New London Theatre

The New London Theatre is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden.Contents.

History

The modern theatre is built on the site of previous taverns and music hall theatres, where a place of entertainment has been located site since Elizabethan times. Nell Gwynn was associated with the tavern, which became known as the Great Mogul by the end of the 17th century, and presented entertainments in an adjoining hall, including "glee clubs" and "sing-songs". The Mogul Saloon was built on the site in 1847, which was sometimes known as the "Turkish Saloon or the "Mogul Music Hall." In 1851, it became the Middlesex Music Hall, known as The Old Mo. This in turn was rebuilt as the New Middlesex Theatre of Varieties, in 1911 by Frank Matcham for Oswald Stoll.

In 1919, the theatre was sold to George Grossmith, Jr. and Edward Laurillard, refurbished and reopened as the Winter Garden Theatre. They produced Kissing Time (1919, with a book by P. G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton and music by Ivan Caryll), followed by A Night Out (1920; book by Arthur Miller, music by Willie Redstone and lyrics by Clifford Grey), both starring Stanley Holloway. Grossmith and Laurillard also became managers of the Apollo Theatre in 1920. But expanding their operation caused Grossmith and Laurillard to end their partnership, with Grossmith retaining control of the Winter Garden.

Grossmith then partnered with George Edwardes's former associate, Pat Malone, to produce a series of mostly adaptations of imported shows at the Winter Garden between 1920 and 1926: Sally (1921), The Cabaret Girl (1922, with book by Wodehouse and music by Jerome Kern, The Beauty Prize (1923, with Wodehouse and Kern), a revival of Tonight's the Night (1923), Primrose (1924, with music by George Gershwin), Tell Me More (1925, with words by Thompson and music by George Gershwin) and Kid Boots (1926 with music by Harry Tierney), many of them featuring Leslie Henson. Grossmith co-wrote some of the Winter Garden pieces, directed many of his own productions and starred in several, notably as Otis in Sally. Several of the later productions lost money, and Grossmith and Malone ended the partnership.

The Vagabond King was produced at the theatre in 1927, and in 1929, Fred and Adele Astaire starred in Funny Face. In 1930, Sophie Tucker played in the Vivian Ellis musical Follow a Star, and in 1923, Gracie Fields appeared here in Walk This Way. In 1933, the theatre hosted Lewis Casson in George Bernard Shaw's On the Rocks, followed in 1935 by Love on the Dole, starring Wendy Hiller. The theatre closed in the late 1930s, reopening in 1942. In 1945, it hosted a Donald Wolfit season, and in 1953, Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution played. 1956 saw The Water Gypsies by Vivian Ellis and A P Herbert; Hotel Paradiso starring Alec Guinness, Douglas Byng, Irene Worth and Billie Whitelaw; and Tyrone Power starred in Shaw's The Devil Disciple. 1958 included The Iceman Cometh.

The theatre closed permanently in 1959 when it was sold by the Rank Organisation to a developer. It was then gutted and remained vacant until 1965 to be replaced in 1973 by the current building.

New London

Designed by Paul Tvrtkovic and seating 960 on 2 levels, the theatre's auditorium first opened with a television recording of Marlene Dietrich's one-woman show. The theatre officially opened on January 2, 1973 with a production of The Unknown Soldier and His Wife starring Peter Ustinov. It then hosted Grease, starring Richard Gere as Danny. Beginning in 1977, the theatre was used as a television studio for several years and then returned to use as a theatre. The theatre's biggest hit was the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Trevor Nunn musical Cats, choreographed by Gillian Lynne which premièred in the theatre on 11 May 1981. Closing in 2002, this production became the longest running musical in West End history.

The theatre also hosted the 1977 BBC Sports Personality of the Year and the Masters snooker between 1976 and 1978. Also in 1977, the theatre hosted the BBC's A Song For Europe contest, the preliminary heat to choose the UK entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. However, the show was blacked out on TV due to a last minute strike by technicians. Another great fact, the famous video clip for the song We Are The Champions by the band Queen was shot there on October 1977, which followed a minor 70-min. concert.

Between 2003 and 2005 the theatre hosted Bill Kenwright's revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. This closed after a two and a half year run on 3 September 2005. Most recently, the venue played host to the London transfer of the off-Broadway production, Blue Man Group, which closed in June 2007, to make way for the Royal Shakespeare Company's repertory productions of The Seagull and King Lear, starring Ian McKellen. In Spring 2008, a new musical adaptation of Gone With The Wind ran for only two month. New musical Imagine This closed after only being open for one month. The current production is a transfer of the National Theatre's War Horse. The theatre has been owned since 1991 by Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Theatres. The theatre building also contains an underground car park, a cabaret venue, a basement nightclub, shops and a residential tower. In November 2007, Really Useful Theatres Ltd announced that the New London is to be put up for sale and they are now inviting offers. The RSC confirmed in a January issue of The Stage, that they would not buy the theatre as they are concentrating on refurbishment of their existing venues in Stratford-upon-Avon.

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

Andrew Lloyd Webber's romantic musical masterpiece is based on Gaston Leroux's gothic novel of life beneath the stage of the Paris Opera House where The Phantom reigns. Hideously deformed, he passes his time terrorizing the members of the Opera until he falls in love with Christine Daae, a chorus girl who he teaches to sing the 'Music of the Night'. 

Christine, believing  the phantom to be the 'Angel of Music' sent by her dead father, is transformed to sing centre stage after Senora Carlotta refuses to perform.  She is a sensation and the audience want more, but the new owners of the Paris Opera House insist that Carlotta returns to the lead role, enraging the Phantom with deadly consequences.  In the midst of this turmoil Christine's moment in the spotlight reunites her with Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny, a childhood friend, and they fall hopelessly in love the moment he hears her spellbinding voice.

Rejected all his life, The Phantom is a gifted man that uses music as his utlimate emotional expression.  He fights for her love after hearing Raoul and Christine express their undying love for each other on the roof of Paris Opera House.  The outcome exposes the nature of the masquerade that everyone performs to disguise their inner self, only truly being set free when that mask is dropped.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's masterpiece has been running on the stage of Her Majesty's Theatre London for over 21 years.  It combines a quality of music genius with a strength of storyline and use of breathtaking theatrical effects that have enthralled audiences across generations.  

Audience:  The Phantom of the Opera is recommended for children aged 8 and older.  Children under 4 years of age will not be admitted to Her Majesty's Theatre.

Run time:  Two hours 30 mins. (15 minute intermission)

THE LION KING

With a cast of over 40 actors, singers and dancers, the story of THE LION KING is miraculously brought to life using masks, puppets and striking costumes to tell the story of young Simba's epic adventures as he struggles to accept the responsibilities of adulthood and becoming king.

The stunning simplicity of THE LION KING is the work of a team of designers who draw on diverse cultural influences to recreate the rich colours and vast expanses of the African savanna in this daring and inspiring reinvention of one of the most successful animated films of all time.

Directed and designed by Tony Award winner Julie Taymor, THE LION KING fills the theater with sights and sounds of one of Broadways most imaginative new talents - all to bring new life to Disneys crowd pleasing story of a young princes adventure-filled journey to adulthood - and the throne.

Audience: The Lion King is suitable for children aged over 5.   Children under 3 years of age will not be admitted into the Lyceum Theatre.  Customers should also be aware that strobe lighting is used several times during the performance.

Children aged three years and older are admitted providing they can sit in their seats and not to be a distraction for other members of the audience.  Everyone must have a valid ticket. Accompanying adults will be asked to remove any noisy children.

Run Time: Two hours 40 minutes (15 minute intermission)

New London Theatre

Although this site has been an entertainment venue since at least the mid-19th century, the New London Theatre only opened its doors in 1973, making it one of the West End's newest theatres. The building is sleek and impressive, with a stunning mirrored facade. The amphitheatre was designed along the hyper-modern lines of post-war continental theatres. Stage, seats, lights, even the walls, can all be made to change their position. This allows directors to choose between conventional and in the round productions, as well as any number of different sizes and shapes for their stages.In practice, this wealth of choice rather bamboozled directors and it was nearly a decade before this revolutionary space had a major hit. When that hit arrived, however, it was to be the longest-running musical London has ever seen. Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats ran from 1981-2002 - an incredible 3,385 performances. The spectacular junkyard set, with aisles running through the audience, was only made possible by this uniquely versatile theatre.

Savoy Theatre

    This elegant Art Deco theatre opened in 1881, financed by Richard d'Oyly Carte, who had banked a fortune from Gilbert and Sullivan's operettas. The Savoy Theatre was originally meant to be a showcase for opera, but it was not a success. In the 1950s onwards, the Savoy did much better with Agatha Christie's The Spiders Web and Alibi For A Judge. Recent hits have include a revival of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit.

Vaudeville Theatre

 Designed by CJ Phipps, the Vaudeville is the third theatre to be built on this site. The current Vaudeville opened on 23rd February 1926 with a revue called RSVP. One of the theatre's major successes was in 1954 with the musical 'Salad Days', starring Julian Slade and Deborah Reynolds. Since its opening, the Vaudeville has presented a wide range of shows, from comedy (Blithe Spirit, Dead Funny, An Evening with Gary Lineker) through melodrama (The Invisible Man) and history (Portrait of A Queen).