Rudolphe Cabanel (also Rudolph) (1763–1839) was a German architect, engineer and machinist, known for his work on British theatres.

Life

Cabanel was born at

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

in 1762. He came to England early in life, and settled in London. He died in Mount Gardens, Lambeth, on 5 February 1839.

Works

Cabanel was employed in construction of several theatres. He designed the stage arrangements of the old

Drury Lane Theatre The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drur ...

for the reconstruction of the 1790s; in 1811, after the theatre was destroyed in a fire, the designs of Benjamin Dean Wyatt were preferred. He worked on the

Royal Circus The Surrey Theatre, London began life in 1782 as the Royal Circus and Equestrian Philharmonic Academy, one of the many circuses that provided entertainment of both horsemanship and drama (hippodrama). It stood in Blackfriars Road, near the jun ...

(later named the Surrey Theatre), 1805 (burnt down 30–1 January 1868), and the

Royal Cobourg Theatre The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, not-for-profit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal V ...

, 1818. At

Sadler's Wells Theatre Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...

he reconstructed the auditorium, from 1802, following a model by Richard Hughes. He was the inventor of the "Cabanel roof", and a number of theatrical machines.

Family

Harriot Cabanel, a dancer at the Royal Circus and Rudolphe's sister, married the actor Jack Helme.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Cabanel, Rudolph 1763 births 1839 deaths Architects from London Engineers from Aachen German emigrants to the Kingdom of Great Britain