 The Lion King has been showing at the theatre since 1999. | |
 Interactive map of Lyceum Theatre | |
| Former names | Lyceum Ballroom |
|---|---|
| Address | Wellington Street London,WC2 United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°30′42″N0°07′11″W / 51.511556°N 0.11975°W /51.511556; -0.11975 |
| Public transit |  Covent Garden;Temple |
| Owner | ATG Entertainment |
| Designation | Grade II* |
| Type | West End theatre |
| Capacity | 2,100[1] |
| Production | The Lion King |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 14 July 1834; 191 years ago (1834-07-14) |
| Rebuilt | 1882–84 (C. J. Phipps) 1904 (Bertie Crewe) 1951 (Mathew & Sons) 1996 (Holohan Architects) |
| Architect | Samuel Beazley |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
TheLyceum Theatre (/laɪˈsiːəm/ly-SEE-əm) is aWest End theatre located in theCity of Westminster, onWellington Street, just off theStrand in central London. It has a seating capacity of 2,100. The origins of the theatre date to 1765. Managed bySamuel Arnold, from 1794 to 1809 the building hosted a variety of entertainments including a circus produced byPhilip Astley, a chapel, and the first Londonexhibition of waxworks byMadame Tussauds. From 1816 to 1830, it served asThe English Opera House. After a fire, the house was rebuilt and reopened on 14 July 1834 to a design bySamuel Beazley.[2] The building is unique in that it has a balcony overhanging the dress circle. It was built by the partnership ofPeto & Grissell. The theatre then played opera, adaptations ofCharles Dickens novels andJames Planché's "fairy extravaganzas", among other works.
From 1871 to 1902,Henry Irving appeared at the theatre, especially inShakespeare productions, usually starring oppositeEllen Terry. In 1904 the theatre was almost completely rebuilt and richly ornamented inRococo style byBertie Crewe, but it retained Beazley'sfaçade and grandportico. It played mostlymelodrama over the ensuing decades. The building closed in 1939 and was set to be demolished, but it was saved and converted into aMecca Ballroom in 1951, styled theLyceum Ballroom, where many well-known bands played. The Lyceum was closed in 1986 but restored to theatrical use in 1996 by Holohan Architects.[3] Since 1999, the theatre has hostedThe 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 onThe Strand, by the architectJames Paine for the exhibitions of The Society of Artists.[4] The Society of Artists was not a success, and the building was then leased out for dances and other entertainments, including musical entertainments byCharles Dibdin. Famed actorDavid Garrick also performed there. In 1794, the composerSamuel Arnold Sr rebuilt the interior of the building, making it into a proper theatre, but through the opposition of the existingpatent theatres, he was not granted a patent. Therefore, he leased it to other entertainments again, includingPhilip Astley, who brought his circus there when hisamphitheatre was burned down at Westminster. It was also used as a chapel, a concert room, and for the first Londonexhibition of waxworks displayed byMadame Tussauds in 1802.[4]
The theatre finally became alicensed house in 1809, and until 1812 it was used for dramatic performances by the Drury Lane Company after the burning of their owntheatre, until the erection of the new edifice. It staged one of the earliesttableaux vivants, as part of William Dimond'sThe Peasant Boy in 1811.[5] 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 was famous for hosting the London première ofMozart's operaCosì fan tutte (9 May 1811)[6] and as the first theatre in Britain to have its stage lit by gas (6 August 1817).[7] During this period, the "Sublime Society of Beef Steaks",[8] 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.[9]
In 1834, the present house opened slightly to the west, with a frontage on Wellington Street,[10] under the nameTheatre 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.[11] ComposerJohn Barnett produced a number of works in the first few years of the theatre, includingThe Mountain Sylph (1834), credited as the first modern Englishopera. It was followed byFair Rosamund in 1837 andFarinelli in 1839 (both at theTheatre Royal, Drury Lane),[11] andBlanche of Jersey here in 1840. In 1841–43, composerMichael 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 teamRobert Keeley andMary Anne Keeley, during which period the house became associated with adaptations ofCharles Dickens's novels and Christmas books.[12] For instance, an adaptation of Dickens'Martin Chuzzlewit ran for over 100 performances from 1844 to 1845 here, a long run for the time.
The Lyceum was later managed by MadameLucia Elizabeth Vestris andCharles James Mathews from 1847 to 1855, who producedJames Planché's "[fairy] extravaganzas" featuring spectacular stage effects. Their first big success wasJohn Maddison Morton'sBox and Cox.Tom Taylor's adaptation ofA 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 to 1867 also favored spectacular productions. In 1866,Dion Boucicault'sThe Long Strike (his adaptation ofElizabeth Gaskell's Manchester novelsMary Barton andLizzie Leigh) was produced here.Ethel Lavenu, the mother and grandmother of actorsTyrone Power Sr. andTyrone 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.[13] In 1867, he presented his Christmaspantomime, calledHarlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren, and in 1884, he produced the dramaComedy and Tragedy.[14]
In 1889, the world's finest Italian dramatic tenor,Francesco Tamagno, appeared at the Lyceum, singing the leading role in the first London production ofGiuseppe Verdi's operaOtello.[15]
Beginning in 1871, under managerHezekiah Linthicum Bateman and his wifeSidney Frances Bateman,Henry Irving appeared at the theatre in, among other things, manyShakespeare works. Irving began with the FrenchmelodramaThe Bells, an instant hit in which he played 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 playedHamlet 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 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 ofSadler's Wells Theatre.[16]
Irving continued to star in plays there, especially Shakespeare, until 1902, engaging co-starEllen Terry for that entire period of 24 years.[17]Bram Stoker worked between 1878 and 1898 as business manager of the theatre, and Irving was Stoker's real-life inspiration for the characterCount 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 the Lyceum.
Irving and Terry began withHamlet in 1878. Their 1879 production ofThe Merchant of Venice ran for an unusual 250 nights, and success followed success in the Shakespeare canon as well as in other major plays.[18] Other celebrated productions includedMuch Ado About Nothing,The Lady of Lyons byEdward Bulwer-Lytton (1878),Romeo and Juliet,King Lear,The Lyons Mail byCharles Reade (1883), the immensely popularFaust byWilliam Gorman Wills (1885, which even drew applications for reserved seats from foreigners),Macbeth (1888, with incidental music by SirArthur Sullivan[19]),Henry VIII (1892),[20]Becket byAlfred Tennyson (1893),King Arthur byJ. Comyns Carr, with incidental music by Sir Arthur Sullivan (1895),[21]Cymbeline (1896) andVictorien Sardou andÉmile Moreau's playMadame Sans-Gêne (1897).
When Irving and Terry toured America, as they did several times beginning in 1883, the theatre played works with actors such asJohnston Forbes-Robertson,Mrs. Patrick Campbell,Sarah Bernhardt, andEleonora Duse. Martin Harvey, a pupil of Irving's played a season there in 1899.Benoît-Constant Coquelin appeared asCyrano de Bergerac in the summer of 1898.
After being bought byThomas Barrasford in 1904, the theatre was rebuilt and richly ornamented inrococo style byBertie Crewe, retaining only the façade and portico of the original building. The theatre presentedmusic hall andvariety, in an attempt to compete with thePalace Theatre and the new Stoll builtLondon Coliseum, but this was not a success, and the theatre soon returned to presenting drama. From 1909 to 1938 the Melville Brothers ran a successful series of spectacular melodramas.[22] In 1919, additional minor alterations to the theatre were made by Edward Jones. Between the wars, dramas played at the theatre for ten months each year, followed by Christmas pantomimes, includingQueen of Hearts in 1938. The Lyceum was the last London theatre to continue the early practice of concluding pantomimes with aharlequinade, a free standing entertainment of slapstick clowning, juggling and tumbling. The tradition ended with the closure of the theatre in 1939.[23]
In 1939, theLondon 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 ofHamlet directed by and starringJohn Gielgud (Ellen Terry's great nephew).[24] 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 theLyceum Ballroom. TheMiss World contest was staged at the venue every year from 1951 to 1968.[25] Many big bands played here, including theOscar 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, theSex Pistols,[26] theGrateful Dead,The Groundhogs,The Clash,Bob Marley and the Wailers,Led Zeppelin,Queen,The Police,The Ramones,The Who,Emerson, Lake & Palmer, both incarnations ofAdam and the Ants,U2,Colosseum,The Smiths,Iron Maiden andPink Floyd all played here.[6] Bob Marley and the Wailers'Live! album was recorded here on 18–19 July 1975.[27]Genesis filmed a performance here in May 1980 for broadcast on theOld Grey Whistle Test. This footage appears on the 2007 CD/DVD re-release of their 1980 albumDuke.
A proposed redevelopment ofCovent Garden by theGLC in 1968 saw the theatre under threat, together with the nearbyVaudeville,Garrick,Adelphi andDuchess theatres.[28] An active campaign byEquity, theMusicians' Union, and theatre owners under the auspices of theSave London Theatres Campaign helped save the theatre.[29] In 1973, the theatre gained protection and wasGrade II* listed asInterior despite adaptation and alteration for present ballroom use retains [a] substantial part of Crewe's work.[30]
The theatre went dark in 1986, after theNational Theatre's promenade performances (in 1985) ofBill Bryden's adaptation of theMysteries trilogy. Brent Walker leased the theatre during this time but later gave up his lease, and in 1996 it was restored and reconverted into a theatre for large-scale musicals or opera (with a suitably large orchestra pit) by Holohan Architects. A production ofJesus Christ Superstar played from 1996 to 1998.
The theatre has been home to themusical theatre version ofThe 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-directorJulie Taymor.James Earl Jones, who voiced the role of King Mufasa in the original Disney animated film, attended the performance.[31] The theatre flooded on 11 May 2020 while the theatre was closed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic,[32] but the production reopened in July 2021.[33]
