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Criterion Theatre
The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre at Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has a seating capacity of 588. Building the theatre In 1870, the caterers Spiers and Pond began development of the site of the White Bear, a seventeenth-century posting inn. The inn was located on sloping ground stretching between Jermyn Street and Piccadilly Circus, known as Regent Circus. A competition was held for the design of a concert hall complex, with Thomas Verity winning out of 15 entries. He was commissioned to design a large restaurant, dining rooms, ballroom, and galleried concert hall in the basement. The frontage, which was the façade of the restaurant, showed a French Renaissance influence using Portland stone. After the building work began, it was decided to change the concert hall into a theatre. The composers' names, which line the tiled staircases, were retained and can still be seen. The redesign placed the large Criterio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Verity
Thomas Verity (1837–1891) was an English theatre architect during the theatre building boom of 1885–1915. Verity began his career articled in the architecture department of the War Office, assisting in the erection of the South Kensington Museum. He further assisted in the building of the Royal Albert Hall between 1867–70.Earl and Sell (2000), pp. 283 In 1870, he won an open competition to build the Criterion Theatre and Criterion Restaurant for caterers Spiers and Pond founding his own architectural practice. Other London theatres for which he was engaged included the Royalty Theatre, the Novelty Theatre, the Folly Theatre, the Scala Theatre, and the Comedy Theatre. In 1878, he was appointed consulting architect to the Lord Chamberlain's office. Initially, this was in partnership with G. H. Hunt, but later with his son, Frank Verity, who received his training in his father's firm. Both Veritys bought an interest in ornate Second Empire-style architecture to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jermyn Street
Jermyn Street is a one-way street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster in London, England. It is to the south of, parallel, and adjacent to Piccadilly. Jermyn Street is known as a street for gentlemen's-clothing retailers. History In around 1664, the street was created by and named after Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans, as part of his development of the St James's area of central London. It was first recorded as "Jarman Streete" in the 1667 rate books of St Martin's, which listed 56 properties on it. In 1675, there were 108 names listed. Notable residents Many tailors owned or still own the houses along the street and often let rooms to people. No. 22, Jermyn Street, for instance was once owned by Italian silk merchant Cesare Salvucci and a military tailor who rented rooms out to people such as the banker Theodore Rothschild. The Duke of Marlborough lived there when he was Colonel Churchill, as did Isaac Newton (at No. 88, from 1696 to 1700; he then ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foggerty's Fairy
''Foggerty's Fairy'', subtitled "An Entirely Original Fairy Farce", is a three-act farce by W.S. Gilbert based loosely on Gilbert's short story, "The Story of a Twelfth Cake", which was published in the Christmas Number of ''The Graphic'' in 1874, and elements of other Gilbert plays. The story concerns a man who, with the help of a fairy, changes a small event in his past to try to save his engagement to the girl he loves. This leads to profound changes in his present, and he finds that matters are even worse than before. ''Foggerty's Fairy'' opened at the Criterion Theatre in London on 15 December 1881. Charles Wyndham (actor), Charles Wyndham, the manager of the Criterion, starred as the lead character, Frederick Foggerty. Despite Wyndham's star power, interest in the play's bold and original premise and reviews that were at least partly positive, the play was not a success. It closed on 6 January 1882 after about 25 performances. Disappointed, Gilbert turned back to writing c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Blitz
The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germans conducted mass air attacks against industrial targets, towns, and cities, beginning with raids on London towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940 (a battle for daylight air superiority between the Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force over the United Kingdom). By September 1940, the Luftwaffe had lost the Battle of Britain and the German air fleets () were ordered to attack London, to draw RAF Fighter Command into a battle of annihilation.Price 1990, p. 12. Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, ordered the new policy on 6 September 1940. From 7 September 1940, London was systematically bombed by the Luftwaffe for 56 of the following 57 days and nights. Most notable was a large dayligh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terence Rattigan
Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan (10 June 191130 November 1977) was a British dramatist and screenwriter. He was one of England's most popular mid-20th-century dramatists. His plays are typically set in an upper-middle-class background.Geoffrey Wansell. ''Terence Rattigan'' (London: Fourth Estate, 1995); He wrote ''The Winslow Boy'' (1946), '' The Browning Version'' (1948), '' The Deep Blue Sea'' (1952) and ''Separate Tables'' (1954), among many others. A troubled homosexual who saw himself as an outsider, Rattigan wrote a number of plays which centred on issues of sexual frustration, failed relationships, or a world of repression and reticence. Early life Terence Rattigan was born in 1911 in South Kensington,Wansell, p. 13. London, of Irish extraction. He had an elder brother, Brian. They were the grandsons of Sir William Henry Rattigan, a notable India-based jurist and later a Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament for North-East Lanarkshire. His father was Frank Rattigan CMG, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. A member of the Terry family theatrical dynasty, he gained his first paid acting work as a junior member of his cousin Phyllis Neilson-Terry's company in 1922. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art he worked in repertory theatre and in the West End theatre, West End before establishing himself at the Old Vic as an exponent of William Shakespeare, Shakespeare in 1929–31. During the 1930s Gielgud was a stage star in the West End and on Broadway theatre, Broadway, appearing in new works and classics. He began a parallel career as a director, and set up his own company at the Sondheim Theatre, Queen's Theatre, London. He was regarded by many as the finest Prince Hamlet, Hamlet of his era, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Empire, Leicester Square
The Empire, Leicester Square is a cinema currently operated by Cineworld on the north side of Leicester Square, London. The Empire was originally built in 1884 as a variety theatre and was rebuilt for films in the 1920s. It is one of several cinemas in and adjoining Leicester Square which are regularly used for film premieres and first runs. Today, it has nine auditoria, including an IMAX (IMAX with Laser projection), a Superscreen (Premium Large Format (PLF), 4K projection and Dolby Atmos sound), and a 4DX screen. History 1884: The Empire Theatre opens The Empire Theatre opened on 17 April 1884 under the ownership of Daniel Nicols as a West End variety theatre on Leicester Square, as well as a ballet venue, with a capacity of about 2,000 seats. The first performance was '' Chilpéric'', with music by Hervé, adapted by H. Hersee and H.B. Farnie and described as ''a Grand Musical Spectacular, in three acts and seven tableaux''. The corps de ballet for the performance was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comedy Theatre
The Harold Pinter Theatre, known as the Comedy Theatre until 2011,"Harold Pinter has London theatre named after him" ''BBC News'', 7 September 2011, accessed 8 September 2011. is a , and opened on Panton Street in the , on 15 October 1881, as the Royal Comedy Theatre. It was designed by and built in just six months in painted ( |
Noël Coward Theatre
The Noël Coward Theatre, formerly known as the Albery Theatre, is a West End theatre in St. Martin's Lane in the City of Westminster, London. It opened on 12 March 1903 as the New Theatre and was built by Sir Charles Wyndham behind Wyndham's Theatre which was completed in 1899. The building was designed by the architect W. G. R. Sprague with an exterior in the classical style and an interior in the Rococo style. In 1973, it was renamed the Albery Theatre in tribute to Sir 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 the Noël Coward Theatre when it re-opened on 1 June 2006. The building is a Grade II Listed structure. History Early years, 1903–1919 The New was the second of the three theatres in St Martin's Lane. The Trafalgar Square (now the Duke of York's) opened in 1892 and the London Coliseum in 1904. The actor-manag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wyndham's Theatre
Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the architect of six other London theatres between then and 1916. It was designed to seat 759 patrons on three levels; later refurbishment increased this to four seating levels. The theatre was Grade II* listed by English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ... in September 1960. History Wyndham had always dreamed of building a theatre of his own, and through the admiration of a patron and the financial confidence of friends, he was able to realise his dream. Wyndham's Theatre opened on 16 November 1899, in the presence of the Ed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Wyndham (actor)
Sir Charles Wyndham (23 March 1837 – 12 January 1919), ''né'' Charles Culverwell, was an English actor and theatre proprietor. Wyndham's Theatre in London is named after him, and he also built the Noël Coward Theatre, New Theatre (now the Noël Coward Theatre) nearby. Wyndham's family intended him for a medical career, and he studied medicine while enthusiastically engaging in amateur theatricals in his spare time. Torn between medicine and the stage, he spent three years in the US as a surgeon in the Union army in the American Civil War and on two occasions acted unsuccessfully on the New York stage. After returning to Britain and establishing himself as an actor he made further trips to the US between 1882 and 1910, playing in theatres all around the country. In London, Wyndham became known for his comic skills, both in light comedy and farce. He took over the management of the Criterion Theatre in 1876 and remained in charge there for more than 20 years. "Criterion fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edwardian Musical Comedies
Edwardian musical comedy was a form of British musical theatre that extended beyond the reign of King Edward VII in both directions, beginning in the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the American musicals by Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hart, George Gershwin and Cole Porter following the First World War. Between '' In Town'' in 1892 and ''The Maid of the Mountains'', premiering in 1917, this new style of musical theatre became dominant on the musical stage in Britain and the rest of the English-speaking world. The popularity of ''In Town'' and ''A Gaiety Girl'' (1893), led to an astonishing number of hits over the next three decades, the most successful of which included ''The Shop Girl'' (1894), ''The Geisha'' (1896), ''Florodora'' (1899), '' A Chinese Honeymoon'' (1901), ''The Earl and the Girl'' (1903), '' The Arcadians'' (1909), ''Our Miss Gibbs'' (1909), ''The Quaker Girl'' (1910), ''Betty'' (1914), ''Chu Chin Chow'' (191 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
