Noël Coward Theatre
New Theatre Albery Theatre | |
Address | St Martin's Lane London, WC2 United Kingdom |
---|---|
Coordinates | 51°30′40″N 0°07′38″W / 51.511111°N 0.127222°W |
Public transit | Leicester Square |
Owner | Salisbury estate |
Operator | Delfont Mackintosh Theatres |
Designation | Grade II listed[1] |
Type | West End theatre |
Capacity | 960 on 4 levels[citation needed] |
Construction | |
Opened | 1903 |
Architect | W. G. R. Sprague |
Website | |
Official website at Delfont Mackintosh Theatres |
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
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-manager Charles Wyndham, who had been based at the Criterion Theatre for more than twenty years, moved in 1899 to the larger Wyndham's Theatre which he commissioned in Charing Cross Road. To build Wyndham's, he had been obliged to buy a larger parcel of land than he required, and in 1901 he was in negotiations to sell the area he did not need. When negotiations fell through, he decided to build another theatre on the vacant site. This plot fronting on St Martin's Lane is bounded on one side by St Martin's Court, which also runs behind the theatre. While the theatre was in planning and then under construction it was referred to simply as "the new theatre", and the name stuck. The street adjacent to it is called New Row.[2]
The theatre, like Wyndham's, was designed by the architect
The New Theatre opened on 12 March 1903 with a brief season consisting of a revival of Rosemary – a play by
1920s
I'll Leave It to You, in 1920, was Noël Coward's first staged play, and ran at the New for 37 performances.[8] Matheson Lang was associated with the New for several years, presenting and playing in Shakespeare and modern dramas. The London premiere of Bernard Shaw's St. Joan starring Sybil Thorndike followed in 1924.[9]
In July 1925, Robert Atkins took over management of the New, presenting Israel Zangwill's We Moderns. The following year and for most of 1927 the New was home to a dramatisation of Margaret Kennedy's The Constant Nymph, which ran for 587 performances, starring first Coward and then the young John Gielgud as Lewis Dodd. Towards the end of the decade, two comedies by P. G. Wodehouse and Ian Hay – A Damsel in Distress (1928), and Baa Baa Black Sheep (1929) ran for 234 and 115 performances respectively.[9]
1930s
In February 1933, Gielgud began a period of management at the theatre. He produced and starred in
1940s
During the
1950s and 1960s
In 1950,
In June 1960, Oliver!, the Lionel Bart musical based on Oliver Twist, was first produced, and ran until September 1966, a total of 2,618 performances. The Times reported that its run had broken the previous West End records – My Fair Lady (2,282) and Salad Days (2,283).[17] The last years of the decade brought shorter runs to the New. They included Jorrocks, a musical (1967, 181 performances); Gwen Watford and Gemma Jones in Howards End (1967, 137); Roy Dotrice playing multiple roles in the comedy World War 2 (1967, 166); the Prospect Theatre Company's production of Farquhar's The Constant Couple; Spring and Port Wine; Paul Scofield in John Osborne's The Hotel in Amsterdam; the controversial Soldiers by Rolf Hochhuth in December 1968, and in April 1969 Anne of Green Gables, a new musical with Polly James in the lead.[15][16]
1970s onward
This section needs additional citations for verification. (August 2020) |
A 1970 Royal Shakespeare Company production of Dion Boucicault's London Assurance, directed by Ronald Eyre, with Donald Sinden as Sir Harcourt Courtly, Roger Rees as Charles, Judi Dench as Grace and Dinsdale Landen as Dazzle, transferred to the New Theatre in 1972 for a year, prior to its 1974 run in New York. (Sinden received the 1975 Drama Desk Special Award for the Broadway run.)[18] A revival of Oliver! ran from 1977 to 1980
In 1981, .
In the 2000s the theatre has played host to several Shakespeare productions including a production of
Other productions since 2000
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- Endgame (10 March 2004 – 1 May 2004) by Samuel Beckett, starring Lee Evans and Michael Gambon
- Suddenly Last Summer (14 May 2004 – 31 July 2004) by Tennessee Williams, starring Diana Rigg
- Twelfth Night (26 August 2004 – 30 October 2004) by William Shakespeare, starring Raza Jaffrey and Kulvinder Ghir
- The Royal Shakespeare Company's Hamlet (23 November 2004 – 11 December 2004) by William Shakespeare, starring Toby Stephens
- Peter Pan – 100 Years of Peter Pan (19 December 2004) by JM Barrie
- The Royal Shakespeare Company's Romeo and Juliet (21 December 2004 – 8 January 2005) by William Shakespeare
- The Royal Shakespeare Company's King Lear (18 January 2005 – 5 February 2005) by William Shakespeare, starring Corin Redgrave
- The Royal Shakespeare Company's Macbeth (16 February 2005 – 5 March 2005) by William Shakespeare
- The Royal Shakespeare Company's Hecuba (7 April 2005 – 7 May 2005) by Tony Harrison, adapted from Euripides, starring Vanessa Redgrave
- The Shaughraun (8 June 2005 – 30 July 2005) by Dion Boucicault
- Sean Foley and Hamish McColl
- Celebration – Harold Pinter (1–3 December 2005) by Harold Pinter
- A Christmas Carol (7 December 2005 – 31 December 2005) by Patrick Stewart, adapted from Charles Dickens, starring Patrick Stewart
- Blackbird (13 February 2006 – 13 May 2006) by David Harrower, starring Roger Allam and Jodhi May
- Avenue Q (28 June 2006 – 28 March 2009)
- Calendar Girls (13 April 2009 – 9 January 2010)
- Enron(26 January 2010 – 14 August 2010)
- Deathtrap (7 September 2010 – 15 January 2011) by Ira Levin, starring Simon Russell Beale and Jonathan Groff
- Million Dollar Quartet (28 February 2011 – 14 January 2012)
- Hay Fever (23 February 2012 – 2 June 2012) by Noël Coward starring Lindsay Duncan, Jeremy Northam, Kevin McNally and Olivia Colman
- Gatz (13 June 2012 – 15 July 2012)
- Julius Caesar (8 August 2012 – 15 September 2012) by William Shakespeare (RSC transfer starring Paterson Joseph, Ray Fearon, Jeffery Kissoon and Cyril Nri)
- Much Ado About Nothing (22 September 2012 – 27 October 2012) by William Shakespeare (RSC transfer starring Meera Syal)
- Uncle Vanya (5 November 2012 – 10 November 2012) (performed in Russian with English subtitles)
- The Full Monty (25 February 2014 – 29 March 2014)
- Good People (19 April 2014 – 14 June 2014) starring Imelda Staunton
- Shakespeare in Love(25 July 2014 – 18 April 2015)
- Death of a Salesman (13 May 2015[19] – 18 July 2015) by Arthur Miller (RSC transfer starring Antony Sher and Harriet Walter)
- Impossible (24 July 2015 – 29 August 2015)
- A Christmas Carol (9 December 2015 – 30 January 2016) by Charles Dickens, adapted by Patrick Barlow, starring Jim Broadbent
- Mrs Henderson Presents (16 February 2016 – 18 June 2016) starring Tracie Bennett
- Impossible (13 July 2016 – 27 August 2016)
- Half A Sixpence (17 November 2016[20] – 2 September 2017)
- Labour of Love by James Graham (3 October 2017 – 2 December 2017) starring Martin Freeman and Tamsin Greig
- Girl from the North Country(11 January 2018 – 24 March 2018)
- Quiz (10 April 2018 – 16 June 2018) by James Graham
- The Lieutenant of Inishmore by Martin McDonagh (4 July 2018 – 8 September 2018) starring Aidan Turner
- Matthew Lopez, starring John Benjamin Hickeyand Vanessa Redgrave
- All About Eve (12 February 2019 – 11 May 2019) starring Gillian Anderson and Lily James
- The Night of the Iguana (16 July 2019 – 28 September 2019) by Tennessee Williams, starring Clive Owen and Anna Gunn
- Dear Evan Hansen (19 November 2019 – 22 October 2022), starring Sam Tutty
- The Comeback (8 December 2020 – 15 December 2020 and 10 July 2021 – 31 July 2021)
- Best of Enemies (14 November 2022 – 18 February 2023) starring David Harewood and Zachary Quinto
- The Great British Bake Off Musical (25 February 2023 – 13 May 2023)
- Patriots (26 May 2023 – 19 August 2023) by Peter Morgan, starring Tom Hollander
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane (11th October 2023 – 25th November 2023) by Neil Gaiman, adapted by Joel Horwood, starring Charlie Brooks
- The Motive and the Cue (9 December 2023 – 23 March 2024) by Jack Thorne, directed by Sam Mendes, starring Mark Gatiss and Johnny Flynn
- Player Kings (1 April 2024 – 22 June 2024) by Robert Icke, starring Ian McKellen
- Dr. Strangelove (8 October 2024 – 21 December 2024) by Armando Iannucci and Sean Foley, starring Steve Coogan
The Michael Grandage Company
- Privates on Parade by Peter Nichols (10 December 2012 – 2 March 2013) starring Simon Russell Beale
- Peter and Alice by John Logan (25 March 2013 – 1 June 2013) starring Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw
- The Cripple of Inishmaan by Martin McDonagh (18 June 2013 – 31 August 2013) starring Daniel Radcliffe
- A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare (17 September 2013 – 16 November 2013) starring Sheridan Smith and David Walliams
- Henry V by William Shakespeare (3 December 2013 – 15 February 2014) starring Jude Law
- Photograph 51 by Anna Ziegler (14 September 2015[21] – 21 November 2015) starring Nicole Kidman
References and sources
References
- ^ Historic England (27 June 1963). "The Albery Theatre (now the Noël Coward Theatre) (1264767)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
- ^ Mander and Mitchenson (1975), pp. 11–12
- ^ a b Mander and Mitchenson (1975), p. 12
- ^ a b Mander and Mitchenson (1975), p. 13
- ^ "New Theatre", The Times, 10 August 1906, p. 3
- ^ "Little Women", The Manchester Guardian, 11 October 1919, p. 12
- ^ Mander and Mitchenson (1975), p. 14
- ^ Mander and Mitchenson (2000), p. 36
- ^ a b c d Mander and Mitchenson (1975), pp. 14–15
- ^ "New Theatre", The Times, 21 May 1936, p. 14
- required.)
- ^ Gaye, p. 1531
- ^ Gaye, p. 1532
- ^ Mander and Mitchenson (1975) pp. 15–16
- ^ a b Gaye, pp. 1530–1540
- ^ a b Mander and Mitchenson (1975), p. 16
- ^ "Oliver! Out For 2,618", The Times, 9 September 1966
- ^ Who's Who in the Theatre, 17th edition (1981)[page needed],
- ^ Arthur Miller Classic Death Of A Salesman To Make West End Transfer, London Theatre Direct. Quoted: 24 April 2015.
- ^ Half a Sixpence transfers to the Noel Coward Theatre from 29 October 2016[permanent dead link], London Theatre Direct. Quoted: 31 August 2015.
- ^ Nicole Kidman Returns To The West End In Photograph 51, London Theatre Direct. Quoted: 24 April 2015.
Sources
- Gaye, Freda, ed. (1967). Who's Who in the Theatre (fourteenth ed.). London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons. OCLC 5997224.
- Mander, Raymond; Joe Mitchenson (1975). The Theatres of London. New English Library. ISBN 978-1-84002-054-0.
- Mander, Raymond; Joe Mitchenson (2000) [1957]. Theatrical Companion to Coward. Barry Day and ISBN 978-1-84002-054-0.