 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Phoenix Theatre, London" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(February 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 Phoenix Theatre in 2024 | |
 Interactive map of Phoenix Theatre | |
| Address | Charing Cross Road London,WC2 United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°30′52″N0°07′46″W / 51.514444°N 0.129556°W /51.514444; -0.129556 |
| Public transit |  Tottenham Court Road |
| Owner | ATG Entertainment |
| Type | West End theatre |
| Capacity | 1,012 on 3 levels |
| Production | Stranger Things: The First Shadow |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 24 September 1930; 95 years ago (1930-09-24) |
| Architect | Giles Gilbert Scott,Bertie Crewe andCecil Masey |
| Website | |
| www | |
ThePhoenix Theatre is a West End theatre in theLondon Borough of Camden, located inCharing Cross Road (on the corner of Flitcroft Street). The entrances are on Phoenix Street and Charing Cross Road. The Phoenix Theatre was built on a site of a former factory which was later replaced by amusic hall named the Alcazar.[1]
Built forSidney Bernstein, Baron Bernstein, the theatre was designed bySir Giles Gilbert Scott,Bertie Crewe andCecil Massey. It has a restrained neoclassical exterior, but an interior designed in anItalianate style by director and designerTheodore Komisarjevsky.Vladimir Polunin copied works byTintoretto,Titian,Pinturicchio, andGiorgione. It has afire curtain that depicts Jacopo del Sellaio'sThe Triumph of Love.[2]
There are golden engravings in the auditorium, and red seats, carpets and curtains. This look is based on traditional Italian theatres. There are decorated ceilings and sculpted wooden doors throughout the building.
It opened on 24 September 1930 with the premiere ofPrivate Lives byNoël Coward, who also appeared in the play, with Adrienne Allen,Gertrude Lawrence andLaurence Olivier. Coward returned to the theatre withTonight at 8.30, a series of ten[3] plays, in 1936 andQuadrille in 1952.
On 16 December 1969, the long association with Coward was celebrated with a midnight matinee in honour of his 70th birthday, and the foyer bar was renamed theNoel Coward Bar.
The Phoenix has had a number of successful plays includingNorman Ginsbury'sViceroy Sarah in 1935, andJohn Gielgud'sLove for Love during theSecond World War.Harlequinade andThe Browning Version, two plays byTerence Rattigan, opened on 8 September 1948 at the theatre. In 1950, it stagedFrederick Lonsdale's final playThe Way Things Go.
In the mid-1950s,Paul Scofield andPeter Brook appeared at the theatre. In 1968, a musical version ofChaucer'sThe Canterbury Tales opened and ran for around two thousand performances.Night and Day, a 1978 play byTom Stoppard, ran for two years.
The theatre hosted many musicals in the 1980s and 1990s, includingThe Biograph Girl withSheila White,The Baker's Wife byStephen Schwartz directed byTrevor Nunn, andInto the Woods byStephen Sondheim, starringJulia McKenzie. There were also a number of plays byWilliam Shakespeare. Its firstpantomime wasSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs starringDana in 1983.
The production ofBlood Brothers, theWilly Russell musical that transferred from theNoël Coward Theatre in November 1991, ended a 21-year run on 10 November 2012 after becoming the longest-running production at the theatre, following limited engagements ofGoodnight Mister Tom andMidnight Tango. The theatre then played host to the original West End production of Broadway musicalOnce, which opened in April 2013 and closed on 21 March 2015.
Bend It Like Beckham the Musical,Guys and Dolls andThe Last Tango played in 2016, withDirty Dancing andPeppa Pig's Surprise comprising the 2016 Christmas season.
The Girls, a musical byGary Barlow andTim Firth based on theCalendar Girls film, played at the Phoenix Theatre with previews from 28 January 2017, and officially opened on 21 February 2017. The production closed on 15 July 2017.[4]
Chicago opened at the Phoenix Theatre on 11 April 2018, starringCuba Gooding Jr. as Billy Flynn, Sarah Soetaert as Roxie Hart,Josefina Gabrielle as Velma Kelly, andRuthie Henshall as Mama Morton.[5] A cast change sawMartin Kemp take over the role of Billy Flynn, withAlexandra Burke as Roxie Hart andMazz Murray as Mama Morton.Denise Van Outen was due to take over as Velma Kelly, however a foot injury meant that Josefina Gabrielle returned to the role.[6][7] The show closed on 5 January 2019.
In June 2018, it was announced that the hit Broadway musicalCome from Away would transfer to the Phoenix, which it did in February 2019. The production closed on 7 January 2023.[8]
Previews ofStranger Things: The First Shadow, based on the hit Netflix show, began on 17 November 2023. It officially opened on 14 December, with its first run scheduled to play into 2025.[9]
The theatre is owned by theAmbassador Theatre Group. Since 1973 it has been a Grade IIListed Building.[10]
| International | |
|---|---|
| Geographic | |
