was later managed by Madame Lucia Elizabeth Vestris and Charles James Mathews from 1847–55, who produced James Planché 's "[fairy] extravaganzas" featuring spectacular stage effects. Their first big success

3243-530: The immensely popular Faust by William Gorman Wills (1885, which even drew applications for reserved seats from foreigners), Macbeth (1888, with incidental music by Sir Arthur Sullivan ), Henry VIII (1892), Becket by Alfred Tennyson (1893), King Arthur by J. Comyns Carr , with incidental music by Sir Arthur Sullivan (1895), Cymbeline (1896) and Victorien Sardou and Émile Moreau 's play Madame Sans-Gêne (1897). When Irving and Terry toured America, as they did several times beginning in 1883,

3312-490: The latter part of the 16th century. The plays of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing , Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Friedrich Schiller , and other Sturm und Drang playwrights inspired a growing faith in feeling and instinct as guides to moral behavior and were part of the German romanticism movement. Aleksandr Ostrovsky was Russia's first professional playwright). Author and playwright Agatha Christie wrote The Moustrap ,

3381-671: The novels of Charles Dickens or others. Many of Taylor's plays were extremely popular, such as Masks and Faces , an extravaganza written in collaboration with Reade, produced at the Haymarket Theatre in November 1852. It was followed by the almost equally successful To Oblige Benson ( Olympic Theatre , 1854), an adaptation from a French vaudeville. Others mentioned by the DNB are Plot and Passion (1853), Still Waters Run Deep (1855) and The Ticket-of-Leave Man (based on Le Retour de Melun by Édouard Brisebarre and Eugène Nus),

3450-407: The period typically collaborated with others at some point, as critics agree Shakespeare did, mostly early and late in his career. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. In England, after the interregnum , and Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, there was a move toward neoclassical dramaturgy. Between

3519-569: The present house opened slightly to the west, with a frontage on Wellington Street, under the name Theatre Royal Lyceum and English Opera House . The theatre was again designed by Beazley and cost £40,000. The new house championed English opera rather than the Italian operas that had played earlier in the century. Composer John Barnett produced a number of works in the first few years of the theatre, including The Mountain Sylph (1834), credited as

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3588-623: The province of poets. This view was held as late as the early 19th century. The term "playwright" later again lost this negative connotation. The earliest playwrights in Western literature with surviving works are the Ancient Greeks . These early plays were for annual Athenian competitions among play writers held around the 5th century BC. Such notables as Aeschylus , Sophocles , Euripides , and Aristophanes established forms still relied on by their modern counterparts. We have complete texts extant by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides . The origins of Athenian tragedy remain obscure, though by

3657-557: The subject matter significantly. For example, verisimilitude limits of the unities. Decorum fitted proper protocols for behavior and language on stage. In France, contained too many events and actions, thus, violating the 24-hour restriction of the unity of time. Neoclassicism never had as much traction in England, and Shakespeare 's plays are directly opposed to these models, while in Italy, improvised and bawdy commedia dell'arte and opera were more popular forms. One structural unit that

3726-478: The term "playwright" is from 1605, 73 years before the first written record of the term "dramatist". It appears to have been first used in a pejorative sense by Ben Jonson to suggest a mere tradesman fashioning works for the theatre. Jonson uses the word in his Epigram 49, which is thought to refer to John Marston or Thomas Dekker : Jonson described himself as a poet, not a playwright, since plays during that time were written in meter and so were regarded as

3795-547: The theatre gained protection and was Grade II* listed as Interior despite adaptation and alteration for present ballroom use retains [a] substantial part of Crewe's work . The theatre went dark in 1986, after the National Theatre's promenade performances (in 1985) of Bill Bryden 's adaptation of the Mysteries trilogy. Brent Walker leased the theatre during this time but later gave up his lease, and in 1996 it

3864-505: The theatre played works with many famous actors including Johnston Forbes-Robertson , Mrs. Patrick Campbell , Sarah Bernhardt , and Eleonora Duse . Martin Harvey, a pupil of Irving's played a season there in 1899. Benoît-Constant Coquelin appeared as Cyrano de Bergerac in the summer of 1898. After being bought by Thomas Barrasford in 1904, the theatre was rebuilt and richly ornamented in rococo style by Bertie Crewe , retaining only

3933-401: The theatre were made by Edward Jones. Between the wars, dramas played at the theatre for ten months each year, followed by Christmas pantomimes, including Queen of Hearts in 1938. The Lyceum was the last London theatre to continue the early practice of concluding pantomimes with a harlequinade , a free standing entertainment of slapstick clowning, juggling and tumbling. The tradition ended with

4002-405: The theatre, and Irving was Stoker's real-life inspiration for the character Count Dracula in his 1897 novel, Dracula . Stoker hoped that Irving, with his dramatic, sweeping gestures, gentlemanly mannerisms, and speciality in playing villain roles, would play Dracula in the stage adaptation of his novel. However, Irving never agreed to appear in the stage version, although the play was produced at

4071-519: The theatre, especially in Shakespeare productions, usually starring opposite Ellen Terry . In 1904 the theatre was almost completely rebuilt and richly ornamented in Rococo style by Bertie Crewe , but it retained Beazley's façade and grand portico . It played mostly melodrama over the ensuing decades. The building closed in 1939 and was set to be demolished, but it was saved and converted into

4140-720: The word yet through the Taylors and others, we were educated. Terry's frequent stage partner, Henry Irving said that Taylor was an exception to the general rule that it was helpful, even though not essential, for a dramatist to be an actor to understand the techniques of stagecraft: "There is no dramatic author who more thoroughly understands his business". In 1855 Taylor married the composer, musician and artist Laura Wilson Barker (1819–1905). She contributed music to at least one of his plays, an overture and entr'acte to Joan of Arc (1871), and harmonisations to his translation Ballads and Songs of Brittany (1865). There were two children:

4209-466: The world's finest Italian dramatic tenor, Francesco Tamagno , appeared at the Lyceum, singing the leading role in the first London production of Giuseppe Verdi 's opera Otello . Beginning in 1871, under manager Hezekiah Linthicum Bateman and his wife Sidney Frances Bateman , Henry Irving appeared at the theatre in, among other things, many Shakespeare works. Irving began with the French melodrama The Bells , an instant hit in which he played

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4278-449: Was John Maddison Morton 's Box and Cox . Tom Taylor 's adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities , with Dickens himself as consultant, played in 1860, shortly after end of its serialisation and volume publication. Charles Fechter , who managed the theatre from 1863–67 also favored spectacular productions. In 1866, Dion Boucicault 's The Long Strike (his adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell 's Manchester novels Mary Barton and Lizzie Leigh )

4347-437: Was Taylor's penultimate piece and only complete failure. In 1871 Taylor supplied the words to Arthur Sullivan 's dramatic cantata , On Shore and Sea . Like his colleague W. S. Gilbert , Taylor believed that plays should be readable as well as actable; he followed Gilbert in having copies of his plays printed for public sale. Both authors did so at some risk, because it made matters easy for American pirates of their works in

4416-646: Was a difference between Irving and Mrs. Bateman regarding the personnel of the company at the Lyceum. "Mr. Irving is said to have told Mrs. Bateman that he was resolved to have actors to act with him, and not dolls, otherwise he would no longer play at the Lyceum. The result was that Mrs. Bateman threw up the management of the theatre, and Mr. Irving takes her place." Mrs. Bateman became the manager of Sadler's Wells Theatre . Irving continued to star in plays there, especially Shakespeare, until 1902, engaging co-star Ellen Terry for that entire period of 24 years. Bram Stoker worked between 1878 and 1898 as business manager of

4485-598: Was famous for hosting the London première of Mozart 's opera Così fan tutte (9 May 1811) and as the first theatre in Britain to have its stage lit by gas (6 August 1817). During this period, the " Sublime Society of Beef Steaks ", which had been founded in 1735 by theatre manager Henry Rich, had its home at the theatre for over 50 years until 1867. The members, who never exceeded twenty-four in number, met every Saturday night to eat beefsteaks and drink port wine. In 1834,

4554-459: Was one of the leading playwrights of the 'sixties as well as the dramatic critic of The Times , editor of Punch , and a distinguished Civil Servant, but to us he was more than this. He was an institution! I simply cannot remember when I did not know him. It is the Tom Taylors of the world who give children on the stage their splendid education. We never had any education in the strict sense of

4623-499: Was produced here. Ethel Lavenu , the mother and grandmother of actors Tyrone Power Sr. and Tyrone Power performed in a number pieces at the theatre in the 1860s. W. S. Gilbert produced three plays here. In 1863, his first professional play, Uncle Baby , premièred. In 1867, he presented his Christmas pantomime , called Harlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren , and in 1884, he produced the drama Comedy and Tragedy . In 1889,

4692-560: Was restored and reconverted into a theatre for large-scale musicals or opera (with a suitably large orchestra pit) by Holohan Architects. A production of Jesus Christ Superstar played from 1996 to 1998. The theatre has been home to the musical theatre version of The Lion King since 1999. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the production, which had grossed over £289 million and been seen by more than eight million people, 250 former cast members gathered onstage, together with designer-director Julie Taymor . James Earl Jones , who voiced

4761-470: Was used for dramatic performances by the Drury Lane Company after the burning of their own theatre , until the erection of the new edifice. It staged one of the earliest tableaux vivants , as part of William Dimond's The Peasant Boy in 1811. In 1816, Samuel Arnold rebuilt the house to a design by Beazley and opened it as The English Opera House, but it was destroyed by fire in 1830. The house

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