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     London Theatre Tickets » List of London Theatres » Shaftesbury Theatre » History
Shaftesbury Theatre - Information & History
The current Shaftesbury Theatre is situated on Shaftesbury Avenue, New Oxford Street End. It first opened its doors on Boxing Day 26th of December 1911 and was known as the New Princess Theatre. The proprietors, the brothers Walter and Frederick Melville, opened with a production of the 'Three Musketeers' which had transferred from the Lyceum Theatre. The New Princess Theatre was built by Bertie Crew with a large seating capacity of 2,392. It was a large theatre and the last of the new theatres to be constructed on Shaftesbury Avenue and had a square stage 31' square, which is unusual for 20th century theatres.
It was called the New Princess Theatre because there was already a theatre called the Shaftesbury Theatre at the other end of the Avenue. The New Princess soon shortened to the Princess Theatre in 1914. The theatre did have an advantage over many of the day as it had exits on three sides so as to facilitate quick evacuation in the event of any emergency.
The original Shaftesbury Theatre at the other end of the Avenue was designed by C.J. Phipps and first opened on the 20th of October 1888 with a production of 'As You Like It' and had a small seating capacity of 1,196 and a small 28' square stage. This building was situated close to China Town and opposite Frith Street. It is now the site of the large fire station on Shaftesbury Avenue, but at the time of the construction of the New Princess in 1911 at the Oxford Street end of Shaftesbury Avenue, the existing Shaftesbury Theatre was still in use and remained so until it was destroyed by bombing during the London Blitz of 1940.
It was decided to rename the Princess Theatre to become the one and only Shaftesbury Theatre in 1963 so as to adopt the name of its predecessor.
An early architectural description of the New Princess describes the theatre as follows:
"Externally an example of Modern Renaissance, internally the house is eclectically French in its decorations. Above the main entrance, at the corner, rises an elegant tower. The interior decoration is in cream and gold, with side panels in autumnal tints, and groups of statuary over the boxes. The saucer-domed ceiling is ornamented with symbolic groups representing 'The Light of the World,' 'Endeavour,' 'Love,' 'The Crowning Success,' and 'The Torch of Destiny,' and four life-size groups which surmount the boxes are emblematic of Comedy, Tragedy, Poetry, and Music. The ten boxes are parted by Ionic columns, with figured drums fluted and enriched; and bas-relief groups adorn the proscenium arch. The crimson velvet of the upholstery goes well with the rose and white marbles, the alabaster, and the gold mosaic of the walls. The New Princes is a two-tier theatre, and each tier has its own saloon adorned with oak panelling, wrought iron fittings and tapestries. The Stalls saloon is Elizabethan, the circle saloon Jacobean. A central ring of electric lights is suspended from the ceiling of the auditorium, supplemented by four large wrought brass chandeliers. The arrangements for heating and ventilating by the 'Plenum' system of forced air will ensure a gradual change of atmosphere six times an hour.'
The New Princess decided to drop the 'new' only 3 years after its grand opening and simply became the Princess Theatre until it was finally renamed in 1963 to the Shaftesbury Theatre, which it is still called today. The current theatre should not be confused with the original Shaftesbury Theatre.
The Theatre was made famous during its early life especially for its season of Gilbert & Sullivan's run of operas which took place in the autumn of 1919. As it was almost twice the seating capacity of the then traditional Gilbert & Sullivan Theatre venue, the Savoy Theatre, it meant that once the season was announced at the Princess theatre over £30,000 for advanced bookings were received.
The Gilbert & Sullivan season became an instant success, as the productions were given a fresh overview which refreshed the original productions. This even attracted the Savoy Gilbert & Sullivan's old company's Rutland Barrington and Jessie Bond, who were seen in the boxes of the Princess viewing these new style productions.
The Princess saw a change of lessee from 1917 when Seymour Hicks took over and staged successful runs, including a comedy called 'Good News' by Ellaline Teriss, which ran for almost 1 year. This was followed with a production of 'Columbine' by Compton Mackenzie.
1920 saw a production of 'The Man Who Came Back' which transferred from the Oxford Theatre and ran for 106 performances. This was followed by another successful run of 'The Knave of Diamonds' which packed them in for 185 performances, then a year later, a 'D'Oyly Carte season was a success.
The Princess continued with its run of 'Savoy Operas' till 1922 and the Princess became a firm favourite with theatre goers. The theatre staged a production of 'The Return of Sherlock Holmes', which ran for 130 performances, and this was again continued with the favoured Savoy Operas for another year.
The mid-twenties saw a continuous stream of mini successful runs at the Princess with 'White Cargo' in 1925, starring Franklyn Dyall, whose performance caused much comment at the time. The Princess seemed to alternate between imaginative productions and trusted favourites with Savoy Operas and seasons of D'Oyly Carte every other year. In 1928 one of the most successful productions was 'Funny Face', a musical comedy by Lee Ephraim, in which Leslie Hanson kept the laughing in the aisles while he was supported by the dancing skills of Fred and Adele Astaire.
The Princess continued with its successful themes throughout the Second World War and the fifties, until it was decided to change its name to become the Shaftesbury Theatre in 1963. The Shaftesbury Theatre became infamous for its staging of the production of 'Hair' and its highly controversial all nude scene. The Shaftesbury had become a venue of hot blooded theatre goers eager to see this production of hippy singing free loving groovy youngsters which was causing so much talk during the changing times of the 60's. With the explosion of London as the fashion capital of the world, with trendy Carnaby Street, the Beatles, Rolling Stones and the impact of the music scene on the Capital had made London the city to be in and to be seen in.
In 1973 during the very successful long run of 'Hair' part of the ceiling collapsed overnight and forced closure of the show and the Theatre itself. It was feared that the Theatre might have to close for good and possibly even be demolished, but was saved by listing the structure and the persistent endeavours of the 'Save London Theatres Campaign' who fought long and hard for its survival. The Campaign by Equity was successful in placing the Shaftesbury on the statutory list of buildings of special architectural or historic interest and with the funding in place and security of tenure the Shaftesbury finally re opened in 1974 with a production of 'West Side Story'.
The Shaftesbury Theatre continues to be a popular venue for long running musicals and is centrally located and a popular venue with theatregoers.
Showing: Rock of Ages
Wednesday 31st August 2011 to Saturday 11th February 2012 Shaftesbury Theatre | Performances | Information | Directions | History
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