Peacock Theatre
 Peacock Theatre in 2017 | |
 | |
| Address | Kingsway London,WC2 United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°30′52″N0°07′05″W/ 51.514444°N 0.118056°W |
| Public transit |  Holborn |
| Owner | London School of Economics |
| Capacity | 999 |
| Current use | Also a lecture theatre |
| Production | Sadler's Wellsproductions in repertory |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 13 November 1911 |
| Rebuilt | 1960 |
| Architect | Bertie Crewe |
| Website | |
| http:// peacocktheatre | |
ThePeacock Theatre(previously theRoyalty Theatre) is aWest End theatrein theCity of Westminster,located in Portugal Street, nearAldwych.The 999-seat house is owned by, and comprises part of theLondon School of Economics and Political Sciencecampus, who use the theatre for lectures, public talks, conferences, political speeches and open days.
The university has a long lease with London's principal centre forcontemporary dance,Sadler's Wells,with whom it has negotiated a deal to bring in dance companies under the banner 'Sadler's Wells in the West End'. The venue often plays host to dance performances, conferences, ballet, pop concerts and award ceremonies. The stage is approximately 36 feet (11 m) by 33 feet (10 m).
History
[edit]Former theatres
[edit]A theatre has stood on the site since the 17th century. Known asGibbon's Tennis Court,or the Vere Street Theatre. Mrs Hughes became the first (identified) woman to tread the boards of a London theatre, on 8 December 1660, in a performance ofOthello.[1]The company left the theatre in 1663 and there is no record of further plays at the theatre. The building was finally destroyed by fire in 1809.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the creation ofAldwychandKingsway,linkingHigh HolbornandAldwych,destroyed a number of established London playhouses and the site between Portugal Street and Sardinia Street became available. New York-based theatre impresarioOscar Hammerstein I(the grandfather ofOscar Hammerstein II) commissionedBertie Creweto build a new theatre in theBeaux-Arts style.The theatre opened on 13 November 1911 as the London Opera House. It had an approximately 45 feet (13.7 m) by 78 feet (23.8 m) stage, and a capacity of 2,660. As an opera house, it found it difficult to attract audiences from theRoyal Opera House,and from 1914 to 1915 the house became the National Theatre of England.
In May 1915 the theatre hostedVladimir Rosing'sAllied Opera Season.Rosing presented the English premiere of Tchaikovsky'sThe Queen of Spadesand introducedTamaki MiuraasMadama Butterfly,the first Japanese singer to be cast in that role.[2]
The theatre was purchased byOswald Stollin 1916 and renamed the Stoll Theatre and, for a time, as the Stoll Picture Theatre, housingcine-varietyuntil the 1950s.Rose-Marieplayed at the Stoll Theatre in 1942, followed byKismetandStars on Icein 1947. The London transfer of a version ofGeorge Gershwin'sPorgy and Bessthat restored it to an operatic form, took place here on 9 October 1952.[3]Joan of Arc at the Stakewas produced in 1954, starringIngrid Bergman.The theatre closed on 4 August 1957, and was demolished for the construction of an office block.[1]
Current building
[edit]The present, smaller theatre was built and christened The Royalty Theatre in 1960, located on the ground level of an office building.[4]It was the first West End theatre to be built since theSaville Theatrein 1931. The first production was of aFriedrich Dürrenmattplay,The Visit,withAlfred LuntandLynn Fontanne.[5][6]In March 1961 it hosted theWilliam Gibsonplay aboutHelen Keller,The Miracle Worker.[7]
Later in 1961,MGMleased the theatre to continue the run of the filmBen Hur[8]following closure of theEmpire, Leicester Squarefor rebuilding.[9]This ran from 29 May 1961 to 6 May 1962, after which the theatre was closed until 19 November 1962 whenMutiny on the Bounty[10]opened. This ran until 10 July 1963, and following a few weeks of revivals (Quo VadisandGigi) MGM closed the theatre on 3 August.
The lease was taken over by the Cinerama Corporation and the theatre was then equipped for screening three-stripCineramafilms becoming London's third Cinerama theatre (the others being theCasino Cineramaand theColiseum Cinerama). The first presentation wasThe Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimmwhich transferred from the Coliseum on 27 November 1963. A compilation film entitledThe Best of Cineramaran for eleven weeks from 22 March 1964, after which the theatre was converted to 70mm single lens Cinerama to take over the run ofIt's a Mad Mad Mad Mad Worldfrom the Coliseum on 16 July. The theatre only premièred one Cinerama film,The Golden Head,[11]which opened on 8 April 1965 and ran until 29 July. From 30 JulyThe Greatest Story Ever Toldtransferred from the Casino Cinerama and ran until 27 October. From the 29 October, The Royalty commenced a run ofMy Fair Ladywhich was still showing at theWarner Leicester Square.This ended on 29 June 1966 to be followed by a revival ofMediterranean Holidayuntil 7 August when Cinerama pulled out and the theatre closed.
The lease was picked up by Gala Film Distributors and the Royalty reopened on 1 December with the X-rated Swedish filmNight Games.Gala continued with a combination of foreign films and mainstream revivals until 19 December 1969 when the theatre closed as a cinema for the last time and returned to live theatre use. The Royalty Theatre's only successes were a run of the hitOh! Calcutta!and a hit production ofBubbling Brown Sugarin the late 1970s. It was also the venue for the first and last concerts on what turned out to be the final tour of the English folk-rock singerSandy Dennywith her band in November 1977, and the venue features on the 1998 posthumous releaseGold Dustwhich was produced over 20 years later from the original tapes. Spectacular 'follies' style shows and 'drag' shows didn't find an audience, and the theatre became used as a TV studio forThis Is Your Life,but was later bought by the London School of Economics and renamed the Peacock Theatre.[1]
When Sadler's Wells determined to build its new theatre in 1996, the company moved to the Peacock Theatre. After the newSadler's Wells Theatreopened in 1998, the Peacock became a dance venue for the company.The Rat Packplayed at the theatre in 2002, andDoldrum Baypremièred here in 2003. The house is now shared between the London School of Economics (during the day) and Sadler's Wells evening dance productions.
The Peacock Theatre is most noted as the home of one of the West End's most unusual ghosts, a dolphin commonly known as 'Flipper'. An urban myth has grown up that, during one ofPaul Raymond's revues at the theatre in the 1970s, a dolphin was kept in a tank beneath the stage, where it lived permanently and later died from neglect. In fact, this is not true. Two dolphins called 'Pennie' and 'Pixie' were indeed kept in a tank at the theatre for three months for a show called 'The Royalty Folies', which was later renamed 'The Great International Nude Show'. However, neither of these animals died while at the theatre and at the close of the show the animals were moved to a dolphinarium in the East Asia.[citation needed]
The remnants of the tank and its lifting equipment still remain below the stage and numerous visitors to the theatre claim to have heard in the vicinity a spectral squeaking, not unlike a crying baby. One possible explanation is that theLondon UndergroundPiccadilly lineAldwychspur used to pass very close to the sub-stage areas of the theatre and it is noise from the tunnels that created the sound.[12]
See also
[edit]- List of London theatres
- List of West End musicals
- List of notable musical theatre productions
- Musical theatre
References
[edit]- ^abcPeacock theatre historyArchived9 August 2012 at theWayback MachineRetrieved 28 July 2012
- ^Williams, Gordon.British Theatre in The Great War: a reevaluationpg. 271–273., New York: Continuum (2003)
- ^Martin, George,The Opera Companion to Twentieth Century Operapp. 389–396 (New York: Dodd, Meade & Company, 1979)
- ^"The Royalty in Kingsway." Times [London, England] 16 June 1960: 16
- ^"News in Brief." Times [London, England] 30 April 1960: 10
- ^"The Lady with the Coffin." Times [London, England] 24 June 1960: 4
- ^"A Final Justification of Faith." Times [London, England] 10 March 1961: 19
- ^Ben-Hur (1959)atIMDbaccessed 2 February 2008
- ^"Future of Royalty Theatre." Times [London, England] 26 April 1961: 5
- ^Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)atIMDbaccessed 2 February 2008
- ^The Golden Head (1964)atIMDbaccessed 2 February 2008
- ^"Sadler's Wells - History - Peacock".Archived fromthe originalon 28 September 2007.Retrieved23 August2007.Reference to the dolphin ghost
External links
[edit]
- History and images of the theatreat the Arthur Lloyd site
- Recent history of the theatre
- Info about Sadler's Wells
- Information about the theatre
- London Theatre Guide to Peacock Theatre
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