1806 Sans Pareil 1844 Adelphi 1858 New Adelphi 1901 Century Theatre 1930 Royal Adelphi | |
 Adelphi Theatre in 2007 | |
 Interactive map of Adelphi Theatre | |
| Address | Strand London,WC2 United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°30′36.3″N0°7′22.4″W / 51.510083°N 0.122889°W /51.510083; -0.122889 |
| Public transit |  Charing Cross Charing Cross |
| Owner | Nederlander Organization /LW Theatres |
| Designation | Grade II |
| Type | West End theatre |
| Capacity | 1,500 seated |
| Production | Back to the Future: The Musical |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1806 |
| Rebuilt | 1840Samuel Beazley (new facade) 1858 T.H. Wyatt and Stephen Salter 1901 Ernest Runtz 1930 Ernest Schaufelberg |
| Architect | John and Jane Scott |
| Website | |
| LW Theatres official Web Site | |
TheAdelphi Theatre/əˈdɛlfi/ is aWest End theatre, located on theStrand in theCity of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is areceiving house for a variety of productions, including manymusicals. The theatre wasGrade II listed for historical preservation on 1 December 1987.[1]
It was founded in 1806 as theSans Pareil ("Without Compare"), by merchant John Scott, and his daughterJane (1770–1839). Jane was a British theatre manager, performer, and playwright. Together, they gathered a theatrical company and by 1809 the theatre was licensed for musical entertainments,pantomime, andburletta. She wrote more than fifty stage pieces in an array of genres:melodramas, pantomimes,farces,comic operettas, historical dramas, and adaptations, as well as translations. Jane Scott retired toSurrey in 1819, marrying John Davies Middleton (1790–1867).[2]
On 18 October 1819, the theatre reopened under its present name, which was adopted from theAdelphi Buildings opposite.[3][4]
In its early years, the theatre was known formelodrama, calledAdelphi Screamers.[3] Many stories byCharles Dickens were also adapted for the stage here, includingJohn Baldwin Buckstone'sThe Christening, a comic burletta, which opened on 13 October 1834, based on the storyThe Bloomsbury Christening. This is notable for being thought the first Dickens adaption performed. This was the first of many of Dickens's early works adapted for the stage of the Adelphi, includingThe Pickwick Papers asWilliam Leman Rede'sThe Peregrinations of Pickwick; or,Boz-i- a-na, a three-act burletta first performed on 3 April 1837,Frederick Henry Yates's production ofNicholas Nickleby; or,Doings at Do-The-Boys Hall in November and December 1838, and Edward Stirling's two-act burlettaThe Old Curiosity Shop; or,One Hour from Humphrey's Clock (November and December 1840, January 1841).[3] The theatre itself makes a cameo appearance inThe Pickwick Papers[5]
The famous busker,Billy Waters often performed outside the Adelphi Theatre in the years before his death in 1823.
The Adelphi came under the management of Madame Celeste and comedianBenjamin Webster, in 1844, and Buckstone was appointed its resident dramatist. Dramatisations of Dickens continued to be performed, includingA Christmas Carol; or, Past, Present, and Future opening on 5 February; and Beckett'sThe Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that rang an Old Year out and a New One In. In 1848,The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain was performed.[3]
The old theatre was demolished, and on 26 December 1858,The New Adelphi was opened and was considered an improvement on the cramped circumstances of the original, which had been described as a "hasty conversion from a tavern hall, permanently kept in its provisional state". The new theatre could seat 1,500 people, with standing room for another 500. The interior was lighted by aStroud's Patent Sun Lamp, a brilliant array of gas mantles passed through a chandelier of cut-glass.
In the mid-19th century,John Lawrence Toole established his comedic reputation at the Adelphi. Also in the mid-19th century, the Adelphi hosted a number of Frenchoperettas, includingLa belle Hélène. In 1867, however, the Adelphi gave Englishcomic opera a boost by hosting the first public performance ofArthur Sullivan's first opera,Cox and Box.
The building was renovated in 1879 and again in 1887 when the house next door, along with The Hampshire Hog in The Strand and theNell Gwynne Tavern in Bull Inn Court, were bought by the Gattis in order to enlarge the theatre. They also built a new enlarged facade and part of this can still be seen today above the Crystal Rooms next door to the present Adelphi Theatre.
An actor who performed regularly at the Adelphi in the latter half of the 19th century,William Terriss, was stabbed to death during the run of 'Secret Service' on 16 December 1897 whilst entering the Theatre by the royal entrance in Maiden Lane which he used as a private entrance. This is now recorded on a plaque on the wall by the stage door. Outside a neighbouring pub, a sign says that the killer was one of the theatre's stage hands, butRichard Archer Prince committed the murder. It has been said that Terriss' ghost haunts the theatre. Terriss' daughter wasEllaline Terriss, a famous actress, and her husband, actor-managerSeymour Hicks managed the Adelphi for some years at the end of the 19th century. The stage door of the current Adelphi is in Maiden Lane but back then it was in Bull Inn Court. William Terriss would later have a Theatre named after him, the Terriss Theatre in Rotherhithe, later known as the Rotherhithe Hippodrome.
The adjacent, numbers 409 and 410 Strand, were built in 1886–87 by theGatti Brothers as the Adelphi Restaurant. The frontage remains essentially the same, but with plate glass windows, and, like the theatre, is aGrade II listed building.[6]
On 11 September 1901, the third theatre was opened as theCentury Theatre, although the name reverted in 1904 under the management ofOtho Stuart.[7] This theatre was built byFrank Kirk to the design of Ernest Runtz.George Edwardes, the dean of London musical theatre, took over management of the theatre from Stuart in 1908. In the early part of the 20th century, the Adelphi was home to a number ofmusical comedies, the most successful of which includedThe Earl and the Girl (1904),The Dairymaids (1907),The Quaker Girl (1910),The Boy (1917),Clowns in Clover (1927), andMr. Cinders (1929).
The present Adelphi opened on 3 December 1930, redesigned in theArt Deco style by Ernest Schaufelberg. It was named the 'Royal Adelphi Theatre' and re-opened with the hit musicalEver Green, byLorenz Hart andRichard Rodgers, based on the book Benn W. Levy.Noël Coward'sWords and Music premièred at the theatre in 1932. The operettaBalalaika (a revised version ofThe Gay Hussars) played at the theatre in 1936, and in 1940 the theatre's name again reverted to 'The Adelphi'. The theatre continued to host comedy and musicals, includingBless The Bride (1947),Maggie May (1964), andA Little Night Music (1975), as well as dramas (see below for a list beginning in 1979).
A proposed redevelopment ofCovent Garden by theGLC in 1968 saw the theatre under threat, together with the nearbyVaudeville,Garrick,Lyceum andDuchess theatres. An active campaign byEquity, theMusicians' Union, and theatre owners under the auspices of theSave London Theatres Campaign led to the abandonment of the scheme.[8]
On 27 February 1982, the Adelphi hosted the final night of theD'Oyly Carte Opera Company for a concert performance of songs from all thirteenSavoy Operas as well asCox and Box andThespis. In 1993,Andrew Lloyd Webber'sReally Useful Group purchased the theatre and completely refurbished it prior to the opening of his adaptation ofSunset Boulevard. The 1998 video of Lloyd Webber's musicalCats was filmed at the theatre.
In November 1997, the London production of the popular American musicalChicago premiered at the Adelphi, becoming the venue's longest-ever production during its eight-and-a-half-year run (which also made it the longest running American musical in West End history). In April 2006,Chicago transferred to theCambridge Theatre (and later to theGarrick Theatre, where it closed in 2012.).
Michael Grandage's revival ofAndrew Lloyd Webber'sEvita replaced the show, beginning previews on 2 June 2006 before completing a twelve-month run on 26 May 2007.Brian Wilson performed his albumPet Sounds for the last time in the UK at the Adelphi in November 2006. From 6 July 2007, the Adelphi was home to another Lloyd Webber revival,Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The actor playing Joseph,Lee Mead, was cast by winning theBBC television showAny Dream Will Do, and starred alongside Preeya Kalidas and Dean Collinson.[citation needed]
9 March 2010 saw the premiere of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical,Love Never Dies, which closed on Saturday 27 August 2011. The National Theatre transferred their showOne Man, Two Guvnors to the theatre from 8 November 2011. This production moved out of the theatre on 25 February 2012, transferring to the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London.[citation needed]
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street began a limited season at the Adelphi from 10 March to 22 September 2012, transferring from the Chichester Festival Theatre, starring Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton.[citation needed]
In March 2019,Waitress opened at the Adelphi. It was set to close on 4 July 2020, but it closed on 16 March, when West End theatres shut down due to theCOVID-19 pandemic; the producers later announced the show would not re-open.[9]
The theatre is currently owned and managed by the Adelphi Theatre Company Limited, a partnership between Andrew Lloyd Webber'sLW Theatres[10] andNederlander International.[citation needed]
