West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's "Theatreland", the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London.

Total attendances first surpassed 12 million in 2002 and 13 million in 2007, setting a new record for the West End. Since the late 1990s there has been an increase in the number of famous screen actors on the London stage.

History

Further information: English Renaissance theatre

The Theatre in London flourished after the English Reformation. The first permanent public playhouse, known simply as The Theatre, was constructed in 1576 in Shoreditch by James Burbage. It was soon joined by The Curtain. Both are known to have been used by William Shakespeare's company. In 1599, the timber from The Theatre was moved to Southwark, where it was used in building the Globe Theatre in a new theatre district formed, beyond the controls of the City corporation. These theatres were closed in 1642 due to the Puritans who would later influence the interregnum of 1649.

Further information: Restoration comedy and Restoration spectacular

After the Restoration (1660), two companies were licensed to perform, the Duke's Company and the King's Company. Performances were held in converted buildings, such as Lisle's Tennis Court. The first West End theatre, known as Theatre Royal in Bridges Street, was designed by Thomas Killigrew and built on the site of the present Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. It opened on 7 May 1663 and was destroyed by a fire nine years later. It was replaced by a new structure designed by Christopher Wren and renamed the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

Outside the West End, Sadler's Wells Theatre opened in Islington on 3 June 1683. Taking its name from founder Richard Sadler and monastic springs that were discovered on the property, it operated as a "Musick House", with performances of opera; as it was not licensed for plays. In the West End, the Haymarket Theatre opened on 29 December 1720 on a site slightly north of its current location, and the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden opened in Covent Garden on 7 December 1732.

The Patent theatre companies retained their duopoly on drama well into the 19th century, and all other theatres could perform only musical entertainments. By the early 19th century, however, music hall entertainments became popular, and presenters found a loophole in the restrictions on non-patent theatres in the genre of melodrama. Melodrama did not break the Patent Acts, as it was accompanied by music. Initially, these entertainments were presented in large halls, attached to public houses, but purpose-built theatres began to in the East End at Shoreditch and Whitechapel.

The West End theatre district became established with the opening of many small theatres and halls, including the Adelphi in The Strand on 17 November 1806. South of the River Thames, the Old Vic, Waterloo Road, opened on 11 May 1818. The expansion of the West End theatre district gained pace with the Theatres Act 1843; which relaxed the conditions for the performance of plays, and The Strand gained another venue when the Vaudeville opened on 16 April 1870. The next few decades saw the opening of many new theatres in the West End. The Criterion Theatre opened on Piccadilly Circus on 21 March 1874, and in 1881, two more houses appeared: the Savoy Theatre in The Strand, built by Richard D'Oyly Carte specifically to showcase the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan, opened on 10 October (the first theatre to be lit by cooler, cleaner electric lights), and five days later the Comedy Theatre opened as the Royal Comedy Theatre on Panton Street in Leicester Square. It abbreviated its name three years later. The theatre building boom continued until about World War I.

Among the noted performers who began their careers in the early days of West End theatre are Robert William Elliston, John Liston, Nell Gwynne, Lennie Dean and later Henry Irving, Ellen Terry, John Lawrence Toole, Nellie Farren, Marie Tempest, Seymour Hicks, Ellaline Terriss, and Marie Brema.

The London Opera Glass Company was founded in 1913 and has provided operas glasses for many West End theatres.

During the 1950s and 1960s, many plays were produced in theatre clubs, in order to evade the censorship then exercised by the Lord Chamberlain's Office. The Theatres Act 1968 finally abolished censorship of the stage in the United Kingdom.

Since the 1990s, there has been a growing tendency for film actors to play in West End productions.

Theatreland

The Lyceum Theatre, home to Disney's The Lion King.

"Theatreland", London's main theatre district, which contains approximately forty venues, is located in the heart of the West End of central London, and is traditionally defined by The Strand to the south, Oxford Street to the north, Regent Street to the west, and Kingsway to the east. Prominent theatre streets include Drury Lane, Shaftesbury Avenue, and The Strand. The works staged are predominantly musicals, classic or middle-brow plays, and comedy performances.

Beyond the West End are the Royal National Theatre and Old Vic, in Southwark; and the Barbican Theatre, in the City of London. London also has many smaller theatres, both around the West End and its periphery.

Many theatres in the West End are of late Victorian or Edwardian construction and are privately owned. The majority of them have great character, and the largest and best maintained feature grand neo-classical, Romanesque, or Victorian façades and luxurious, detailed interior design and decoration. On the other hand, leg room is often cramped, and audience facilities such as bars and toilets are often much smaller than in modern theatres. The protected status of the buildings and their confined urban locations, combined with financial constraints, make it very difficult to make substantial improvements to the level of comfort offered. In 2004, it was estimated that an investment of £250 million was required for modernisation, and the theatre owners unsuccessfully requested tax concessions to help them meet the costs.

In 2012 Gross sales of £529,787,692 were up 0.27% and attendances also increased 0.56% to 13,992,773 year-on-year

Long-running shows

The length of West End shows depend on ticket sales. Musicals tend to have longer runs than dramas. The longest-running musical in West End history is Les Misérables. It overtook Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, which closed in 2002 after running for 8,949 performances and 21 years, as the longest-running West End musical of all time on 8 October 2006. Other long-runners include Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera and Willy Russell's Blood Brothers which have also subsequently overtaken Cats. However the non-musical Agatha Christie play The Mousetrap is the longest-running show in the world, and has been showing since 1952.

The St Martin's Theatre, home to The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the world.

• The Mousetrap – opened 25 November 1952 at the Ambassadors Theatre, now playing at the St Martin's Theatre – 60th year
• Les Misérables – opened 8 October 1985 at the Palace Theatre, now playing at the Queen's Theatre – 27th year
• The Phantom of the Opera – opened 9 October 1986 at Her Majesty's Theatre – 26th year
• Blood Brothers – opened 27 August 1988 at the Albery Theatre, later transferring to the Phoenix Theatre and closed on 10 November 2012 – 24 years
• The Woman in Black – opened 15 February 1989 at the Strand Theatre, later moving to the Fortune Theatre opening on the 7 June 1989 – 24th year
• Cats – opened 11 May 1981 at the New London Theatre and closed 11 May 2002 on its 21st anniversary
• Starlight Express – opened 27 March 1984 at the Apollo Victoria Theatre and closed 12 January 2002 – 17 years
• No Sex Please, We're British – opened 3 June 1971 at the Strand Theatre and closed 16 January 1987 – 16 years
• Chicago – opened 18 November 1997 at the Adelphi Theatre, transferring later to the Cambridge Theatre and the Garrick Theatre and closed 1 September 2012 – 15 years
• Mamma Mia! – opened 6 April 1999 at the Prince Edward Theatre, moving later to the Prince of Wales Theatre and now at the Novello Theatre – 14th year
• The Lion King – opened 19 October 1999 at the Lyceum Theatre – 13th year
• Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story – opened 12 October 1989 at the Victoria Palace Theatre, transferred to the Strand Theatre in October 1995 and closed 19 May 2002 – 12 years
• We Will Rock You – opened 14 May 2002 at the Dominion Theatre – 11th year
• Stomp – opened 25 September 2002 at the Vaudeville Theatre, later transferring to the Ambassadors Theatre opening on 27 September 2007 – 10th year
• The Black and White Minstrel Show – opened in 1962 at the Victoria Palace Theatre and closed about 1972 – 10 years
• Miss Saigon – opened 20 September 1989 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and closed 30 October 1999 – 10 years
• Jesus Christ Superstar – opened 9 August 1972 at the Palace Theatre and closed about 1980 – 8 years
• Me and My Girl (revival) – opened 12 February 1985 at the Adelphi Theatre and closed 16 January 1993 – 8 years
• Billy Elliot the Musical – opened 11 May 2005 at the Victoria Palace Theatre – 8th year
• Evita – opened 21 January 1978 at the Prince Edward Theatre and closed on 8 February 1986 – 7 years
• There's a Girl in My Soup – opened June 1966 at the Globe Theatre. Closed in 1973 after over a thousand performances – 6½ years
• The 39 Steps – opened 20 September 2006 at the Criterion Theatre – 6th year
• Wicked – opened 27 September 2006 at the Apollo Victoria Theatre – 6th year
• Oliver! – opened 30 June 1960 at the New Theatre (now the Noël Coward Theatre) and closed about 1966 – 6 years
• Jersey Boys – opened 18 March 2008 at the Prince Edward Theatre – 5th year

List of West End theatres

• If no show is currently running, the play listed is the next show planned (dates marked with an *)
• If the next show planned is not announced, the applicable columns are left blank

Theatre	Current show	Classification	Capacity	Opening date	Closing date
Adelphi Theatre	The Bodyguard	Musical	1500	2012-12-055 December 2012	Open-ended
Aldwych Theatre	Top Hat	Musical	1176	2012-05-099 May 2012	Open-ended
Ambassadors Theatre	Stomp	Physical Theatre	450	2007-10-044 October 2007	Open-ended
Apollo Theatre	The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time	Play	775	2013-03-1212 March 2013	Open-ended
Apollo Victoria Theatre	Wicked	Musical	2500	2006-09-2727 September 2006	Open-ended
Arts Theatre	Beautiful Thing	Play	350	2013-04-1717 April 2013	2013-05-2525 May 2013
Cambridge Theatre	Matilda the Musical	Musical	1283	2011-11-2424 November 2011	Open-ended
Criterion Theatre	The 39 Steps	Play	591	2006-09-2020 September 2006	Open-ended
Dominion Theatre	We Will Rock You	Musical	2001	2002-05-1414 May 2002	Open-ended
Duchess Theatre	Untold Stories	Play	482	2013-04-022 April 2013	2013-06-1515 June 2013
Duke of York's Theatre	Passion Play	Play	650	2013-05-077 May 2013	2013-08-033 August 2013
Fortune Theatre	The Woman in Black	Play	440	1989-06-077 June 1989	Open-ended
Garrick Theatre	Rock of Ages	Musical	656	2013-01-1818 January 2013	Open-ended
Gielgud Theatre	The Audience	Play	889	2013-03-055 March 2013	2013-06-1515 June 2013
Harold Pinter Theatre	Merrily We Roll Along	Musical	796	2013-05-011 May 2013	2013-07-2727 July 2013
Her Majesty's Theatre	The Phantom of the Opera	Musical	1161	1986-10-099 October 1986	Open-ended
London Palladium	A Chorus Line	Musical	2302	2013-02-1919 February 2013	2014-01-1818 January 2014
Lyceum Theatre	The Lion King	Musical	2100	1999-10-1919 October 1999	Open-ended
Lyric Theatre	Thriller - Live	Musical	924	2009-01-2121 January 2009	Open-ended
New London Theatre	War Horse	Play	1108	2009-04-033 April 2009	Open-ended
Noël Coward Theatre	Peter and Alice	Play	872	2013-03-2525 March 2013	2013-06-011 June 2013
Novello Theatre	Mamma Mia!	Musical	1143	2012-09-066 September 2012	Open-ended
Palace Theatre	Singin' in the Rain	Musical	1283	2012-02-1515 February 2012	2013-06-088 June 2013
Phoenix Theatre	Once	Musical	1000	2013-04-099 April 2013	Open-ended
Piccadilly Theatre	Viva Forever!	Musical	1200	2012-12-1111 December 2012	2013-06-2929 June 2013
Playhouse Theatre	Monty Python's Spamalot	Musical	786	2012-11-2020 November 2012	Open-ended
Prince Edward Theatre	Jersey Boys	Musical	1618	2008-03-1818 March 2008	Open-ended
Prince of Wales Theatre	The Book of Mormon	Musical	1160	2013-03-2121 March 2013	Open-ended
Queen's Theatre	Les Misérables	Musical	1099	2004-04-1212 April 2004	Open-ended
Savoy Theatre	Let It Be	Musical	1158	2013-02-011 February 2013	Open-ended
Shaftesbury Theatre	Burn The Floor	Dance	1400	2013-03-1111 March 2013	2013-06-3030 June 2013
St Martin's Theatre	The Mousetrap	Play	550	1974-03-2525 March 1974	Open-ended
Theatre Royal, Haymarket	One Man, Two Guvnors	Play	888	2012-03-022 March 2012	Open-ended
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane	Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the Musical	Musical	2220	2013-06-2525 June 2013*	Open-ended
Trafalgar Studios 1	The Hothouse	Play	380	2013-05-099 May 2013	2013-08-033 August 2013
Trafalgar Studios 2	The Play That Goes Wrong	Play	100	2013-05-033 May 2013	2013-06-011 June 2013
Vaudeville Theatre	The West End Men	Concert	690	2013-06-033 June 2013*	2013-06-2222 June 2013
Victoria Palace Theatre	Billy Elliot the Musical	Musical	1517	2005-05-1111 May 2005	Open-ended
Wyndham's Theatre	Relatively Speaking	Play	750	2013-05-2020 May 2013	2013-08-3131 August 2013

Upcoming productions

Musicals

• The Commitments, Palace Theatre
• Dirty Dancing, Piccadilly Theatre
• From Here to Eternity, Shaftesbury Theatre
• The Golden Voice, Arts Theatre
• I Can't Sing! The X Factor Musical, London Palladium

Plays

• A Doll's House, Duke of York's Theatre
• The Full Monty, Noël Coward Theatre
• Happy New, Trafalgar Studios 2
• The Ladykillers, Vaudeville Theatre
• Fences, Duchess Theatre
• The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Duchess Theatre
• Private Lives, Gielgud Theatre
• Barking in Essex, Wyndham's Theatre
• Henry V, Noël Coward Theatre
• A Midsummer Night's Dream, Noël Coward Theatre
• The Cripple of Inishmaan, Noël Coward Theatre

Performance

• Derren Brown - Infamous, Palace Theatre

London's non-commercial theatres

The exterior of the Old Vic

The term West End Theatre is generally used to refer specifically to commercial productions in Theatreland. However the leading non-commercial theatres in London, such as the Royal National Theatre, the Globe Theatre, the Old Vic, the Young Vic, the Royal Court Theatre, the Hampstead Theatre, the Almeida Theatre, and the Open Air Theatre, most of which are not located in Theatreland, also enjoy great artistic prestige. These theatres stage a higher proportion of more demanding work, including Shakespeare, other classic plays and premieres of new plays by leading highbrow playwrights. Hit plays from the non-commercial theatres sometimes transfer to one of the commercial Theatreland houses for an extended second run.

The Royal Opera House is one of London's most famous theatres and widely regarded as one of the greatest opera houses in the world, comparable with the Palais Garnier, La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera House. Commonly known simply as Covent Garden due to its location, it is unique among West End theatres in many ways, not least in having three resident performance companies, The Royal Ballet, Royal Opera and a resident symphony orchestra. It has three performance spaces (19t-century Main Auditorium, Linbury Theatre and Clore Studio) and hosts guest performances from other leading opera, ballet and performance companies from around the world.

Likewise, the Coliseum Theatre is the resident home to the English National Opera. The theatre is also the London base for performances by the English National Ballet, who perform regular seasons throughout the year when not on tour.

The Peacock Theatre is also located in the Theatreland area. Now owned by the London School of Economics and Political Science, it is sometimes used for dance performances by Sadler's Wells.

Producing houses

While the vast majority of West End theatres are receiving houses (houses that receive productions from elsewhere), there are a number of established producing houses, both within the heart of the West End and in other parts of London. Some of the more famous ones are:

• Almeida Theatre
• Barbican Centre
• Bush Theatre
• Donmar Warehouse
• Hampstead Theatre
• Lyric Hammersmith
• Old Vic
• Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park
• Rose Theatre, Kingston
• Royal Court Theatre
• Royal National Theatre
• Shakespeare's Globe
• Young Vic

Other London theatre

There is a great deal of theatre in London outside of the West End. Much of this is known as fringe theatre which is the equivalent of Off Broadway Theatre in New York. Fringe venues range from well-equipped small theatres to rooms above pubs, and the performances range from classic plays, to cabaret, to plays in the languages of London's ethnic minorities. The performers range from emerging young professionals to amateurs.

There are many theatres located throughout Greater London, staging a wide variety of work, such as the New Wimbledon Theatre, the Ashcroft Theatre in Croydon, and the Churchill Theatre in Bromley.

Awards

There are a number of annual awards for outstanding achievements in London theatre:

• Laurence Olivier Awards
• Evening Standard Awards
• London Critics' Circle Theatre Awards
• National Dance Awards
• West End Cares Awards
• Whatsonstage.com Awards
• West End Frame Awards

See also

• Culture of London
• List of London venues
• List of West End musicals
• List of notable musical theatre productions
• Musical theatre
• Great West End Theatres

External links

• Society of London Theatre – trade body for the London theatre industry