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     London Theatre Tickets » List of London Theatres » Victoria Palace Theatre » History
Victoria Palace Theatre - Information & History
The Victoria Palace Theatre is situated on Victoria Street in the Victoria area of South West London. Originally there used to be a nearby building called the Royal Standard Hotel which was built in 1832 and was used as a small hotel / tavern, with meetings being held in a room above the stables where singing took place.
The owner, a Mr. John Moy, applied for a license in 1840 which permitted singing and dancing in the main building. As the meetings grew and became popular, Moy decided to enlarge the building and began to create a mini Music Hall with entertainment and booked singers to help the audience sing along interspersed with some joke telling.
The building soon became known as Moy's Music Hall until it was renamed the Royal Standard Concert Rooms in 1854. The theatre changed hands in 1863 when Alfred Brown totally refurbished the building and renamed it once more to the Royal Standard Music Hall, where the audience were seated at tables. This new style venue became very popular until the enforced demolition of the building to make way for the new Victoria Railway station in 1886.
The New Royal Standard Music Hall was rebuilt by Richard Wake on its current location. It was enlarged and no expense was spared on decoration and comfort for the public. The auditorium benefited from electricity and the inclusion of a grill restaurant, billiard room and large public bars. The well light interior was both airy and cool even in warm weather providing a pleasant environment. It was eventually sold to Alfred Butt in 1910.
It was during 1910 that London's oldest music hall The Royal Standard Music Hall with all of its internal splendour and facilities was totally demolished to make way for the Victoria Palace Theatre which still stands today. The cost of construction was £12,000 and the Victoria Palace Theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and first opened its doors on the 6th of November 1911.
The design was to combine visitor comfort and an overall degree of simplicity with clean lines and cool marble from Scilly. The installation of an elaborate heating system, a lift and the sliding sections of the auditorium roof meant that the building could be kept pleasantly cool or nice and cosy in the winter with a good circulation of fresh air within the main building area.
The All New Victoria Palace theatre continued to offer a variety of productions including music hall performances, plays, revues and repertory, with one of its longest running musicals 'Me and My Girl', which opened in 1937 and ran for 1046 performances until the outbreak of hostilities of the Second World war in 1939. The same Musical was reopened in 1944 and continued to run to packed houses.
1947 saw the Victoria Palace Theatre taken over by the 'Crazy Gang' with phenomenal success right up to 1962. The theatre then became home to the Black and White Minstrel show which became a British institution and must see TV show on Saturday night, with entertainment of song and dance, which continued to run until 1970.
The Victoria Palace continued with a string of musical productions and plays, including productions of 'Barnum', 'Annie' and 'Buddy' which ran for over 6 years.
The Victoria Palace Theatre has benefited from recent investment on refurbishments which included enlarging the foyer, improving and modernising the toilet facilities, increasing the size of dressing rooms, adding a new bar and the reinstatement of the statue of Anna Pavlova the dancer much adored by Alfred Butt. Butt originally erected the statue on the dome in homage to the ballerina, who did not like the image. In fact she always averted her eyes and pulled down the blinds of her car when she drove past the theatre. The original was taken down at the outset of the Second World War. No-one really knows what happened to it, as it could have been scuttled away and be standing in some remote country garden, or maybe it was sold as scrap for munitions material. The replica statue now stands on its original place gleaming in gold leaf once again over the Victoria Palace Theatre.
The current theatre has a seating capacity of 1550.
Memorable productions time line
1930: The Chelsea Follies, starring Jimmy Nervo and Teddy Knox
1934: Young England, a patriotic play by Walter Reynolds
1937: Me and My Girl, starring Lupino Lane
1947-1962: shows by The Crazy Gang
1962: The Black and White Minstrel Show
1978: Annie
1982: Windy City (based on The Front Page by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur)
1982: The Little Foxes, a drama by Lillian Hellman, starring Elizabeth Taylor in her London stage debut
1986: Charlie Girl, starring Cyd Charisse
1987: High Society (adapted from the 1956 movie, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter), starring Natasha Richardson and Stephen Rea
1989-1995: Buddy (based on the life of Buddy Holly)
2002: Kiss Me, Kate by Cole Porter
2003: Tonight's the Night (based on the songs of Rod Stewart)
2005: Billy Elliot (based on the original screenplay by Lee Hall, with music by Elton John)
Time line extracts from the official website www.victoriapalacetheatre.co.uk
The New Victoria Palace Theatre has retained much of its original character, even more so since the auditorium, front of house, and the dressing rooms have recently been refurbished. The grey marble foyer with its gold mosaic and white Sicilian marble pillars is almost the same as it was in 1911, with the outside façade, canopy and cupola having been lovingly restored.
The theatre is currently managed by Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen.
Victoria Palace Theatre | Performances | Information | Directions | History
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