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     London Theatre Tickets » List of London Theatres » Wyndham's Theatre » History
Wyndham's Theatre - Information & History
The Wyndham Theatre is situated on Charring Cross Road and is one of 2 theatres created and opened by the Actor Charles Wyndham. The Wyndham theatre had a seating capacity of 759 and was designed by the then famous theatre architect W.G.R. Sprague, who was responsible for 6 other theatres. The Wyndham Theatre is a fine example of Victorian theatre design which includes a fine example of Louis XVI's interior and the glorious painting was restored during the late 1970's. The Wyndham Theatre first opened its doors on the 16th of November 1899.
Charles Wyndham had dreamed of building his very own theatre and because of his theatrical passion and determination he was able to fulfil his dream with the financial backing of friends and, in particular, from his wife to be Mary Moore who had wealthy connections and managed to convince 10 wealthy friends to invest in the dream. The Wyndham Theatre opened its doors with a revival of 'David Garrick' with Charles Wyndham and his wife to be Mary Moore playing the lead roles. The performance was in the presence of the Prince of Wales and was a resounding success. Charles made a generous donation of around £4,000 to the British Soldier's Wives War Fund from the opening night's profits.
1910 saw the close association of Gerald du Maurier with the Wyndham Theatre, a marriage which lasted for 15 years, which included the stage debut of Tallulah Bankhead who later became a screen idol of the moving pictures.
1930 saw the acquisition of the lease of the Wyndham Theatre by the then famous thriller writer Edgar Wallace, who's productions of 'The Ringer' and 'The Calendar' were extremely successful. Wallace's love of the stage led him to take a flat about the theatre so he could absorb the atmosphere and write more plays for the theatre until his premature death in 1932.
1936 saw Noel Coward's production of 'Mademoiselle' at the Wyndham which included the very young budding actress Greer Garson.
There was a compulsory closure of the theatre in September 1939 with the outbreak of the Second World War. The Wyndham stayed closed for a short period, but was the first West End Theatre to open offering a revue to provide some light relief to the 'blitz' depression. The Wyndham Theatre opened with a production by Herbert Farjeon, who brought together Edith Evans, Bernard Miles, Joyce Grenfell and Peter Ustinov. Following the war, Edith Evans was said to have given a performance of her life starring in James Bridies' comedy 'Daphne Laureola' in which she was drinking large brandies at such a rate it amazed the audience and other performers alike.
A successful musical play 'The Boy Friend' opened in 1954 and ran for 2078 performances. It ran for over five years to become one of the longest running musicals ever on the British stage at that time. The production finally transferred across the Atlantic to New York's Broadway. During the sixties, the Wyndham Theatre was host to famous actors and actresses including Vanessa Redgrave in 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie', Diana Rigg and Alec Guinness in a production of 'The Cocktail Party', that Guinness also directed and John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson in a production of Harold Pinter's 'No Man's Land', to name a few.
The musical religious blockbuster 'Godspell' arrived at the Wyndham Theatre in 1972 and ran for 2 years, including stage debut performances from the singer heart throb David Essex and Jeremy Irons, with Marti Webb and Julie Covington.
The Wyndham Theatre staged the world premiere of 'The Ride Down Mount Morgan' by Arthur Miller and Edward Albee's 'Three Tall Women', starring Maggie Smith. In 1996 the Wyndham Theatre hosted Yasmina Reza's comedy called 'Art', which included world class actors Tom Courtney, Albert Finney and Ken Stott. Opening in October 1996, it ran until October 2001, when it transferred to the Whitehall Theatre.
Another world class singer and pop idol 'Madonna' made her first West End Theatre debut at the Wyndham theatre in 2002 performing a sell out production of 'Up for Grabs'. Many other success stories have continued to be staged at the Wyndham Theatre, including productions such as 'Dinner', 'Democracy', 'By The Bog of Cats' and 'The Witches', the children's stage production by Ruby Wax. There was also a season of Eve Ensler's 'The Vagina Monologues', which had to run minus its booked stars Sharon and Aimee Osbourne who decided to drop out at the last minute.
One famous disaster was Michael Barrymore's comeback at the Wyndham Theatre, which was scheduled to run for 7 weeks. Unfortunately it opened in September 2003 for one preview night and was forced to close the next day.
The Wyndham Theatre was taken over by Cameron Mackintosh's Delfont-Mackintosh Ltd. in October 2005.
Wyndham's Theatre | Performances | Information | Directions | History
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