 Cambridge Theatre in 2011 | |
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| Address | Earlham Street,Seven Dials London,WC2 United Kingdom |
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| Coordinates | 51°30′49″N0°07′36″W / 51.51364°N 0.12653°W /51.51364; -0.12653 |
| Public transit |  Covent Garden |
| Owner | LW Theatres |
| Designation | Grade II |
| Type | West End theatre |
| Capacity | 1,231 on 3 levels |
| Production | Matilda the Musical |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 4 September 1930; 94 years ago (1930-09-04) |
| Architect | Wimperis, Simpson & Guthrie |
| Website | |
| cambridgetheatre | |
TheCambridge Theatre is aWest End theatre, on a corner site inEarlham Street facingSeven Dials, in theLondon Borough of Camden, built in 1929–30 forBertie Meyer on an "irregular triangular site".[1]
It was designed byWimperis, Simpson and Guthrie; interior partly bySerge Chermayeff, with interior bronze friezes by sculptor Anthony Gibbons Grinling.[2] The theatre is built in steel and concrete and is known for its elegant and clean lines of design. The theatre was refurbished in 1950—the original gold and silver décor was painted over in red, and candelabras and chandeliers were added. In 1987, to restore the original décor, the theatre was once again refurbished, this time byCarl Toms. The theatre has a circular entrance foyer, with Grinling's bronze frieze depicting nude figures in exercise poses, the theme continues into the main foyer, with dancing nudes, marble pilaster up lighters and concealed lighting.[2]
English Heritage observes:
the Cambridge Theatre is a rare, complete and early example of a London theatre adopting the moderne,expressionist style pioneered in Germany during the 1920s. It marked a conscious reaction to the design excesses of themusic hall and contemporary cinemas. Theatres looked for a new style appropriate to the greater sophistication of their entertainment and found it in the Germanic moderne forms of simple shapes enlivened by concealed lighting, shiny steelwork and touches of bright colour; this was not taken up by cinema designers until 1935.[2]
The theatre wasGrade II listed in January 1999.
An early production staged on October 19, 1930, byNinette De Valois future creator and for many years central figure of theRoyal Ballet. She both choreographed (Danse sacree et danse profane,Debussy), and danced (Nicholas Legat's Variations and Coda, Glinka, partnered byAnton Dolin).[3]
Productions at the Cambridge Theatre have been characterised by relatively short runs interspersed with several dark periods and the theatre was used for trade film shows in the late 1930s and again in 1969 as a cinema.
Productions have includedJoan Sims inBreath of Spring byPeter Coke in 1958,Tommy Steele inHalf a Sixpence in 1963 (678 performances),Bruce Forsyth inLittle Me in 1964 (334 performances),The Black Mikado (1975–76), and in the late 1970s theKander and Ebb musicalChicago ran for 590 performances. Later, therock and roll musicalReturn to the Forbidden Planet, which was based on the filmForbidden Planet andShakespeare'sThe Tempest using 1950s and 1960s songs opened in September 1989 and ran until early 1993, winning theOlivier Award for Best New Musical—instead of the favourite,Miss Saigon.[4]
The showJerry Springer: The Opera ran from 14 October 2003 – 19 February 2005. This was followed by a month run of illusionistDerren Brown'sSomething Wicked This Way Comes tour, before the London première of Flying Music'sDancing in the Streets, which opened on 7 July 2005. This finished its run on 22 April 2006 andChicago moved acrossTheatreland from theAdelphi Theatre to continue its London run into its tenth year at the theatre that originally hosted the show in the 1970s. It opened at the Cambridge on Friday 28 April. Chicago cancelled all performances post 27 August 2011, when it closed at the theatre.Matilda the Musical commenced performances at The Cambridge from 18 October 2011, with an official opening night on 22 November 2011. As of April 2017,Matilda became the longest running production in the theatre's history.
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