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     London Theatre Tickets » List of London Theatres » Prince of Wales Theatre » History
Prince of Wales Theatre - Information & History
The Prince of Wales Theatre is situated on Coventry Street, just behind the Haymarket. Originally the Prince of Wales Theatre opened as the Prince's Theatre on the 18th of January 1884. The opening production was a comedy called 'The Palace of Truth'.
Edgar Bruce, a well known and established actor, director and theatre manager during the last quarter of the Victorian era, first commissioned the construction of the theatre, which was built by C.J. Phipps on a site which has housed two theatres before, and had a seating capacity of 800. The theatre was renamed the Prince of Wales Theatre, after the future King Edward VII, after only 2 years in 1886.
Some of the productions staged at the theatre included the wordless French play 'L'enfant Prodique in 1891, which was mimed by Jane May and introduced Pierrot to London's theatre goers. Further performances of Musical Comedies came in 1892 with 'Pantomime in Town', which is often considered to be the first Musical Comedy presented by George Edwards, then came 'A Gaiety Girl' in 1893, and Basil Hood's 'Gentleman Joe' had a long run with Arthur Roberts in the lead role.
The Prince of Wales Theatre moved to more serious plays with Maeterlincks 'Pelleas and Melisande' and Martin Harvey in Will's version of Charles Dickens 'A Tale of Two Cities, called 'The Only Way' which transferred to the Prince of Wales from the Lyceum. The Theatre returned to musical comedy after the turn of the century and the start of the Edwardian period in 1903 with shows including 'Miss Hook of Holland' and the 'King of Cadonia'. For the following 20 years or so the theatre staged musicals as well as comedies including 'Yes Uncle' in 1917 and Ivor Novello's 'The Rat' in 1924 and revues including 'A to Z' in 1921 and 'Charlot's Revue' in 1924.
During much of the 1930's the theatre was staging non stop Revue's and after the production of 'Encore Les Dames' closed in 1937 the building was demolished and a new Prince of Wales Theatre was built, which is the same building standing today. This new theatre was designed by Robert Crombie and constructed by Marfix. The stage and auditorium had been greatly enlarged and improved facilities were installed for both the public and artists alike. The foundation stone for the new Prince of Wales Theatre was unveiled by Gracie Fields on the 17th of June 1937, and the new theatre first opened its doors on the 27th of October 1937.
The New Prince of Wales Theatre had a much increased seating capacity of around another 50% to 1,139 on two tiers, as it was deemed the previous capacity of only 800 was insufficient for the productions of the day. The new theatre was built in only 9 months and opened with 'Les Follies de Paris et Londres', which was followed by another French dance revue 'Follies De Can-Can' in1938.
Major reconstruction and re-development took place in the area and premises on the Haymarket which fronted onto both the Haymarket and Coventry Street were pulled down in 1939.
From 1943 The Prince of Wales Theatre saw London debuts for Sid Field in 1943 in 'Strike a New Note' and he later returned to the Prince of Wales to be the lead role in 'Piccadilly Hayride' in 1946. Further successful runs included Mary Chase's comedy about an imaginary 6 foot rabbit called 'Harvey' in 1946 starring James Stewart. This ran for 3 years and was later made into a movie of the same name starring, once again, James Stewart.
Other successes followed with Paul Osborn's 'The World of Susie Wong in 1959, Neil Simon's 'Come Blow Your Horn' in 1962, closely followed by Barbra Streisand in 'Funny Girl', 'Sweet Charity' and 'Promises, Promises', which transferred from Broadway with instant success to the Prince of Wales.
The Prince of Wales Theatre revived an Opera called 'The Three Penny' in 1972 and 'Macheath' starring Vanessa Redgrave and Joe Melia. For a complete change the Prince of Wales Theatre put on a very successful variety spectacular show starring the female impersonator Danny La Rue. Another long running successes was Bernard Slade's 'Same Time Next Year' in 1976 starring Michael Crawford.
More recent successes have included 'South Pacific' from January 1988 to January 1989, 'Aspects of Love' from April 1989 to June 1992, 'Copacabana' from June 1994 to September 1996, 'Smokey Joes Café' from October 1996 to October 1998, 'Fosse' from February 2000 to January 2001, and Mamma Mia from June 2004 and still running as at December 2006.
The Prince of Wales Theatre was again altered and refurbished in 1963, and a more extensive refurbishment in 2004, which cost a fantastic amount of money at around £7.5 million, to restore the Prince of Wales Theatre and revamp the façade using the original Art Deco plans from the building constructed in 1884.
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