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West End theatre

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West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's "Theatreland", the West End.[1] Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London.[1]

Total attendances first surpassed 12 million in 2002 and 13 million in 2007,[2] setting a new record for the West End. Since the late 1990s there has been an increase in the number of famous screen actors on the London stage.

History

Further information: English Renaissance theatre

The Theatre in London flourished after the English Reformation. The first permanent public playhouse, known simply 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 the controls of the City corporation. These theatres were closed in 1642 during the interregnum.

Further information: Restoration comedy and Restoration spectacular

After the Restoration (1660), 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 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.[3][4]

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,[5][6] it operated as a "Musick House", with performances of opera; as it was not licensed for plays. In the West End, the Haymarket Theatre opened on 29 December 1720 on a site slightly north of its current location, and the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden opened in Covent Garden on 7 December 1732.

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 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 be established in the East End at Shoreditch and Whitechapel.

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 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 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 the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan, opened on 10 October (the first theatre to be lit by cooler, cleaner electric lights), 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.[4] The theatre building boom continued until about World War I.

Among the noted performers who began their careers in the early days of West End theatre are Robert William Elliston, John Liston, Nell Gwynne, Lennie Dean and later Henry Irving, Ellen Terry, John Lawrence Toole, Nellie Farren, Marie Tempest, Seymour Hicks, Ellaline Terriss, and Marie Brema.

The London Opera Glass Company was founded in 1913 and has provided operas glasses for many West End theatres.[7][8]

During the 1950s and 1960s, many plays were produced in theatre clubs, in order 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.

Since the 1990s, there has been a growing tendency for film actors to play in West End productions.

Theatreland

The Lyceum Theatre, home to Disney's The Lion King.[8]

Now[when?] rebranded — by Westminster council and the Society of London Theatre — as "Theatreland", London's main theatre district, which contains approximately forty venues, is located in the heart of the West End of central London, and is traditionally defined by The Strand to the south, Oxford Street to the north, Regent Street to the west, and Kingsway to the east. Prominent theatre streets include Drury Lane, Shaftesbury Avenue, and The Strand. The works staged are predominantly musicals, classic or middle-brow plays, and comedy performances.

Beyond the West End are the Royal National Theatre and Old Vic, in Southwark; and the Barbican Theatre, in the City of London. London also has many smaller theatres, both around the West End and its periphery.

Many theatres in the West End are of late Victorian or Edwardian construction and are privately owned. The majority of them have great character, and the largest and best maintained feature grand neo-classical, Romanesque, or Victorian façades and luxurious, detailed interior design and decoration. On the other hand, 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 is very difficult to make substantial improvements to the level of comfort offered. In 2004, it was estimated an investment of £250 million was required for modernisation, and the theatre owners unsuccessfully requested tax concessions to help them meet the costs.

Long-running shows

The length of West End shows depend on ticket sales. Musicals tend to have longer runs than dramas. The longest-running musical in West End history is Les Misérables. 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 8 October 2006. Other long-runners include Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera and Willy Russell's Blood Brothers which have also subsequently overtaken Cats. However the non-musical Agatha Christie play The Mousetrap is the longest-running show in the world, and has been showing since 1952.

The St Martin's Theatre, home to The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the world.

List of West End theatres

  • If no show is currently running, the play listed is the next show planned (dates marked with an *)
  • If the next show planned is not announced, the applicable columns are left blank
Theatre Current show Classification Capacity Opening
date 		Closing
date
Adelphi Theatre The Bodyguard Musical 1500 2012-12-055 December 2012* Open-ended
Aldwych Theatre Top Hat Musical 1200 2012-05-099 May 2012 Open-ended
Ambassadors Theatre Stomp Physical Theatre 408 2007-10-044 October 2007 Open-ended
Apollo Theatre Roger Rees - What You Will Play 796 2012-09-1818 September 2012 2012-10-066 October 2012
Apollo Victoria Theatre Wicked Musical 2292 2006-09-2727 September 2006 Open-ended
Arts Theatre Baggage Play 350 2012-09-1212 September 2012 2012-10-066 October 2012
Cambridge Theatre Matilda the Musical Musical 1231 2011-11-2424 November 2011 Open-ended
Coliseum Theatre Repertory opera & ballet Opera/Ballet 2358
Criterion Theatre The 39 Steps Play 588 2006-09-2020 September 2006 Open-ended
Dominion Theatre We Will Rock You Musical 2163 2002-05-1414 May 2002 Open-ended
Duchess Theatre Our Boy Play 479 2012-10-033 October 2012* Open-ended
Duke of York's Theatre Jumpy Play 640 2012-08-2828 August 2012 2012-11-033 November 2012
Fortune Theatre The Woman in Black Play 432 1989-06-077 June 1989 Open-ended
Garrick Theatre Loserville Musical 656 2012-10-1717 October 2012* Open-ended
Gielgud Theatre Chariots of Fire Play 937 2012-07-033 July 2012 2013-02-022 February 2013
Harold Pinter Theatre A Chorus of Disapproval Play 796 2012-09-2727 September 2012 Open-ended
Her Majesty's Theatre The Phantom of the Opera Musical 1216 1986-10-099 October 1986 Open-ended
London Palladium Scrooge: The Musical Musical 2286 2012-11-066 November 2012* 2013-01-055 January 2013
Lyceum Theatre The Lion King Musical 2100 1999-10-1919 October 1999 Open-ended
Lyric Theatre Thriller - Live Musical 967 2009-01-2121 January 2009 Open-ended
New London Theatre War Horse Play 1100 2009-04-033 April 2009 Open-ended
Noël Coward Theatre Much Ado About Nothing Play 872 2012-09-2727 September 2012 2012-10-2727 October 2012
Novello Theatre Mamma Mia! Musical 1050 2012-09-066 September 2012 Open-ended
Palace Theatre Singin' in the Rain Musical 1400 2012-02-1515 February 2012 Open-ended
Peacock Theatre Repertory dance Dance 999
Piccadilly Theatre Ghost the Musical Musical 1232 2011-07-1919 July 2011 2012-10-066 October 2012
Phoenix Theatre Blood Brothers Musical 1012 1991-11-2121 November 1991 2012-11-1010 November 2012
Playhouse Theatre The Mystery of Charles Dickens Play 786 2012-09-1717 September 2012 2012-11-1010 November 2012
Prince Edward Theatre Jersey Boys Musical 1618 2008-03-1818 March 2008 Open-ended
Prince of Wales Theatre Let It Be Musical 1160 2012-09-2424 September 2012 2013-01-1919 January 2013
Queen's Theatre Les Misérables Musical 1200 2004-04-1212 April 2004 Open-ended
Royal Opera House Repertory opera and ballet Opera/Ballet 2268
Savoy Theatre Cabaret Musical 1150 2012-10-099 October 2012* Open-ended
Shaftesbury Theatre Rock of Ages Musical 1400 2011-09-2828 September 2011 Open-ended
St Martin's Theatre The Mousetrap Play 550 1974-03-2525 March 1974 Open-ended
Theatre Royal, Haymarket One Man, Two Guvnors Play 888 2012-03-022 March 2012 Open-ended
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane Shrek the Musical Musical 2196 2011-06-1414 June 2011 2013-02-2424 February 2013
Trafalgar Studios 1 Yes, Prime Minister Play 380 2012-06-066 June 2012 Open-ended
Trafalgar Studios 2 Zelda Play 100 2012-09-1919 September 2012 2012-10-044 October 2012
Vaudeville Theatre Paul Merton - Out of My Head Play 690 2012-10-011 October 2012 2012-10-2020 October 2012
Victoria Palace Theatre Billy Elliot the Musical Musical 1550 2005-05-1111 May 2005 Open-ended
Wyndham's Theatre Quartermaine's Terms Play 759 2013-01-2929 January 2013* 2013-04-1313 April 2013

Upcoming productions

Musicals

Plays

Other

London's non-commercial theatres

The exterior of the Old Vic

It should be noted that the term West End Theatre is sometimes used to refer specifically to commercial productions in Theatreland. However the leading non-commercial (usually government subsidised) theatres in London, such as the National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Globe Theatre, the Old Vic, the Young Vic, the Royal Court Theatre, the Hampstead Theatre, the Almeida Theatre, and the Open Air Theatre, most of which are not located in Theatreland, arguably enjoy greater artistic prestige. These theatres stage a higher proportion of more demanding work, including Shakespeare, other classic plays and premieres of new plays by leading highbrow playwrights. Hit plays from the non-commercial theatres sometimes transfer to one of the commercial Theatreland houses for an extended second run.

The Royal Opera House is one of London's most famous theatres and widely regarded as one of the greatest opera houses in the world, comparable with the Palais Garnier, La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera House. Commonly known simply as Covent Garden due to its location, it is unique among West End theatres in many ways, not least in having three resident performance companies, The Royal Ballet, Royal Opera and a resident symphony orchestra. It has three performance spaces (19t-century Main Auditorium, Linbury Theatre and Clore Studio) and hosts guest performances from other leading opera, ballet and performance companies from around the world.

Producing houses

While the vast majority of West End theatres are receiving houses (houses that receive productions from elsewhere), there are a number of established producing houses, both within the heart of the West End and in other parts of London. Some of the more famous ones are listed:

Other London theatre

There is a great deal of theatre in London outside of the West End. Much of this is known as fringe theatre which is the equivalent of Off Broadway Theatre in New York. Fringe venues range from well-equipped small theatres to rooms above pubs, and 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.

There are many theatres located throughout Greater London, staging a wide variety of work, such as the New Wimbledon Theatre, the Ashcroft Theatre in Croydon, and the Churchill Theatre in Bromley.

Awards

There are a number of annual awards for outstanding achievements in London theatre:

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Christopher Innes, "West End" in The Cambridge Guide to Theatre (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194-1195, ISBN 0-521-43437-8
  2. ^ Singh, Anita (8 July 2008). "TV talent shows help West End shows to record audience". Telegraph. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
  3. ^ "London's Vibrant West End Theatre SCENE". TheatreHistory.com. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
  4. ^ a b "London pub trivia - Ten oldest London theatres". Timeout London. 12 December 2006. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
  5. ^ "London's Lost Tea-Gardens: I". Story of London. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
  6. ^ "Sadler's Wells Theatre". LondonTown.com. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
  7. ^ "Two famous London theatres get Opera Glasses in time for new productions". Theatre Views Newsletter. Summer 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2012. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  8. ^ a b "1.8 million views of Lion King". Theatre Views Newsletter. October 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2012. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  9. ^ "The Mousetrap London theatre tickets and information". Thisistheatre.com. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
  10. ^ "Phantom of The Opera London - information on the theatre show". Thisistheatre.com. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
  11. ^ "Blood Brothers London - information on the theatre show". Thisistheatre.com. Retrieved 17 January 2010. [dead link‍]
  12. ^ "Fortune Theatre London - information and tickets". Thisistheatre.com. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Long Runs – Broadway, Off Broadway, London, Toronto & Other Major Cities". World-theatres.com. Retrieved 17 January 2010.

51°30′41″N 0°07′41″W / 51.51139°N 0.12806°W / 51.51139; -0.12806

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