Shaftesbury Theatre London
Shaftesbury Theatre
210 Shaftesbury Avenue
London
WC2H 8DP
Directions
Take the Northern or Central Line to Tottenham Court road and exit onto New Oxford street. The theatre is approximately 10 minutes walk.
Access
Infra Red
Wheelchair access
Disabled Toilets
Air Conditioned
Map
The present day Shaftesbury Theatre, Holborn was original built as the New Princes Theatre and was designed by Bertie Crewe for the brothers Walter and Frederick Melville.
The theatre opened on the 26th December 1911 with a production of The Three Musketeers. It had a capacity of 2,392 and a stage 31ft 10in wide by 31ft deep. In 1914 the theatre dropped New from it’s name to become the Prince’s Theatre. The Prince’s was the last theatre to be built in Shaftesbury Avenue.
It had considerable success with an 18 week season of Gilbert and Sullivan, in 1919. These became a regular attraction at the theatre, interspersed with runs of theatre productions transferred from other venues. Basil Rathbone appeared at the Prince’s Theatre in May 1933 when he played Julian Beauclerc in a revival of Diplomacy.
The theatre was sold to EMI in 1962, and was renamed again to the Shaftesbury Theatre the following year which it still is today.
Part of the ceiling fell in on 20 July 1973, forcing the closure of the long-running musical Hair, after 1,998 performances. The Theatre looked like it was to be closed for good and demolished but was saved by listing and the endeavors of the Save London’s Theatres Campaign who fought long and hard for its survival.
The theatre reopened with West Side Story a year later. During the redevelopment of the Royal Opera House in nearby Covent Garden in the late 1990s the theatre was booked as an alternative London venue for performances including Benjamin Britten’s Paul Bunyan.
The venue is currently owned by The Theatre of Comedy Company, who have owned the venue for the past two decades.
In March 2006, the 1,400 seat theatre underwent a large refurbishment, with the entire stalls and dress circle being reseated, redecorated and the front of house areas refurbished. Between the 1st May and 1st September 2007, it played host to a reworked revival production of Fame: the Musical to fill the summer gap, prior to the European premiere of the Tony Award-winning Broadway smash Hairspray: the Musical in October 2007.
Address
Shaftesbury Theatre
210 Shaftesbury Ave,
London,
WC2H 8DP
Directions
Take the Northern or Central Line to Tottenham Court road and exit onto New Oxford street. The theatre is approximately 10 minutes walk.
Air-Conditioned: Yes
Disclaimer:
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