New Prince's Theatre, 1911–1914 Prince's Theatre, 1914–1963 | |
 The Shaftesbury Theatre in 2023, showingMrs. Doubtfire | |
 Interactive map of Shaftesbury Theatre | |
| Address | Shaftesbury Avenue London,WC2 United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°30′58″N00°07′33″W / 51.51611°N 0.12583°W /51.51611; -0.12583 |
| Public transit |  Tottenham Court Road |
| Owner | The Theatre of Comedy Company |
| Designation | Grade II |
| Type | West End Theatre |
| Capacity | 1,416 |
| Production | Just for One Day |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 26 December 1911; 113 years ago (1911-12-26) |
| Architect | Bertie Crewe |
| Website | |
| shaftesburytheatre | |
TheShaftesbury Theatre is aWest End theatre, located inShaftesbury Avenue, in theLondon Borough of Camden. It opened in 1911 as theNew Prince's Theatre, with a capacity of 2,500. The current capacity is 1,416. The title "Shaftesbury Theatre" belonged to another theatre lower down the avenue between 1888 and 1941. The Prince's adopted the name in 1963.
The theatre, the last to be built in Shaftesbury Avenue, was originally intended to house popularmelodramas, but has presented a wide range of productions, includingShakespeare,farce, opera, ballet andrevue. Companies based at the theatre for London seasons have included theD'Oyly Carte Opera Company, theBallets Russes,Sadler's Wells Opera,Sadler's Wells Ballet, theRoyal Swedish Ballet and the dance companies ofUday Shankar andPearl Primus.
The theatre has presented many musicals that premiered onBroadway, fromFunny Face in the 1920s toPal Joey andWonderful Town in the 1950s,How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying andHair in the 1960s, and more recentlyHairspray,Memphis,Motown andMrs Doubtfire.
The theatre was at risk of demolition in the early 1970s to make way for new roads or for commercial development, but the Save London's Theatres campaign rescued it, and it was givenlisted building protection in 1974. The actor, playwright and impresarioRay Cooney led a new organisation, The Theatre of Comedy, backed by a substantial group of actors and writers, which leased and then bought the theatre as a home for British comedy. The Theatre of Comedy remains (2023) the owner of the theatre, but the emphasis of programming has shifted from farces and comedies to musicals.
The theatre was designed for the brothers Walter and Frederick Melville byBertie Crewe and opened on 26 December 1911, the last new theatre to open in Shaftesbury Avenue.[1] The site, at the junction of Shaftesbury Avenue andHigh Holborn, had previously been what the theatre historiansMander and Mitchenson call "a maze of derelict property".[1] It was originally named theNew Prince's Theatre, becoming thePrince's Theatre in 1914. The original capacity of the auditorium was 2,500.[2] The exterior is faced interracotta and brick stone with a three-tier façade of vertically aligned windows, topped by a pillaredcupola above the entrance. The New Prince's was London's first entirely steel-framed theatre, with no supporting pillars in the auditorium to obstruct the view. The original colour scheme of the auditorium was cream and gold.[3]
The Brothers Melville, who were already running theLyceum Theatre, London, intended to continue their policy of staging popular melodramas. Early shows at the New Princes included Carlton Wallace'sThe Apple of Eden (1912),[4]Arthur Shirley andBen Landeck'sWomen and Wine (1912)[5] and Walter Howard's romantic dramaThe Story of the Rosary, (1913),[6] In 1913 the theatre presented a comedy,Brewster's Millions, andShakespeare'sThe Merchant of Venice withFrank Cellier as Shylock,[7] but reverted to melodrama withOn His Majesty's Service (1914),When London Sleeps (1915) andFor England, Home, and Beauty (1915), which ran for a hundred performances.[6]
In December 1916Seymour Hicks took over the management, opening with a revival ofBluebell in Fairyland and then revivingThe Catch of the Season (February 1917), followed by other popular favourites in his repertory.[6] In 1919C. B. Cochran succeeded Hicks in the management of the theatre, and in April it had a critical and box-office success withAndré Messager's romantic operaMonsieur Beaucaire, starringMaggie Teyte; it ran for 221 performances.[8] From September of that year the theatre presented a sell-out eighteen-week season ofGilbert and Sullivan operas by theD'Oyly Carte Opera Company, returning to theWest End for the first time since 1908.[9][10] During the season the company presented tenSavoy operas including the first revival of the 1884 workPrincess Ida.[9]
From February 1920Pretty Peggy, a musical, ran for 168 performances.[8] In 1920 the perennial favouriteCharley's Aunt played at the Prince's for the Christmas season.[11] In April 1921Sarah Bernhardt appeared in the title role of Daniel in a play byLouis Verneuil,[8] andSergei Diaghilev'sBallets Russes presented a season includingPetrushka,The Rite of Spring, andLes Sylphides, starringLydia Lopokova.[12]
D'Oyly Carte returned in October 1921 for a 27-week season during whichRuddigore was seen in London for the first time since the original 1887 run.[9] There followedLucien Guitry,Sacha Guitry andYvonne Printemps in a season of French plays; a musical calledThe Cousin from Nowhere (1923);The Return of Sherlock Holmes starringEille Norwood; a comedy,Alf's Button, byW. A. Darlington (1924); andJosé Collins in a musical play byFranz Lehár (1925).[8]
There were two further successful D'Oyly Carte seasons in 1924 and 1926;[8] the latter attracted widespread notice for controversial new designs forThe Mikado byCharles Ricketts.[13]Sybil Thorndike appeared inMacbeth withHenry Ainley (1926),[8] and Diaghilev's company returned for a season in 1927, with a programme that included the British premiere ofNijinska andPoulenc'sLes biches (under the titleThe House Party).[8][14] In December 1927George Robey presented hisrevueBits and Pieces. The following yearFred andAdele Astaire starred in theGershwins' musicalFunny Face, withLeslie Henson.[15] The run was interrupted by a gas explosion in High Holborn not far from the theatre, but after the reopening the show completed a run of 263 performances.[16] The last major production of the 1920s was afarce,A Warm Corner, starringW. H. Berry; it ran for 238 performances from December 1929.[8]
In 1930 Berry had another substantial run of 195 performances in another farce,Oh, Daddy.[17] For the next few years short runs and revivals predominated at the Prince's. In 1933Charles Macdona revivedVictorien Sardou'sDiplomacy with an all-star cast that includedGerald du Maurier,Lewis Casson,Basil Rathbone,Margaret Bannerman andJoyce Kennedy.[18]
During the 1934 season the Prince's featured a revival ofEdward German andBasil Hood's comic operaMerrie England, which ran for 187 performances.[19] It was followed by a revival ofSullivan and Hood'sThe Rose of Persia the following year – the first professional staging of the piece since the original London run in 1899–1900.[20] It did not achieve the success of the revival ofMerrie England, closing after 25 performances.[21] In 1935 there was a rare venture into the classics, with a revival ofThe Alchemist.[22] Two ofIan Hay's adaptations ofEdgar Wallace stories followed:The Frog (1936, 483 performances) andThe Gusher (1937, 137 performances).[23]
A 1938 success, with 260 performances, wasWild Oats, described as "a song and laugh show" with music byNoel Gay and words byDouglas Furber.[24][n 1] In March 1939, aiming to attract a new, younger, audience to the theatre,J. B. Priestley arranged to have his comedyWhen We Are Married – which had run successfully at theSt Martin's Theatre at normal West End prices – transferred to the Prince's with tickets at half the usual price.[26]Sitting Pretty (1939) was a comedy starringSydney Howard.[27] Towards the end of the year,Firth Shephard launched a topical revue,Shephard's Pie.[28]
Productions during theSecond World War included another Shephard revue,Fun and Games (August 1941, with a cast including Sydney Howard,Carol Raye andRichard Hearne);[29]Wild Rose (August 1942, a revised version of the 1920 musicalSally, starringJessie Matthews);[30]Old Chelsea (February 1943, starringRichard Tauber),[31] andHalfway to Heaven (December 1943, a comedy starring Howard andBobby Howes).[32]
Sadler's Wells Theatre being closed for the duration of the war, its opera and ballet companies toured, and in 1944 based themselves at the Prince's for London seasons. The opera season includedThe Bartered Bride,La bohème,Madame Butterfly,Rigoletto,The Marriage of Figaro andCosi fan tutte;[33] the company was led byJoan Cross, and includedPeter Pears,Owen Brannigan andRose Hill.[34] The ballet season presented twelve works, includingCoppélia,Swan Lake,Carnaval and the premiere ofMiracle in the Gorbals, with choreography byRobert Helpmann and music byArthur Bliss; the company included Helpmann,Margot Fonteyn,Alexis Rassine andMoira Shearer.[35]
In 1945Evelyn Laye starred inOscar Straus's operettaThree Waltzes,[23] and later in that yearMerrie England was revived in a radically revised version byEdward Knoblock, with a cast includingHeddle Nash andDennis Noble.[36] In 1946 the theatre staged another Shephard revue,The Shephard Show, with Hearne,Arthur Riscoe,Douglas Byng andMarie Burke.[23] In 1947 the Prince's came under the direction of Bertram Montague though, according to Mander and Mitchenson, "the new productions were not so successful as the ballet seasons from many parts of the world and the annual pantomimes".[23]
The next play to achieve a long run wasHis Excellency, a comedy byDorothy and Campbell Christie, starringEric Portman andSebastian Shaw;[37] it opened in May 1950 and ran for 452 performances.[38] In 1951 the theatre presented seasons of dance byUday Shankar and his Indian Dancers,Pearl Primus and her African Dance company and theRoyal Swedish Ballet.[39]
Montague's management ended in 1952. The freehold of the theatre remained in the Melville family until 1961; between 1957 and 1961 the theatre was directed by Andrew Melville.[23] Mander and Mitchenson record that after Montague's withdrawal the theatre was "more often closed than open, though occasional seasons had their successes".[23] The successes includedMaurice Chevalier in a limited season in 1952 (presented byJack Hylton, who had become the lessee of the Prince's) andAntony and Cleopatra from theShakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, withMichael Redgrave andPeggy Ashcroft in 1953.[23] Two musicals that premiered on Broadway,Pal Joey (1954) andWonderful Town (1955), ran for 245 and 207 performances respectively.Summer Song, a musical about and reusing music byAntonín Dvořák ran from February to June 1965.[23] The D'Oyly Carte Company returned in 1956 and 1958, for 13-week seasons on each occasion, launching a new production ofPatience during the first.[40]
D'Oyly Carte made its last Prince's appearances in 1960–61, a nine-week season, presenting ten operas.[9] In the early 1960s the ownership of the theatre changed hands several times. In June 1961, Hylton, who had been the lessee since November 1951, bought the theatre and adjoining property. The following August he sold the freehold toTelevision Wales and the West, which sold it on toCharles Clore. In September 1962 it was confirmed that a new partnership between Clore andEMI was to control the theatre. At the same time plans for renovating the theatre were announced. For two years the theatre was more often closed than open.The Stage said that the theatre had "become rather shabby, possibly because success seemed to elude it for long periods, when it remained dark and neglected".[41]King Kong, a South African musical, ran from February to October 1961, and there were what Mander and Mitchenson describe as "several uneventful productions" untilGentlemen Prefer Blondes opened in August 1962. It was still running (and moved to another theatre) when the Prince's closed for reconstruction in November 1962.[23]
The name "the Prince's" was dropped and replaced by "the Shaftesbury". The new owners felt that the old name was too similar to those of two other West End theatres: there were thePrince of Wales and since 1962 a newPrince Charles theatre.[42] The oldShaftesbury Theatre, further downShaftesbury Avenue, had closed in 1941, reduced to a ruin during theBlitz, and the owners of the Prince's adopted its name for their theatre.[41][43] The oldraked stage was replaced with a horizontal one, and lighting equipment described as "the last word in modernity" was installed; the seating capacity of the renovated auditorium was 1,470.[41]
As the Shaftesbury, the theatre reopened in March 1963 with the American musicalHow to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying which ran for 520 performances.[38] A musical version ofJ. M. Barrie'sThe Admirable Crichton, calledOur Man Crichton, withKenneth More in the title role, played from December 1964 till June 1965.[44]
The Shaftesbury reopened on 20 November 1965 withTwang!!,Lionel Bart's musical version of theRobin Hood story.The Times later described it as the most expensive flop in West End history to that date.[45] The criticJ. C. Trewin described the first night as "a rout" with "some fairly general booing".[46] The show closed after 43 performances, after which the theatre was closed until October 1966, when success returned with a farce,Big Bad Mouse, originally written byPhilip King andFalkland Cary, but extensively and successfully ad-libbed through by its stars,Eric Sykes andJimmy Edwards – "two comedians abounding in their own exuberance" according to Trewin.[47] It ran for 634 performances to April 1968.[48]
Theatre censorship ended in Britain on 26 September 1968, and the following night the musicalHair opened at the Shaftesbury. Described as an "American Tribal Love-Rock Musical", the show contained profanity and scenes of nudity unthinkable until then.[49] It had an exceptionally long run and was just short of its 2,000th performance when part of the theatre ceiling collapsed and the house had to be closed.[50]
In 1973 the theatre was at risk of demolition, faced by proposals by theGreater London Council for a massive road-building programme and by a plan to build an office block on the site. Nearly twenty years earlier a campaign to preserve theSt James's Theatre from demolition and commercial redevelopment had failed, despite high-profile support led byLaurence Olivier andVivien Leigh,[51] but in the 1970s the campaign "Save London's Theatres" rescued the Shaftesbury (and other theatres).[52] In March 1974 the theatre was protected by being given official grade IIlisted building status.
After the necessary internal repairs the theatre reopened with a well-received revival ofWest Side Story in December 1974.[53] Other productions in the 1970s included a musical stage version of theBBC television seriesDad's Army, starringArthur Lowe,John Le Mesurier andClive Dunn (October 1975 to February 1976).[54] In September 1978 the theatre presented a revival ofHamilton Deane andJohn L. Balderston's 1920s dramatisation ofDracula, starringTerence Stamp, with scenic designs byEdward Gorey; it ran for three months.[55]
They're Playing Our Song (1980–1982) starringTom Conti andGemma Craven was produced by the actor and writerRay Cooney. After the end of that run and a nine-month closure Cooney presented his farce,Run For Your Wife withRichard Briers,Bernard Cribbins andBill Pertwee. This was the first play under the banner of the Theatre of Comedy, founded by Cooney, who said, "We have the finest comedy talents in the world in this country, both performers and writers, and I could never understand why we could not create our own theatre of comedy".[56] The Theatre of Comedy became the lessee of the Shaftesbury, and later bought the building. The company was funded by a founding group of well-known actors and authors.[n 2] The intention was for the Shaftesbury to have a programme of British comedy showcasing existing and new talent.[58]
Substantial runs in the 1980s includedShaw'sPygmalion (1984) withPeter O'Toole,Jackie Smith-Wood andJohn Thaw;[59]Two into One, another Cooney farce, starringDonald Sinden andMichael Williams, and described byThe Stage as masterly (1984–1986);[60]Saturday Night Live, a revue starringRowan Atkinson (1986), of which the reviewer inThe Stage wrote, "One leaves the theatre genuinely weak from laughter";[60]Osborne'sThe Entertainer starringPeter Bowles (1986);[61]Sondheim'sFollies with an all-star cast in a 645-performance run (1987–1989);[n 3] andM. Butterfly starringAnthony Hopkins (1989).[64]
Sinden and Williams starred again in a Cooney farce,Out of Order, in 1990, which won theOlivier Award for best comedy in 1991.[65] In 1992 the American television executiveDonald L. Taffner, a shareholder in the Theatre of Comedy since 1986, became the majority shareholder and chairman of the company.[58] Shows at the Shaftesbury in the 1990s includedKiss of the Spiderwoman (1992–93) withChita Rivera,Brent Carver andAnthony Crivello,[66] andSuzy Izzard in her showDefinite Article (1995), of which the reviewer inThe Stage wrote, "you will laugh, laugh again and continue laughing until you feel considerable physical pain. I did."[67] A revival ofRodgers and Hammerstein'sCarousel ran from September 1993 to March 1994, with choreography byKenneth MacMillan; the sets, byBob Crowley, were, in the view ofThe Times "the biggest star inNicholas Hytner's lavish production".[68]
In 1996–97 the theatre stagedTommy, a musical byPete Townshend andDes McAnuff (1996–97), withPaul Keating in the title role. The production showcased the Shaftesbury's advanced technical facilities:The Stage called the production "a unique theatrical experience, with scenery that falls faultlessly into place, up, down and sideways ... superb lighting ... wonderfully balanced sound ... and immaculate projection".[69] The musical itself was less well liked: in hisEncyclopedia of the Musical Theatre (2001)Kurt Gänzl comments, "London gave it the thumbs down in 11 expensive months".[70] From May 1998 to October 1999 the Shaftesbury was host to the musicalRent, which, following a recent fashion for musicals borrowing the plots ofPuccini operas, drew on that ofLa bohème;[71] it starredAnthony Rapp,Adam Pascal,Wilson Jermaine Heredia andJesse L. Martin from the original Broadway cast.[71] It was predicted that, reflecting the spirit of the 1990s asHair had that of the 1960s,Rent might emulate the long run of the earlier show, and there was some disappointment that it ran for less than 18 months.[71]
A series of short-lived musicals was a feature of the first part of the decade. These includedLautrec byCharles Aznavour starringHannah Waddingham (March to June 2000),[72]Napoleon (September 2000 to February 2001),[73] andPeggy Sue Got Married starringRuthie Henshall (August to October 2001).[74]Umoja: The Spirit of Togetherness was well received on opening in November 2001,[75] but noise complaints from the inhabitants of the flats near the theatre resulted in the closure of the show three months later.[76] Further short runs followed forThoroughly Modern Millie (21 October 2003), starringAmanda Holden andMaureen Lipman;[77]Bat Boy: The Musical (27 August 2004) by Keythe Farley,Brian Flemming andLaurence O'Keefe, starringDeven May;[78] andThe Far Pavilions (14 April 2005), starringKulvinder Ghir; it was described byThe Stage as "a galumphing great Asian white elephant of a musical".[79]
They were followed byDaddy Cool (21 September 2006) byFrank Farian, starringMichelle Collins,Javine Hylton and Harvey Junior,[80] andFame: The Musical (4 May 2007) byJacques Levy and Steve Margoshes, starringIan Watkins andNatalie Casey of whichThe Times commented, "It really is difficult to find a kind word to say aboutKaren Bruce's production of this shockingly clumsy spin-off".[81]
The theatre then had a long run withHairspray: The Musical, which ran from 30 October 2007 to 28 March 2010. It was written byMarc Shaiman andScott Wittman; the original cast starredMichael Ball,Leanne Jones,Mel Smith andTracie Bennett.[82] Later in the runBrian Conley and thenPhill Jupitus succeeded Ball in the lead role.[83]
During the decade the external façades of the theatre were renovated, and the original early-20th-century canopy was uncovered and restored. The auditorium was reconfigured, air conditioning and ventilation updates, and a fly tower with increased technical capability was constructed.[58]
A dance production,Burn the Floor (21 July 2010), starringAli Bastian,[84] was followed by another musical,Flashdance (26 September).[85] After that there was a magic show,Derren Brown – Svengali (8 June 2011).[86] The theatre returned to musicals withRock of Ages (27 September 2011);[87] that was followed by a second run ofBurn the Floor (6 March 2013),[88] which was succeeded by a new musical byTim Rice and Stuart Brayson,From Here to Eternity, (30 September 2013).[89]
A revival ofThe Pajama Game (13 May 2014), which transferred from theChichester Festival, was notable for being the first West End show to becrowd funded.[90] It was followed byMemphis, starringBeverley Knight (22 October 2014);[91] After a short season by a touring "magic spectacular"The Illusionists – Witness the Impossible (14 November 2015),Motown, presented the story of theMotown record label founderBerry Gordy (March 2016).[92]
On 20 November 2019 a new musical& Juliet opened at the Shaftesbury.[93] The run was interrupted when theCOVID-19 pandemic forced West End theatres to close on 16 March 2020.[94]
The theatre reopened on 30 June 2021 with the musicalBe More Chill (30 June 2021),[95] after which& Juliet resumed its interrupted run in September.[96] Another American musical,Mrs Doubtfire, opened on 12 May 2023, with music and lyrics byKarey andWayne Kirkpatrick and a book by Karey Kirkpatrick andJohn O'Farrell.[97]
The theatre is scheduled show the musicalAvenue Q from March to August 2026.[98]
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