The Tivoli Theatre of Varieties was a popular English theatre based in the Strand, West London. It was designed by Charles Phipps and was built during 1889–90 at a cost of £300,000. It was constructed on the former site of the Tivoli Beer Garden and Restaurant.The Tivoli Theatre of Varietiesl, 65-70½ The Strand, London
ArthurLloyd.com, accessed 13 April 2013. In the consortium that financed the project was the actor

Edward O'Connor Terry Edward O'Connor Terry (10 March 1844 – 2 April 1912) was an English actor, who became one of the most influential actors and comedians of the Victorian era. Life and career Terry was born in London, allegedly the illegitimate son of Feargu ...

."TIVOLI, Strand"
Overthefootlights.org, accessed 15 April 2013. The hall opened on 24 May 1890 and was located opposite 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 ...

."Tivoli Music Hall (London)"
Theatrestrust.org, accessed 13 April 2013. After a few years, the hall was bought by the

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. Hist ...

Charles Morton, under whose proprietorship, it became one of London's leading music halls. Morton employed, among others:

George Robey Sir George Edward Wade, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (20 September 1869 – 29 November 1954),James Harding (music writer), Harding, James"Robey, George" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University P ...

, Harriet Vernon,

Nellie Navette Nellie Navette (1865–3 August 1936) was a well-known British music hall Comedy drama, serio-comic performer of the late Victorian era. Famous as a pantomime Principal boy, comedienne, dancer and singer, she made frequent appearances at such ...

, Harry Randall,

Herbert Campbell Herbert Campbell (22 December 1844 – 19 July 1904), born Herbert Edward Story, was an English comedian and actor who appeared in music hall, Victorian burlesques and musical comedies during the Victorian era. He was famous for starring, for ...

Vesta Victoria Vesta Victoria (born Victoria Lawrence, 26 November 1873 – 7 April 1951) was an English music hall singer and comedian. She was famous for her performances of songs such as " Waiting at the Church" and "Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow Wow", both ...

, the Brothers Griffiths,

Ada Blanche Ada Blanche (born Ada Cecilia Blanche Adams; 16 July 1862 – 1 January 1953) was an English actress and singer known early in her career for vivacious performances in Victorian burlesque and pantomime and later in character roles in Edwardian m ...

, Leo Stormont,

Little Tich Harry Relph (21 July 186710 February 1928),Russell, Dav"Relph, Harry (1867–1928)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, January 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2013 professionally known as Littl ...

Dan Leno George Wild Galvin (20 December 1860 – 31 October 1904), better known by the stage name Dan Leno, was a leading English music hall comedian and musical theatre actor during the late Victorian era. He was best known, aside from his music hall ...

and

Eugene Stratton Eugene Augustus Rühlmann (May 8, 1861 – September 15, 1918) was an American-born dancer and singer. Born in Buffalo, New York, he adopted the stage name Eugene Stratton and spent most of his career in British music halls. Stratton was a ...

. In 1900, the theatre was refurbished and the seating capacity was reduced. On 7 February 1914 the theatre closed for a road widening scheme, but due to the outbreak of World War I this didn't happen immediately, so the theatre stood derelict until it was demolished in 1916.Cinema Treasures: ''Tivoli Theatre''
Linked 2017-01-07

The cinema period

Several years after the end of World War I, when the Strand had been widened to its present size, it was decided to build a cinema on the site. Theatre architect Bertie Crewe and the architectural firm Gunton & Gunton designed the new Tivoli Picture Theatre, an imposing building in white Portland stone. Inside the auditorium, there were 2,115 seats: 906 seats in the stalls, 637 in the circle and 572 in the balcony. Marketed as the Tivoli Theatre or simply The Tivoli, it opened on 7 September 1923 with the showing of the film '' Where the Pavement Ends''. This was the result of a deal with American Loew's Incorporated, that the Tivoli would present exclusive runs of their films (from

Metro Pictures Metro Pictures Corporation was a Film, motion picture production company founded in early 1915 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a forerunner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company produced its films in New York, Los Angeles, and sometimes at leas ...

and

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

) concurrent with their American release. In 1925, the cinema was taken over by MGM/Loew's and was their showcase theatre in London for a few years, until they opened their new Empire Theatre in Leicester Square in November 1928. Tivoli was then sold to

Provincial Cinematograph Cinemas Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

(PCT), which soon became part of

Gaumont British The Gaumont-British Picture Corporation produced and distributed films and operated a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. It was established as an offshoot of the Gaumont Film Company of France. Film production Gaumont-British was founded in 18 ...

. During its most popular period, the Tivoli was the big premier cinema in London, showing the very first sound short films in 1925, as well as the epic '' Ben Hur'' starring

Ramon Novarro José Ramón Gil Samaniego (February 6, 1899 – October 30, 1968), known professionally as Ramon Novarro, was a Mexican-American actor. He began his career in silent films in 1917 and eventually became a leading man and one of the top box ...

, which showed twice daily to a total of 1.2 million spectators. It also premiered Samuel Goldwyn's first "talkie", ''

Bulldog Drummond Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond is a fictional character, created by H. C. McNeile and published under his pen name "Sapper". Following McNeile's death in 1937, the novels were continued by Gerard Fairlie. Drummond is a First World War veteran who, ...

'' starring

Ronald Colman Ronald Charles Colman (9 February 1891 – 19 May 1958) was an English-born actor, starting his career in theatre and silent film in his native country, then immigrating to the United States and having a successful Hollywood film career. He wa ...

, which was a huge hit in August 1929. However, as newer cinemas opened around Leicester Square, Tivoli lost its premier status, and in 1938 it became a second-run weekly change house. The cinema remained in business for over 30 years but eventually closed in 1957 and was demolished and replaced by a department store, which was later converted into New South Wales House for the Australian Government. In the late 1990s, New South Wales House was demolished and replaced by an office block.

References

{{Coord, 51.5097, -0.1228, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Music venues in London Former music hall venues in the United Kingdom Former theatres in London Buildings and structures demolished in 1916