Prince Edward Theatre
51°30′48.5″N 0°7′50.8″W / 51.513472°N 0.130778°W
The Prince Edward Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Old Compton Street, just north of Leicester Square in the City of Westminster. The theatre was designed in 1930 by Edward Stone, with an interior designed by Marc-Henri Levy and Gaston Laverdet. It opened on April 3 1930 with a performance of the musical Rio Rita. In 1935, it was converted to a dance and cabaret hall, being renamed the "London Casino", and renamed again as the "Queensberry All Services Club" in 1942. After the war, it became the "London Casino" once again and in 1954 was converted to a cinema, reopening as the "Castino Cinerama Theatre".
In 1978, it was converted back to a theatre and given its original name, reopening with the world première of the musical Evita.
With a capacity of 1,618, it is currently showing the stage version of Mary Poppins, which will close on 12 January 2008 following a run of just over three years.
Recent and present productions
- Evita (21 January 1978 - 8 February 1986) by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, starring Elaine Paige and David Essex
- Chess (14 May 1986 - 8 April 1989) by Tim Rice, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Anderson, starring Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson
- Anything Goes (4 July 1989 - 25 August 1990) by Cole Porter, starring Elaine Paige and John Barrowman
- Children of Eden (8 January 1991 - 6 April 1991) by Stephen Schwartz and John Caird
- The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber (14 May 1991 - 25 May 1991), starring Sarah Brightman
- The Hunting of the Snark (24 October 1991 - 14 December 1991) by Mike Batt
- Some Like it Hot (19 March 1992 - 20 June 1992) by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, starring Tommy Steele
- Crazy for You (3 March 1993 - 24 February 1996) by George and Ira Gershwin and Ken Ludwig
- Martin Guerre (10 July 1996 - 28 February 1998) by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil and Stephen Clarke
- Show Boat (28 April 1998 - 19 September 1998) by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II
- West Side Story (6 October 1998 - 9 January 1999) by Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein and Arthur Laurents
- Mamma Mia! (6 April 1999 - 27 May 2004) by Catherine Johnson and Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson.
- Mary Poppins (15 December 2004 - 12 January 2008), starring Laura Michelle Kelly, Scarlett Strallen, Gavin Lee and Gavin Creel
It is widely speculated that the Broadway musical Jersey Boys will open at the Prince Edward from March 2008.
