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London Palladium

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London Palladium
Corinthian Bazaar
National Skating Palace
The Palladium
The London Palladium in 2004, with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang posters
Map
AddressArgyll Street
Westminster, London
OwnerReally Useful Theatres
DesignationGrade II* listed
TypeWest End theatre
Capacity2,286
ProductionThe Wizard of Oz (2011 musical)
Construction
OpenedDecember 26, 1910
Years active1910 - Present
ArchitectFrank Matcham
Website
http://www.rutheatres.com/venueinfo/pal.htm

The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety shows.

Building

Walter Gibbons, an early moving pictures manager, built the Palladium in 1910 to compete with Edward Moss's London Hippodrome and Oswald Stoll's London Coliseum. The facade (originally that of Argyll House, which is why the pub opposite is called The Argyll Arms) dates back to the 19th century. Formerly it was a temporary wooden building called Corinthian Bazaar, which featured an aviary and aimed to attract customers from the recently closed Pantheon Bazaar (now Marks and Spencers) on Oxford Street. The theatre was rebuilt a year later by Fredrick Hengler, the son of a tightrope walker, as a circus venue that included an aquatic display in a flooded ring. Next it became the National Skating Palace - a skating rink with real ice. However the rink failed and the Palladium was redesigned by Frank Matcham, a famous theatrical architect who also designed the Coliseum, for a site that previously housed Hengler’s Circus. The building now carries Heritage Foundation commemorative plaques honouring Lew Grade and Frankie Vaughan.

The theatre retains many of its original features and was Grade II* listed by English Heritage in September 1960.[1] The Palladium had its own telephone system so the occupants of boxes could call one another. It also had a revolving stage.

History

Pre-war

The theatre started out as The Palladium, a premier venue for variety performances. In 1926, the pantomime starred Lennie Dean as Cinderella, footage of which remains to this day. It is especially linked to the Royal Variety Performances, where many were, and still are, held. From 1928 it was managed by George Black and was even a cinema for three months. During the 1930s became the regular home for The Crazy Gang. The ‘London’ part of the name was added in 1934. Black controlled the large Moss Empires group of theatres. Responsible for bookings at the London Palladium was Val Parnell.

The Val Parnell era

Val Parnell took over as Managing Director in 1945. He adopted a controversial, but very successful, policy of presenting high-priced big-name American acts at the top of the bill. Among many, the list included Judy Garland, Sophie Tucker, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, the Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen and his orchestra, Bob Hope, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Frankie Laine, and Johnnie Ray, freezing out British stars of the day, who were relegated to second-billing.

From 1955-67 the theatre was the setting for the top-rated ITV variety show Sunday Night at the London Palladium hosted first by Tommy Trinder, then by Bruce Forsyth. The programme was broadcast live every week by ATV, which was owned by the famous theatrical impresario Lew Grade. Production was by Val Parnell. Six programmes aired as special episodes in the United States between May through August 1966 on NBC.[2]

Val Parnell became associated with a property development company and began to sell Moss Empires' theatres for redevelopment. When it became known in 1966 that this fate awaited the London Palladium, The Victoria Palace and even the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, Prince Littler organised a take-over to save the theatres and Val Parnell retired to live in France. The new Managing Director of Stoll-Moss was Louis Benjamin, who took on the role while continuing as MD of Pye Records within the ATV Group.

In 1968, Sammy Davis, Jr. starred in Golden Boy, the first book musical to be produced in the venue.[3]

In 1970, the Palladium attempted to get Elvis Presley to perform 14 shows over a period of 7 days. When Presley's manager, Tom Parker heard that the theatre was offering Presley 28,000 dollars, he reportedly said "That's fine for me, now how much can you get for Elvis?" Had Presley performed, it would have been his first overseas performance. Presley never performed outside of North America.

Post-Parnell

In January 1973, glam rock band Slade played a gig in the theatre which resulted in the venue's balcony nearly collapsing. In 1976 Marvin Gaye recorded a live concert at the venue. The performance documented on the resulting double LP, entitled Live at the London Palladium and released in 1977, is considered one of Gaye's finest live recordings. It included his number one hit "Got to Give It Up".

In the late 1980s the Palladium was once again the setting for the popular ITV1 variety show, Live From the Palladium, compered by Jimmy Tarbuck.

During this time, the theatre was under the ownership of the Stoll Moss Theatres Group, and the management of both Margaret and David Locke, who both were major shareholders of Stoll Moss at the time.

In 1988, the Edinburgh Gang Show appeared as part of the British Musical Hall Society's Silver Jubilee.

Really Useful era

In 2000, ownership of the theatre changed once again when it was acquired by Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group.

From 3 May 2000 to 5 January 2002, the Palladium played The King and I starring Elaine Paige and Jason Scott Lee. This production was a West End transfer of the hugely successful 1996 Broadway production. Before the opening, the box office had already taken in excess of £7 million in ticket sales. This version of the show was a lavish affair, with new dialogue and music added, while the original material was updated. During the run, Josie Lawrence played the role of Anna and Paul Nakauchi and Keo Woolford played the role of the King, respectively. After the production closed, the famous (but outdated) revolving stage was removed to make way for more modern technology.

From April 2002 to 4 September 2005, the Palladium played host to a theatrical version of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with songscore by the Sherman Brothers as a successor to The King & I. Throughout its three and a half year run at the venue, the production starred many celebrities (see below). This show proved to be the most successful show to date, in the theatre's long history and reunited, 50 years later, the show's choreographer Gillian Lynne with the theatre in which she appeared as the Palladium's Star Dancer during the early 50s.

On November 1, 2004 and November 22, 2004, singer-songwriter Jackson Browne performed two concerts during his solo acoustic tour.

For Christmas 2005-06, the venue staged Bill Kenwright's production of Scrooge - The Musical which closed on 14 January 2006. The show starred Tommy Steele, making a return to the Palladium. From February 2006, the theatre played host to a new musical production entitled Sinatra At The London Palladium, which featured a live band, large screen projections and dancers performing Frank Sinatra's greatest hits.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Ian's new production of The Sound of Music opened at the Palladium in November 2006. The production ran for just over two years, before closing on 21 February 2009. The production starred Connie Fisher and Summer Strallen as Maria, Simon Shepherd, Alexander Hanson and Simon MacCorkindale as Captain Von Trapp and Lesley Garrett and Margaret Preece as the Mother Abbess.

A new production of Sister Act the Musical opened on 2 June 2009. This production stars Patina Miller as Deloris, Sheila Hancock as Mother Superior, Ian Lavender as Monsignor Howard, Chris Jarman as Shank, Ako Mitchell as Eddie, Katie Rowley Jones as Sister Mary Robert, Claire Greenway as Sister Mary Patrick and Julia Sutton as Sister Mary Lazarus..

Rufus Wainwright held two sold out Judy Garland tribute concerts at the theatre on 18 and 25 February 2007.

On 20 May 2007 the London Palladium was also the setting for the 2007 BAFTA awards, which were broadcast on BBC television, and in 2010 the BAFTA Television Awards returned to the Palladium.[4]

Whilst the Theatre has a resident show, it is still able to have one off shows; this is enabled by the scenery of the resident show being designed to be easily removed. For example the set of Sister Act was able to be completely above the stage out of view in an area called the Fly Loft

The London Palladium turned 100 years old on Boxing Day 2010, and a one-hour television special entitled '100 Years of the Palladium' aired on BBC Two on December 31, 2010.

Recent and present productions

References

  1. ^ London Palladium - Detailed Record Image of England; accessed 28 April 2007
  2. ^ Terrace, Vincent (1980). Complete Encyclopedia of Television Programs (1947-1979). South Brunswick and New York. p. 269. ISBN 0498024881.
  3. ^ Sound of Music[dead link]
  4. ^ Ant and Dec win first Bafta ITN, 7 June 2010
  5. ^ http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/sinatra-rev.htm
  6. ^ London's Wizard of Oz Now On Sale Through January 2012; Cast Album to Be Released May 9
  • Guide to British Theatres 1750-1950, John Earl and Michael Sell pp. 122-3 (Theatres Trust, 2000) ISBN 0-7136-5688-3
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