The Princess Theatre in

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignt ...

, England is a 1,500 seat

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

that first opened its doors on Wednesday 7 June 1961. Top of the bill on opening night were

Tommy Cooper Thomas Frederick Cooper (19 March 1921 – 15 April 1984) was a Welsh prop comedian and magician. As an entertainer, his appearance was large and lumbering at , and he habitually wore a red fez when performing. He served in the British Army ...

and

Morecambe & Wise Eric Morecambe (John Eric Bartholomew; 14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984) and Ernie Wise (Ernest Wiseman; 27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known as Morecambe and Wise (and sometimes as Eric and Ernie), were an English comic double act, working i ...

. The theatre is a touring house which means it doesn't produce but receives touring productions. It stages a variety of productions including

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

concerts A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

, West End

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

s and a

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

. The theatre was built by

Torbay Council Torbay Council is the local authority for Torbay, a local government district in the ceremonial county of Devon, England. Since 1998 the council has been a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a count ...

as the main feature of the redevelopment of the Princess Gardens area on Torquay seafront. The theatre replaced a marquee which was erected annually to house light entertainment. Theatres in seaside resorts were traditionally known for their annual Summer Season consisting of light entertainment and family variety shows and Torquay was no exception. In the past the Princess Theatre has staged summer shows from

Joe Pasquale Joseph Ellis Pasquale (born 20 August 1961) is an English comedian, actor and television presenter. He is well-known for his squeaky, high-pitched voice. In 1987 he was the runner-up on the TV talent show New Faces, since then he has appeare ...

Bradley Walsh Bradley John Walsh (born 4 June 1960) is an English actor, television presenter, comedian, singer, and former professional footballer. Walsh's acting roles on television include Danny Baldwin in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2004 ...

Ken Dodd Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English stand-up comedy, comedian, actor and singer. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer" and was primarily known for his live stand-up comedy, stand-up pe ...

Danny La Rue Danny La Rue (born Daniel Patrick Carroll, 26 July 1927 – 31 May 2009) was an entertainer best known for on-stage theatrical productions, television shows and films where he customarily performed in drag. Early life Born Daniel Patrick Car ...

and

Jimmy Tarbuck James Joseph Tarbuck (born 6 February 1940) is an English comedian, singer, actor, entertainer and game show host. Tarbuck was a host of '' Sunday Night at the London Palladium'' in the mid-1960s and hosted numerous game shows and quiz shows on ...

. More recently comedians

Michael McIntyre Michael Hazen James McIntyre (born 21 February 1976) is a British comedian, writer, and television presenter. In 2012, he was the highest-grossing stand-up comedian in the world. He currently presents the variety and stand-up comedy show '' Mic ...

Jack Dee James Andrew Innes "Jack" Dee (born 24 September 1961) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, presenter, and writer known for his sarcasm, irony, and deadpan humour. He wrote and starred in the sitcom '' Lead Balloon'' and hosts the panel show ...

Katherine Ryan Katherine Louisa Ryan (born June 1983) is a Canadian comedian, writer, presenter, actress and singer. She has appeared on British TV and radio panel shows, including ''8 Out of 10 Cats'', ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'', ''A League of Their Own'', ...

Dawn French Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress, comedian and writer. She is known for writing and starring on the BBC sketch comedy series '' French and Saunders'' (1987–2007) with her best friend and comedy partner Jennifer Sa ...

and

Russell Howard Russell Joseph Howard (born 23 March 1980) is an English comedian, television presenter, radio presenter and actor. He has hosted his own television shows, ''Russell Howard's Good News'' and ''The Russell Howard Hour'', and appeared on the topi ...

have graced the stage. Artists including

Billy Ocean Leslie Sebastian Charles (born 21 January 1950), known professionally as Billy Ocean, is a Trinidadian-born British singer and songwriter. Between 1976 and 1988, he had a series of hit songs in the UK and internationally. After releasing sev ...

Paloma Faith Paloma Faith Blomfield (born 21 July 1981) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. After signing with Epic Records in 2008, Faith released her debut album, '' Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?'' (2009), which produced the UK ...

Don McLean Donald McLean III (born October 2, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Known as the "American Troubadour" or "King of the Trail", he is best known for his 1971 hit "American Pie (song), American Pie", an eight-and-a-half-minut ...

Level 42 Level 42 are an English jazz-funk band formed on the Isle of Wight in 1979. They had a number of UK and worldwide hits during the 1980s and 1990s. Their highest-charting single in the UK was " Lessons in Love", which reached number three on th ...

Squeeze (band) Squeeze are an English Rock music, rock band that came to prominence in the United Kingdom during the New wave music, new wave period of the late 1970s, and continued recording in the 1980s, 1990s and 2010s. In the UK, their singles "Cool for C ...

and

Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is an English singer, songwriter and actor. He came to prominence after winning the 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest '' Pop Idol'', making him the first winner of the worldwide '' Ido ...

have performed at the venue as part of their UK tours. The theatre has become a favourite for large UK touring productions and has staged ''

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

'', ''

The Play That Goes Wrong ''The Play That Goes Wrong'' is a play by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields of Mischief Theatre Company. The story follows a performance of a murder mystery, where the ill-fated theatre company encounters numerous mishaps. The ...

'', ''

We Will Rock You "We Will Rock You" is a song by the British rock band Queen from their 1977 album '' News of the World'', written by guitarist Brian May. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of " The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and the RIAA it p ...

'', '' The Cher Show'' and ''

Six 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics A six-sided polygon is a hexagon, one of the three regular polygons capable of tiling the plane. A hexagon a ...

''. The theatre also hosts amateur productions from two local groups: TOADS Stage Musical Company and TOPS Musical Productions. The venue is owned by

and operated by

Ambassador Theatre Group ATG Entertainment, formerly The Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG), is a major international live entertainment organisation headquartered in the United Kingdom, with offices in Woking (head office), London, New York, Sydney, Mannheim and Cologne. ...

Pre-theatre dining

The theatre has its own on-site Café, Bar and Restaurant called Teatro, offering a daytime menu and pre-theatre dining which can be located on the marina side of the building.

Shows

External links

Official Website
Theatres in Devon Buildings and structures in Torquay {{UK-theat-struct-stub