The Vaudeville Theatre is a
West End theatre
West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes, "West End" in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1 ...
on the
Strand
Strand may refer to:
Topography
*The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a:
** Beach
** Shoreline
* Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida
Places Africa
* Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa
* Strand Street ...
in the
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...
. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly
vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
shows and
musical revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own durin ...
s in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each new building retained elements of the previous structure. The current building opened in 1926, and the capacity is now 690 seats. Rare ''thunder drum'' and ''lightning sheets'', together with other early stage mechanisms, survive in the theatre.
History
Origins
The theatre was designed by prolific architect
C. J. Phipps, and decorated in a
Romanesque style by George Gordon. It opened on 16 April 1870 with
Andrew Halliday's comedy, ''For Love Or Money'' and a
burlesque
A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. , ''Don Carlos or the Infante in Arms''. A notable innovation was the concealed footlights, which would shut off if the glass in front of them was broken. The owner, William Wybrow Robertson, had run a failing
billiard hall
A billiard, pool or snooker hall (or parlour, room or club; sometimes compounded as poolhall, poolroom, etc.) is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly serve ...
on the site but saw more opportunity in theatre. He leased the new theatre to three actors,
Thomas Thorne
Thomas Thorne (1841–1918) was an English actor and theatre manager. Thomas Thorne was one of the founding managers of London's Vaudeville Theatre, along with David James and Henry James Montague, and performed leading roles in many of the p ...
,
David James, and H.J. Montague.
[Vaudeville Theatre]
accessed 28 March 2007 The original theatre stood behind two houses on the Strand, and the entrance was through a labyrinth of small corridors. It had a
seating capacity
Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...
of 1,046, rising in a horseshoe over a pit and three galleries. The cramped site meant that facilities front and backstage were limited.
The great
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
an actor,
Henry Irving
Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...
, had his first conspicuous success as Digby Grant in
James Albery
James Albery (4 May 1838 – 15 August 1889) was an English dramatist.
Life and career
Albery was born in London. On leaving school he entered an architect's office and started to write plays. His farce ''A Pretty Piece of Chiselling'' was ...
's ''Two Roses'' at the Vaudeville in 1870. It held the theatre for what was at the time an extraordinarily successful run of 300 nights. The first theatre piece in the world to achieve 500 consecutive performances was the comedy ''
Our Boys
''Our Boys'' is a comedy in three acts written by Henry James Byron, first performed in London on 16 January 1875 at the Vaudeville Theatre. Until it was surpassed by the run of '' Charley's Aunt'' in the 1890s, it was the world's longest-r ...
'' by
H. J. Byron
Henry James Byron (8 January 1835 – 11 April 1884) was a prolific English dramatist, as well as an editor, journalist, director, theatre manager, novelist and actor.
After an abortive start at a medical career, Byron struggled as a provincial ...
, which started its run at the Vaudeville in 1875. The production went on to surpass the 1,000 performance mark. This was such a rare event that London
bus conductor
Bus conductors (also referred to as conductors, or clippies) were a common feature of many bus services across Europe until the late 1970s and early 1980s. The main reason two-person crews were needed was that most towns and cities used doubl ...
s approaching the Vaudeville Theatre stop shouted "Our Boys!" instead of the name of the theatre.
In 1882, Thomas Thorne became the sole lessee, and in 1889 he demolished the houses to create a foyer block in the Adamesque style, behind a Portland stone facade on the Strand. He again used architect C.J. Phipps. The theatre was refurbished to have more spacious seating and an ornate ceiling. It reopened on 13 January 1891 with a performance of
Jerome K. Jerome
Jerome Klapka Jerome (2 May 1859 – 14 June 1927) was an English writer and humourist, best known for the comic travelogue ''Three Men in a Boat'' (1889). Other works include the essay collections '' Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow'' (1886) an ...
's comedy, ''Woodbarrow Farm'', preceded by Herbert Keith's one-act play ''The Note of Hand''. This foyer is preserved today, as is the four-storey frontage.
[ Dramatist ]W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most f ...
presented one of his later plays here, ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern'' (1891), a burlesque "in Three Short 'Tableaux'". (He had published it in 1874 in '' Fun magazine''). Also in 1891, Elizabeth Robins
Elizabeth Robins (August 6, 1862 – May 8, 1952) was an actress, playwright, novelist, and suffragette. She also wrote as C. E. Raimond.
Early life
Elizabeth Robins, the first child of Charles Robins and Hannah Crow, was born in Louisville, ...
and Marion Lea directed and starred in Ibsen
Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...
's ''Hedda Gabler
''Hedda Gabler'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although he remained back-stage. The play has been can ...
'' at the theatre, and his ''Rosmersholm
''Rosmersholm'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen in Danish—the common written language of Denmark and Norway at the time—and originally published in 1886 in Copenhagen by the Danish publisher Gyldendal. ''Rosmersholm'' ...
'' had its London premiere here.
Gatti family
In 1892, Thorne passed the lease to restaurateurs Agostino and Stefano Gatti, who since 1878 had held the lease of the nearby Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...
. The first production at the new theatre was a revival of ''Our Boys''. The lease briefly passed into the hands of Weedon Grossmith
Walter Weedon Grossmith (9 June 1854 – 14 June 1919), better known as Weedon Grossmith, was an English writer, painter, actor, and playwright best known as co-author of ''The Diary of a Nobody'' (1892) with his brother, music hall comedian ...
in 1894, but was back with the Gattis in 1896. The theatre became known for a series of successful musical comedies
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...
. '' The French Maid'', by Basil Hood
Basil Willett Charles Hood (5 April 1864 – 7 August 1917) was a British dramatist and lyricist, perhaps best known for writing the libretti of half a dozen Savoy Operas and for his English adaptations of operettas, including ''The Merry Wi ...
, with music by Walter Slaughter
Walter Alfred Slaughter (17 February 1860 – 2 March 1908) was an English conductor and composer of musical comedy, comic opera and children's shows. He was engaged in the West End as a composer and musical director from 1883 to 1904.
Life ...
, first played in London at Terry's Theatre
Terry's Theatre was a West End theatre in the Strand, in the City of Westminster, London. Built in 1887, it became a cinema in 1910 before being demolished in 1923.
History
The theatre was built in 1887, near Fountain's Court, on the site of a ...
under the management of W.H. Griffiths beginning in 1897 but transferred to the Vaudeville in early 1898, running for a very successful total of 480 London performances. The piece starred Louie Pounds
Louisa Emma Amelia "Louie" Pounds (12 February 1872 – 6 September 1970) was an English singer and actress, known for her performances in musical comedies and in mezzo-soprano roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
Originally intended for ...
. Seymour Hicks
Sir Edward Seymour Hicks (30 January 1871 – 6 April 1949), better known as Seymour Hicks, was a British actor, music hall performer, playwright, actor-manager and producer. He became known, early in his career, for writing, starring in and p ...
and his wife Ellaline Terriss
Mary Ellaline Terriss, Lady Hicks (born Mary Ellaline Lewin, 13 April 1871 – 16 June 1971), known professionally as Ellaline Terriss, was a popular British actress and singer, best known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedies. Sh ...
starred in a series of Christmas entertainments here, including their popular '' Bluebell in Fairyland'' (1901). The foyer of the theatre had become infamous as the site of an argument in 1897 between Richard Archer Prince and Terriss's father, actor William Terriss
William Terriss (20 February 1847 – 16 December 1897), born as William Charles James Lewin, was an English actor, known for his swashbuckling hero roles, such as Robin Hood, as well as parts in classic dramas and comedies. He was also a nota ...
. Soon after that argument, the deranged Prince stabbed William Terriss to death at the stage door of the Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...
. Prince was a struggling young actor whom Terriss had tried to help.
Hicks and Terriss also starred here in '' Quality Street'', a comedy by J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succ ...
, which opened at the Vaudeville in 1902 and ran for 459 performances. It had first played in New York in 1901 but ran there for only 64 performances. This was one of the first American productions to score a bigger triumph in London. This was followed by the 1903 musical '' The Cherry Girl'' by Hicks, with music by Ivan Caryll
Félix Marie Henri Tilkin (12 May 1861 – 29 November 1921), better known by his pen name Ivan Caryll, was a Belgian-born composer of operettas and Edwardian musical comedies in the English language, who made his career in London and later N ...
, starring Hicks, Terriss and Courtice Pounds
Charles Courtice Pounds (30 May 1861 Gänzl, Kurt"Pounds of Pyes, or mea culpa No. 2" Kurt Gänzl's blog, 4 May 2018. Note that hibirth registrationis in central London in the third quarter of 1861 – 21 December 1927), better known by the sta ...
. In 1904, Hicks scored an even bigger hit with the musical, ''The Catch of the Season
''The Catch of the Season'' is an Edwardian musical comedy by Seymour Hicks and Cosmo Hamilton, with music by Herbert Haines and Evelyn Baker and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor, based on the fairy tale Cinderella. A debutante is engaged to a young ...
'', written by Hicks and Cosmo Hamilton
Cosmo Hamilton (29 April 1870 – 14 October 1942), born Henry Charles Hamilton Gibbs, was an English playwright and novelist. He was the brother of writers Arthur Hamilton Gibbs, Francis William Hamilton Gibbs, Helen Katherine Hamilton Gibbs an ...
, based on the fairy tale ''Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
''. It had a very long run of 621 performances, starring Hicks, Zena Dare
Zena Dare (born Florence Hariette Zena Dones; 4 February 1887 – 11 March 1975) was an English singer and actress who was famous for her performances in Edwardian musical comedy and other musical theatre and comedic plays in the first half of ...
(who created the role of Angela when Ellaline Terriss's pregnancy forced her to withdraw. Dare was later replaced by Terriss and then by Dare's sister, Phyllis Dare) and Louie Pounds.
John Maria and Rocco Gatti took over management of the Vaudeville in 1905. In 1906, the theatre hosted the very successful ''The Belle of Mayfair
''The Belle of Mayfair'' is a musical comedy composed by Leslie Stuart with a book by Basil Hood, Charles Brookfield and Cosmo Hamilton and lyrics by George Arthurs. The story is inspired by the Shakespeare play ''Romeo and Juliet''.
The orig ...
'', a musical composed by Leslie Stuart
Leslie Stuart (15 March 1863 – 27 March 1928) born Thomas Augustine Barrett was an English composer of Edwardian musical comedy
Edwardian musical comedy was a form of British musical theatre that extended beyond the reign of King Edward VII ...
with a book by Basil Hood, Charles Brookfield
Charles Hallam Elton Brookfield (19 May 1857 – 20 October 1913) was a British actor, author, playwright and journalist, including for '' The Saturday Review''. His most famous work for the theatre was '' The Belle of Mayfair'' (1906).
Brookfie ...
and Cosmo Hamilton, produced by Hicks' partner, Charles Frohman
Charles Frohman (July 15, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American theater manager and producer, who discovered and promoted many stars of the American stage. Notably, he produced ''Peter Pan'', both in London and the US, the latter production ...
. It ran for 431 performances and starred Edna May
Edna May Pettie (September 2, 1878 – January 1, 1948), known on stage as Edna May, was an American actress and singer. A popular postcard beauty, May was famous for her leading roles in Edwardian musical comedies.
Life and career
May was ...
, Louie and her brother Courtice Pounds, and Camille Clifford. In 1910, an English adaptation of '' The Girl in the Train'' (''Die geschiedene Frau'' – literally, "The Divorcee"), a 1908 Viennese operetta
Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...
by Leo Fall
Leopold Fall (2 February 187316 September 1925) was an Austrian Kapellmeister and composer of operettas.
Life
Born in Olmütz (Olomouc), Leo (or Leopold) Fall was taught by his father Moritz Fall (1848–1922), a bandmaster and composer, who sett ...
, opened at the Vaudeville. It was produced by George Edwardes
George Joseph Edwardes (né Edwards; 8 October 1855 – 4 October 1915) was an English theatre manager and producer of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond.
Edwardes started out in theatre ma ...
, with lyrics by Adrian Ross
Arthur Reed Ropes (23 December 1859 – 11 September 1933), better known under the pseudonym Adrian Ross, was a prolific writer of lyrics, contributing songs to more than sixty British musical comedies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries ...
and starred Robert Evett
Robert Evett (16 October 1874 – 15 January 1949) was an English singer, actor, theatre manager and producer. He was best known as a leading man in Edwardian musical comedies and later managed the George Edwardes theatrical empire.
In 1892, at ...
, Phyllis Dare and Rutland Barrington
Rutland Barrington (15 January 1853 – 31 May 1922) was an English singer, actor, comedian and Edwardian musical comedy star. Best remembered for originating the lyric baritone roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas from 1877 to 1896, his p ...
. In 1911, William Greet
William Greet (1851 – 25 April 1914) was a British theatre manager from the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century. Originally a business manager for other theatre licensees in the 1880s, he branched out as an independent manager ...
produced ''Baby Mine'' at the theatre. Betty Bolton
Betty Bolton (7 January 1906 – 2 April 2005) was a British actress, beginning as a child star during World War I and continuing her career in the 1920s and 1930s. She was one of the first performers to appear on early British television.
Early ...
made her debut in 1916, at the age of 10, in a revue called ''Some'', at the theatre. During and after World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, audiences sought light entertainment, and musical revues held the Vaudeville stage, including ''Cheep'' (1917), the long-running ''Just Fancy'' (1920) and ''Rats'' (1923), another popular revue. Albert Ketèlbey
Albert William Ketèlbey (; born Ketelbey; 9 August 1875 – 26 November 1959) was an English composer, conductor and pianist, best known for his short pieces of light orchestral music. He was born in Birmingham and moved to Lon ...
was one of the theatre's music directors.
The theatre closed on 7 November 1925, when the interior was completely reconstructed to designs by Robert Atkinson. The auditorium was changed from a horseshoe shape to the current rectangle shape, and the seating capacity
Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...
reduced to just over 700. A new dressing room block with an ornate boardroom extended the site to Maiden Lane. The theatre reopened on 23 February 1926, with a popular revue by Archie de Bear called ''R.S.V.P.'', notable because its final rehearsal was broadcast by the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. The theatre then hosted
'' in 1930. After World War II, the theatre presented William Douglas Home's play, ''The Chiltern Hundreds'', which ran for 651 performances. The record-setting musical ''
in 1954 but soon transferred to the Vaudeville, enjoying the longest run of any theatrical work up to that point in history. Another notable production at the theatre was
's 1959 play, ''Chips with Everything''.
theatres. An active campaign by
and theatre owners under the auspices of the ''Save London Theatres Campaign'' led to the abandonment of the scheme.