New Theatre Albery Theatre | |
 Noël Coward Theatre in 2019 | |
 Interactive map of Noël Coward Theatre | |
| Address | St Martin's Lane London,WC2 United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°30′40″N0°07′38″W / 51.511111°N 0.127222°W /51.511111; -0.127222 |
| Public transit |  Leicester Square |
| Owner | Salisbury estate |
| Operator | Delfont Mackintosh Theatres |
| Designation | Grade II listed[1] |
| Type | West End theatre |
| Capacity | 942 on 4 levels |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1903; 123 years ago (1903) |
| Architect | W. G. R. Sprague |
| Website | |
| Official website at Delfont Mackintosh Theatres | |
TheNoël Coward Theatre, formerly known as theAlbery Theatre, is aWest End theatre in St. Martin's Lane in theCity of Westminster, London. It opened on 12 March 1903 as theNew Theatre and was built bySir Charles Wyndham behindWyndham's Theatre which was completed in 1899. The building was designed by the architectW. G. R. Sprague with an exterior in theclassical style and an interior in theRococo style.
In 1973, it was renamed theAlbery Theatre in tribute toSir Bronson Albery who had presided as its manager for many years. Since September 2005, the theatre has been owned by Delfont-Mackintosh Ltd. It underwent major refurbishment in 2006 and was renamed theNoël Coward Theatre when it re-opened on 1 June 2006. The building is a Grade IIListed structure.
The New was the second of the three theatres inSt Martin's Lane. The Trafalgar Square (now theDuke of York's) opened in 1892 and theLondon Coliseum in 1904. The actor-manager Charles Wyndham, who had been based at theCriterion Theatre for more than twenty years, moved in 1899 to the largerWyndham's Theatre which he commissioned inCharing Cross Road. To build Wyndham's, he had been obliged to buy a larger parcel of land than he required, and in 1901 he was in negotiations to sell the area he did not need. When negotiations fell through, he decided to build another theatre on the vacant site. This plot fronting on St Martin's Lane is bounded on one side by St Martin's Court, which also runs behind the theatre. While the theatre was in planning and then under construction it was referred to simply as "the new theatre", and the name stuck. The street adjacent to it is called New Row.[2]
The theatre, like Wyndham's, was designed by the architectW.G.R. Sprague, and was the thirtieth theatre he designed. A contemporary report described the front elevation as "of the free classic order … at once dignified and effective".[3] As at Wyndhams, the auditorium is constructed on the cantilever principle, rendering columns unnecessary and ensuring unimpeded views. The internal decoration was based on French designs from the 18th century. Over theProscenium there is a gilt trophy emblematic of peace and music.[3]
The New Theatre opened on 12 March 1903 with a brief season consisting of a revival ofRosemary – a play byLouis N. Parker and Murray Carson, starring Wyndham and his partner (later wife)Mary Moore – and a special matinée of Wyndham's best-known production,David Garrick. The following monthJohnston Forbes-Robertson transferred his production ofThe Light that Failed from the Lyric, after which there were seasons featuringMrs Patrick Campbell and thenCyril Maude.Fred Terry andJulia Neilson played an annual season of about six months at the New from 1905 to 1913, including many revivals of their great success,The Scarlet Pimpernel.[4] Between these seasons, productions at the New Theatre includedAmasis, a comic opera byFrederick Fenn andPhilip Michael Faraday (1906), withRuth Vincent,[5] andCount Hannibal (1910). In 1911, Terry presentedAs You Like It andRomeo and Juliet to introduce his daughterPhyllis to the stage. Between then and theFirst World War, the theatre featured comedies and musical comedies.[4]
Dion Boucicault Jr., became manager in December 1915 and opened with a revival ofPeter Pan, revived each Christmas season until 1919. He produced a series of successes including new plays bySomerset Maugham,J. M. Barrie,Arthur Wing Pinero andA.A. Milne.Leon M. Lion presented a season in 1918–19 in whichKatharine Cornell made her only appearance on the London stage, playing Jo in a dramatisation ofLittle Women.[6][7]
I'll Leave It to You, in 1920, was Noël Coward's first staged play, and ran at the New for 37 performances.[8]Matheson Lang was associated with the New for several years, presenting and playing in Shakespeare and modern dramas. The London premiere ofBernard Shaw'sSt. Joan starringSybil Thorndike followed in 1924.[9]
In July 1925,Robert Atkins took over management of the New, presentingIsrael Zangwill'sWe Moderns. The following year and for most of 1927 the New was home to a dramatisation ofMargaret Kennedy'sThe Constant Nymph, which ran for 587 performances, starring first Coward and then the youngJohn Gielgud as Lewis Dodd. Towards the end of the decade, two comedies byP. G. Wodehouse andIan Hay –A Damsel in Distress (1928), andBaa Baa Black Sheep (1929) ran for 234 and 115 performances respectively.[9]
In February 1933, Gielgud began a period of management at the theatre. He produced and starred inGordon Daviot's,Richard of Bordeaux, which ran for 472 performances. He followed this in June 1934 with the same author'sQueen of Scots starringGwen Ffrangcon-Davies, which ran for 106 performances. In November 1934, he presentedHamlet, which ran for 155 performances. After works byHugh Walpole andAndre Obey, Gielgud presented a revival ofRomeo and Juliet which had the longest run on record for that play: 186 performances.Peggy Ashcroft played Juliet andEdith Evans was the Nurse;Laurence Olivier played Romeo, and Gielgud Mercutio for the first part of the run and then exchanged roles. Gielgud concluded withChekhov'sThe Seagull, directed byTheodore Komisarjevsky, a production that, according toThe Times showed the play as "among the supreme masterpieces of the theatre".[9][10] After Gielgud's tenure, there was more Shakespeare at the New:As You Like with Edith Evans andMichael Redgrave;The Taming of the Shrew with Evans andLeslie Banks; andMacbeth with Olivier andJudith Anderson (all 1937).[9]
During theSecond World War,The Old Vic was badly damaged by German bombs, andSadler's Wells Theatre was requisitioned as a refuge for those made homeless by air-raids. The drama company of the former and the opera and ballet companies of the latter toured nationally throughout the war, andBronson Albery, stepson of Charles Wyndham through Mary Moore,[11] managing director of the New Theatre, made it available to all three companies as a London base, although in practice the Old Vic company occupied the theatre more than the Sadler's Wells companies. The theatre historiansMander and Mitchenson single out productions ofThe Beggar's Opera,King John.The Cherry Orchard andHamlet (withRobert Helpmann in the title role). In 1944, with the end of the war in sight, a reconstituted Old Vic company took possession of the New, starringRalph Richardson, Olivier and Thorndike. The repertory that year comprisedIbsen'sPeer Gynt, Shaw'sArms and the Man, Shakespeare'sRichard III and Chekhov'sUncle Vanya. Between Old Vic seasons,Robert Morley andWendy Hiller starred in a Regency drama,The First Gentleman, which ran for 654 performances.[12] The 1945 Old Vic company season addedHenry IV, Parts I andII and a celebrated double bill ofOedipus andThe Critic. In September 1946,King Lear andCyrano de Bergerac were staged. Under a different management,Aldous Huxley'sThe Gioconda Smile was a success in 1948–49, running for 655 performances.[13][14]
In 1950,The Cocktail Party byT.S. Eliot began a run of 325 performances. From later in the decade, Mander and Mitchenson single outVivian Ellis's musical version ofJ. B. Fagan'sAnd So to Bed (1951, 323 performances);The Young Elizabeth (1952, 498 performances);Katharine Hepburn in Shaw'sThe Millionairess (1952);Yvonne Arnaud inDear Charles (1952, 466 performances);Dorothy Tutin inI Am a Camera (1954, 343 performances); a comedy about bigamy,The Remarkable Mr Pennypacker (1955, 421 performances);Leslie Caron inColette'sGigi (1956);Under Milk Wood (1956, 250 performances);Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (1957);Charles Laughton inThe Party (1958);The Rose Tattoo (1959);Peter O'Toole inThe Long and the Short and the Tall (1959); and theTheatre Royal Stratford East'sMake Me an Offer (1959).[15][16]
In June 1960,Oliver!, theLionel Bart musical based onOliver Twist, was first produced, and ran until September 1966, a total of 2,618 performances.The Times reported that its run had broken the previous West End records –My Fair Lady (2,282) andSalad Days (2,283).[17] The last years of the decade brought shorter runs to the New. They includedJorrocks, a musical (1967, 181 performances);Gwen Watford andGemma Jones inHowards End (1967, 137);Roy Dotrice playing multiple roles in the comedyWorld War 2 (1967, 166); theProspect Theatre Company's production ofFarquhar'sThe Constant Couple;Spring and Port Wine;Paul Scofield inJohn Osborne'sThe Hotel in Amsterdam; the controversialSoldiers byRolf Hochhuth in December 1968, and in April 1969Anne of Green Gables, a new musical withPolly James in the lead.[15][16]
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A 1970Royal Shakespeare Company production ofDion Boucicault'sLondon Assurance, directed byRonald Eyre, withDonald Sinden as Sir Harcourt Courtly,Roger Rees as Charles,Judi Dench as Grace andDinsdale Landen as Dazzle, transferred to the New Theatre in 1972 for a year, prior to its 1974 run in New York. (Sinden received the 1975Drama Desk Special Award for the Broadway run.)[18] A revival ofOliver! ran from 1977 to 1980
In 1981,Children of a Lesser God won theOlivier Awards (then known as the Society of West End Theatre Awards) for Best New Play and for actorsTrevor Eve and Elizabeth Quinn.[19]
Among some of the 1990s productions was the 1994 revival ofTurgenev'sA Month in the Country starringHelen Mirren andJohn Hurt.In the 2000s the theatre played host to several Shakespeare productions including a production ofTwelfth Night set in India with an entirely Asian cast. The production played to packed houses and only closed as theRoyal Shakespeare Company themselves had exclusive rights to perform their annual London season of Tragedies there. Between December 2004 and April 2005, they presentedHamlet,Romeo & Juliet,Macbeth,King Lear and a brand new production of Euripides'Hecuba starringVanessa Redgrave.On 8 June 2005,Dion Boucicault's Victorian melodramaThe Shaughraun opened; however, its success at theDublinGate Theatre was not repeated in London and it closed on 30 July. A dark period of around three months followed before the theatre was transferred to the ownership of Delfont Mackintosh Limited and reopened in October 2005 withThe Right Size's new productionDucktastic!. Once again this failed to live up to expectations and closed just three weeks after opening on 19 November 2005. A short Christmas season ofPatrick Stewart's one-man version ofCharles Dickens'A Christmas Carol played from 6 to 31 December 2005, before the theatre hosted theEdinburgh International Festival hit dramaBlackbird starringRoger Allam. The award-winning play Enron (directed by Rupert Goold, starring Samuel West and Tim Pigott-Smith) transferred here after a sellout run at the Royal Court. The European premiere of the Broadway hit,Avenue Q, started previewing on 2 June 2006 and had its opening night on 28 June 2006, finally closing on 28 March 2009 prior to transferring to theGielgud Theatre.Following a production ofDeathtrap, directed byMatthew Warchus and starringSimon Russell Beale andJonathan Groff, the theatre became the home of jukebox musicalMillion Dollar Quartet in February 2011.
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