Gielgud Theatre
Address | Shaftesbury Avenue London, W1 United Kingdom |
---|---|
Coordinates | 51°30′42″N 00°07′59″W / 51.51167°N 0.13306°W |
Public transit | Leicester Square; Piccadilly Circus |
Owner | Delfont Mackintosh Theatres |
Designation | Grade II[1] |
Type | West End theatre |
Capacity | 994 on three levels |
Production | Opening Night |
Construction | |
Opened | 27 December 1906 |
Architect | W. G. R. Sprague |
Website | |
www |
The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, at the corner of Rupert Street, in the City of Westminster, London. The house currently has 994 seats on three levels.
The theatre was designed by
Refurbished in 1987, the theatre has since presented several Alan Ayckbourn premieres, including Man of the Moment (1990), as well as a notable revival of An Ideal Husband in 1992. During reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe theatre on the South Bank, in 1994 the theatre was renamed the Gielgud Theatre in honour of John Gielgud. Another refurbishment was completed in 2008.
The Globe's theatre cat, Beerbohm, became famous enough to receive a front-page obituary in the theatrical publication The Stage in 1995.
History
Early years
The theatre opened on 27 December 1906 as the Hicks Theatre in honour of actor, manager and playwright
The first play at the theatre was a musical called
In 1909, the American impresario
After World War II
Gielgud took his production of
The Globe was the home of a resident theatre cat named Beerbohm, after actor Herbert Beerbohm Tree. The tabby's portrait still hangs in the corridor near the stalls. Beerbohm appeared on stage at least once in every production, forcing the actors to improvise. He always chose to occupy certain actors' dressing rooms while they were at the theatre, including Peter Bowles, Michael Gambon and Penelope Keith. Beerbohm was mentioned several times on Desert Island Discs, and he was the only cat to have received a front-page obituary in the theatrical publication, The Stage.[7] He died in March 1995 at the age of 20.[8]
Refurbished in 1987, with extensive work on the gold leaf in the auditorium, the theatre is particularly notable for its beautiful circular
In 1994, in anticipation of the 1997 opening of
Work on the facade of the theatre started in March 2007 and the interior restoration, including reinstating the boxes at the back of the dress circle, was completed in January 2008. The theatre is one of the 40 theatres featured in the 2012 DVD documentary series Great West End Theatres, presented by Donald Sinden.[11]
Notable productions
- 1906: The Beauty of Bath, by Seymour Hicks and Cosmo Hamilton
- 1907: Brewster's Millions by Winchell Smith & Byron Ongley
- 1908: A Waltz Dream an operetta by Oscar Straus
- 1914: Kismet, a revival of Edward Knoblock's play, with Henry Daniell in his London debut.
- 1916: Peg O' My Heart by John Hartley Manners
- 1920: Fédora, a revival of the 1882 play by Victorien Sardou, with Basil Rathbone as Loris Ipanoff
- 1925: Fallen Angels by Noël Coward, starring Tallulah Bankhead
- 1929: Canaries Sometimes Sing by Frederick Lonsdale, starring Yvonne Arnaud
- 1931: James B. Fagan, starring Yvonne Arnaud and Frank Cellier.
- 1935: Call it a Day by Dodie Smith
- 1939: The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, with John Gielgud starring as well as directing
- 1942: The Petrified Forest by Robert E. Sherwood
- 1949: The Lady's Not for Burning by Christopher Fry, with Richard Burton in a supporting role
- 1960: A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt, starring Paul Scofield
- 1966: There's a Girl in My Soup by Terence Frisby
- 1966: The Matchgirls by Bill Owen
- 1976: A season of Barry Humphries as Dame Edna Everage
- 1978: The Rear Column by Simon Gray, starring Jeremy Irons, Barry Foster, Simon Ward and Clive Francis
- 1982: Design for Living by Noël Coward, starring Vanessa Redgrave
- 1983: Daisy Pulls It Off by Denise Deegan
- 1987: Lettice and Lovage by Peter Shaffer, starring Maggie Smith and Margaret Tyzack
- 1990: Man of the Moment by Alan Ayckbourn premiere
- 1992: An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde
- 1995: Design for Living, starring Rachel Weisz
Recent and present productions
- 2003: Denise Van Outen
- 2004: The RSC's All's Well That Ends Well, starring Judi Dench
- 2004: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, starring Christian Slater, Frances Barber and Mackenzie Crook
- 2005: Don Carlos by Friedrich Schiller, starring Derek Jacobi
- 2005: Some Girls by Neil LaBute, starring David Schwimmer and Catherine Tate
- 2005: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, starring Tara Fitzgerald
- 2006: The RSC's The Crucible and The Canterbury Tales
- 2006: Peter Morgan, starring Michael Sheen and Frank Langella
- 2007: Equus by Peter Shaffer, starring Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths
- 2007: Macbeth by William Shakespeare, starring Patrick Stewart
- 2007: Nicholas Nickleby
- 2008: Carl Rosa Opera presented a Gilbert and Sullivanseason
- 2008: God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, starring Ralph Fiennes and Tamsin Greig
- 2008: Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello, starring Ian McDiarmid
- 2008: Bill Bailey's Tinselworm
- 2009: Enjoy by Alan Bennett, starring Alison Steadman
- 2009: Avenue Q by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx
- 2010: Hair
- 2010:
- 2011: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
- 2011: Lend Me a Tenor
- 2011: The Ladykillers
- 2012: Chariots of Fire
- 2013: The Audience by Peter Morgan, starring Helen Mirren
- 2013: Private Lives by Noël Coward, starring Toby Stephens and Anna Chancellor
- 2013: Strangers on a Train by Craig Warner, starring Jack Huston, Laurence Fox and Imogen Stubbs
- 2014: Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward, starring Angela Lansbury
- 2014: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (re-opening after Apollo Theatre ceiling collapse)
- 2017: The Ferryman by Jez Butterworth
- 2018: Imperium, based on the Cicero novels by Robert Harris and adapted by Mike Poulton starring Richard McCabe and Joseph Kloska
- 2018: Company, starring Rosalie Craig, Mel Giedroyc, Patti LuPone, Ben Lewis and Jonathan Bailey
- 2019: Les Misérables – The Staged Concert, starring Michael Ball, Alfie Boe, Carrie Hope Fletcher and Matt Lucas
- 2019: Girl from the North Country
- 2020: The Upstart Crow, starring David Mitchell
- 2021: The Mirror and the Light
- 2022: To Kill a Mockingbird by Aaron Sorkin, adapted from the novel by Harper Lee
- 2023: The Crucible by Arthur Miller, starring Fisayo Akinade, Milly Alcock, and Brian Gleeson (transfer from the National Theatre)
- 2023: Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends, starring Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga
- 2024: Frank Skinner's 30 Years Of Dirt
- 2024: Opening Night, starring Sheridan Smith
- 2024: Oliver!, starring Simon Lipkin, Aaron Sidwell, and Philip Franks (transfer from the Chichester Festival Theatre)
Notes
- ^ Historic England (28 June 1972). "Gielgud Theatre (1236174)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
- ^ Seymour Hicks Archived 18 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine at the British Musical Theatre website, 31 August 2004. Retrieved 19 December 2012
- ^ "The Importance of Being Earnest: Notable productions", V & A Museum. Retrieved 19 December 2012
- ^ Gielgud, John. "Mr. Gielgud discovers Mr. Fry; Reliance on designer." The New York Times, 5 November 1950, p. 98
- ^ "Daisy Pulls It Off". Albemarle Theatre. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012.
- ^ "Tell Me on a Sunday (Gielgud Theatre)", BBC review, 16 April 2003. Retrieved 19 December 2012
- ^ Alistair Smith, "Exclusive: Cats to return to West End", The Stage, 8 July 2009. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
- ^ Parsons, Andrew. "Theatre Cats" Archived 30 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Moggies Web Site, reprinted from The Times, 30 December 2000
- ^ "Naked stage role for Potter star", BBC News, 28 July 2006. Retrieved 19 December 2012
- ^ Yes, Prime Minister Archived 30 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine, The Corner Shop, 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2012
- ^ Fisher, Philip. "Great West End Theatres", British Theatre Guide, 19 February 2012
References
- History of the theatre
- History and photos of the theatre and other images
- Profile of theatre with list of productions
- Another profile of the theatre
Further reading
- Guide to British Theatres 1750–1950, John Earl and Michael Sell pp. 112 (Theatres Trust, 2000) ISBN 0-7136-5688-3
- Who's Who in the Theatre, edited by John Parker, tenth edition, revised, London, 1947, pp. 477–478 and 1183.
- Bergan, Ronald, The Great Theatres of London. An Illustrated Companion (Prion, 1990) (ISBN 1-85375-057-3).
- Berry, Patricia Dee, Theatrical London (Britain in Old Photographs series) (Alan Sutton, 1995) (ISBN 0-7509-0942-0).
External links
- Official website
- Gielgud Theatre discography at Discogs
- Gielgud Theatre from the London Theatre Guide, a website of the Society of London Theatre
- Profile of Seymour Hicks original namesake of this theatre
- Information about Daisy Pulls It Off, Gielgud Theatre's record for longest running production