London Theatres List
London Shows List
Cheapest London Theatre tickets
London Theatre breaks
|
     London Theatre Tickets » List of London Theatres » Vaudeville Theatre » History
Vaudeville Theatre - Information & History
The Vaudeville Theatre is situated on the Strand and first opened its doors on the 16th of April 1870. The current Vaudeville Theatre stands on the same site as the third building. The original Victorian Theatre was designed by C.J. Phipps with an auditorium that had a capacity of 1000 made up of Stalls, Pit stalls, Dress Circle, Upper Circle and Gallery.
The Vaudeville Theatre opened with a comedy called 'For Love or Money' by Andrew Halliday. Particular attention was paid to the interior of this pretty little theatre with C.J. Phipps being very concerned that the Vaudeville was going to be different from the traditions of Victorian theatre design. The end result is a well ventilated, well lit theatre, with ease of access for patrons and a comfortable auditorium which is not over done with gilt mouldings and draperies.
The national theatre magazine review of the day, The ERA, made the comment of the Vaudeville Theatre as being an elegant little theatre on the site of the old Bentinck Club with a quaint little façade, made up of two house frontages number 403 and 404 the Strand, which were retained during the construction of the theatre behind them.
The main entrance was on the Strand into a spacious hall. The pit stalls were approached by a separate corridor and the Gallery was accessed in adjacent Lumley court. The original plan and layout was both elegant and innovative under the watchful eye of C.J. Phipps, with features including the interior design by George Gordon with flat walls and ceilings and less ornamentation, with the general character being Romanesque.
The second reincarnation took place in 1891, only 21 years after the Vaudeville first opened. This redesigned theatre was also created by C.J. Phipps with a reduced seating capacity to 740. The entire frontage was replaced with a traditional styled front away from the quaint original twin houses façade. The refurbished theatre opened on the 13th of January 1891 with a play called 'The Note of Hand' by Herbert Keith. The walls of the staircases were decorated with oriental Japanese decorative leather paper in gold and red, whilst the floors were laid with marble to produce a cooling effect in the summer, and there was a geometric designed plaster ceiling.
The private rooms were removed along with the side corridors and a more generous spacing of the seating to admit audience members with easy passing between the rows was created. This, along with a change in upholstery, all led to a reduction in the capacity to 740 from the previous 1000, but made the second theatre a more relaxed theatre, with a more open feel to the auditorium.
The third and final reconstruction of the Vaudeville Theatre to what stands today took place in 1926 when the auditorium was completely gutted and re built by Bovis Ltd. under the direction of designer Robert Atkinson. The roof was actually raised and even the basement excavated and lowered, as well as a new stage to create a completely new Vaudeville Theatre. Built on 3 levels instead of the previous 4 smaller levels, the third and new Vaudeville Theatre consisted of Stalls, Dress Circle and Upper Circle and had an even smaller seating capacity of 650. This has recently been increased in 2006 to 690. The façade of the second theatre was retained within this final reconstruction.
The Vaudeville Theatre has been home to a number of success stories and is still going strong today. During its early years the Vaudeville staged mainly revues and musicals, with one such musical 'Salad Days' running for a staggering 2,329 performances, currently one of its longest running productions. Others include Willy Russell's 'Shirley Valentine' starring Pauline Collins, which was made into a Movie of the same name and actress, and Arnolds Wesler's 'Chips with Everything'. The Vaudeville Theatre is still enjoying success and plenty of audiences are enjoying this elegant little theatre on the Strand.
Vaudeville Theatre | Performances | Information | Directions | History
|
|
