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 London Coliseum in 2004 | |
 Interactive map of London Coliseum | |
| Address | St Martin's Lane London,WC2 United Kingdom |
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| Coordinates | 51°30′35″N0°07′35″W / 51.509722°N 0.126389°W /51.509722; -0.126389 |
| Public transit | |
| Owner | English National Opera |
| Capacity | 2,359 seats on 3 tiers (4 levels) |
| Current use | Opera house |
| Construction | |
| Opened |
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| Renovated | 1968, 2000–2004 |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
| Official name | The Coliseum Theatre (English National Opera) |
| Designated | 20 September 1960 |
| Reference no. | 1236022 |
| Architect | Frank Matcham |
| Website | |
| londoncoliseum | |
TheLondon Coliseum (also known as theColiseum Theatre) is a theatre inSt Martin's Lane,Westminster, built as one ofLondon's largest and most luxurious familyvariety theatres. Opened on 24 December 1904 as theLondon Coliseum Theatre of Varieties, it was designed by thearchitectFrank Matcham for theimpresarioOswald Stoll.[1] Their ambition was to build the largest and finestmusic hall, described as the "people's palace of entertainment" of its age.[2]
At the time of construction, the Coliseum was one of the few theatres in Europe to provide lifts for taking patrons to the upper levels of the house,[3] and was the first theatre in England to have a triplerevolve installed on its stage. The theatre has 2,359 seats making it the largest theatre in London.
After being used for variety shows, musical comedies, and stage plays for many years, then as a cinema screening films in theCinerama format between 1963 and 1968, theSadler's Wells Opera Company moved into the building in 1968. The Sadler's Wells company changed its name to theEnglish National Opera in 1974 and today it is used primarily for opera as well as being the London home of theEnglish National Ballet.
The London Coliseum was built by thearchitectFrank Matcham who intended it to be one of London's largest and most luxurious family variety theatres. Construction began in 1903 and the venue opened on 24 December the following year as the London Coliseum Theatre of Varieties. It is located inSt Martin's Lane, London.[4]
Matcham built the theatre for the theatrical impresarioSir Oswald Stoll and had the ambition of it being the largest and finest "people's palace of entertainment" of the age.[4]
Matcham wanted a theatre of variety – not amusic hall but equally nothighbrow entertainment. The resulting programme was a mix of music hall andvariety theatre, with one act – a full scale revolving chariot race – requiring the stage to revolve. The theatre's original slogan waspro bono publico ('for the public good'). It was opened in 1904 and the inaugural performance was a variety bill on 24 December that year.
English Heritage, in its description of the theatre when it was given listed status in 1960 notes that it is an "exuberant FreeBaroque ambitious design, theEdwardian 'Theatre de Luxe of London' with richly decorated interiors and a vast and grandiose auditorium."[5] The theatre has a "lavish foyer and circulation areas with marble facings, culminating in vast 3-tier auditorium with wealth of eclectic classical detail ofByzantine opulence, some motifs such as the squat columns dividing the lowest tier of slip boxes, backing the stalls, almostSullivanesque; pairs of 2-tiered bow fronted boxes with domed canopies at gallery level and semi-domed, Ionic-columned pairs of 2 tiered orchestra boxes, contained in arched and pedimented frames surmounted by sculptural groups with lion-drawn chariots. Great, semi-circular, blocked architrave proscenium arch with cartouche-trophy keystone."[5]
The inaugural performance was a variety bill on 24 December 1904, but it "was a total failure and closed down completely only two years after opening in 1906 and remained closed until December of 1907 when it was reopened and at last became successful."[2] In 1908, the London Coliseum was host to acricket match betweenMiddlesex andSurrey.[6] In 1911, dramatistW. S. Gilbert produced his last play here,The Hooligan.
The theatre changed its name from the London Coliseum to the Coliseum Theatre between 1931 and 1968 when a run of 651 performances of the operettaWhite Horse Inn began on 8 April 1931. Additionally, "pantomimes began in 1936 withCinderella and continued regularly until 1946. In 1947 the musicalAnnie Get Your Gun was staged at the Coliseum and had a staggeringly successful run for the time, of 1,304 performances and three continuous years which was the longest run in theatrical history. There then followed a long run of major American hits beginning withKiss Me, Kate in 1951,Guys And Dolls in 1953,The Pajama Game in 1955, andDamn Yankees in 1957. But this exceptional period did at last come to an end in 1957 when the production ofBells Are Ringing failed to enthrall anyone."[2]
The Coliseum reverted to its original name when theSadler's Wells Opera Company moved there in 1968, and in 1974 the company changed its name to the English National Opera; it bought thefreehold of the building for £12.8 million in 1992.[2] The theatre hosted both the 2004 and 2006Royal Variety Performances and is also the London base for performances byEnglish National Ballet, which perform regular seasons throughout the year when not on tour.
The Who performed there and recorded their concert, on 14 December 1969.[citation needed]
While its wing space is limited due to the constricted site on which the theatre was built, "the stage of the London Coliseum was also on a vast scale; 55 feet wide by 92 feet deep".[2] The stage is notraked. It has the widestproscenium arch in London and was one of the first to have electric lighting. It was built with a triplerevolving stage, although this was rarely used. The Coliseum was originally designed to seat 2,939 people on four levels.[2] Despite the seating capacity being reduced since the Theatre's opening, it still has the largest seating capacity of any Theatre in the West End at 2,359.[4]
The theatre retains many of its original features and was given aGrade II* listed building by English Heritage in September 1960. Prior to Sadler's Wells Opera Company taking over the Coliseum in 1968, the house was "fully restored, redecorated, and a large orchestra pit installed". It reopened on 21 August 1968, with a production of the operaDon Giovanni.[2]
Another extensive renovation took place between 2000 and 2004.[5][7] when the design team included the architectsRHWL andArup as acousticians and building engineers.
The London Coliseum has two lifts which provide step-free access for disabled patrons to all levels, except the Upper Circle.[8]
Periodically, the Coliseum was used to show films and, when the "'talkies' arrived at the Coliseum in 1933, films were run at the theatre for a year. The greatest sensation at this time was the showing ofKing Kong which ran at the Coliseum for months with 10,000 people seeing the film there every day."[2]
After a lacklustre period of poorly received musicals came to an end, in June 1961 the theatre was leased byMGM for use as a cinema during the period that theEmpire, Leicester Square was closed for rebuilding. The initial presentation, from 6 June, was a revival ofGone With the Wind which ran for 3 months. On 2 November the World Premiere ofBachelor in Paradise took place in the presence of the film's star, Bob Hope, and following this, on 15 November, was the UK premiere ofSamuel Bronston's epicKing of Kings. MGM continued to use the theatre even after the new Empire, Leicester Square reopened in December 1962, but MGM's lease expired on 19 May 1963 and the theatre was then leased by theCinerama Corporation to become the second of London's Cinerama locations (after theCasino Cinerama).
Conversion to three-strip projection which used three projectors was undertaken, and an 80 ft wide, 30 ft tall deeply curved screen was installed. Beginning on 16 July 1963, the theatre was renamed the Coliseum Cinerama, with the UK premiere ofThe Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm. This film transferred to the third of London's Cinerama houses, theRoyalty Theatre on 27 November and the Coliseum was converted for single-projector Cinerama using70 mm film for the Gala UK Premiere ofIt's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World on 2 December 1963. Other 70 mm films followed,The Magnificent Showman (the UK Title ofCircus World),The Great Race (a 35 mmblow up) andThe Bible. With fewer films made in the format, it later became difficult to programme the theatre. It resorted to revivals of old 70 mm movies before openingThe Comedians on 18 January 1968 (a 70 mm Panavision blow up). This ran for nine weeks and was followed by a revival of the 1956 Todd-AO epicAround the World in 80 Days, the first time this film had been shown in 70 mm in London. This ran until 22 May 1968 when Cinerama pulled out and the theatre reverted to live use.[1]
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