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The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Aldwych in the City of Westminster. The theatre was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971.[1] Its seating capacity is 1,200 on three levels, a fairly large auditorium.[2]
The theatre was built as a pair with the Waldorf Theatre now known as the Novello Theatre, both being designed by W.G.R. Sprague. Funded by Seymour Hicks, in association with the American impresario Charles Frohman, and built by Walter Wallis of Balham. The ornate decorations were in the Georgian style. The theatre was constructed in the newly built Aldwych.
The Aldwych theatre opened on 23 December 1905 with a production of Blue Bell, a new version of Hicks' popular pantomime Bluebell in Fairyland. In 1906, Hicks' The Beauty of Bath, followed in 1907 by The Gay Gordons, played at the theatre. In February 1913 the theatre was used by Serge Diaghilev and Vaslav Nijinsky for the first rehearsals of Le Sacre du Printemps before its première in Paris during May.[3] In 1920, Basil Rathbone played Major Wharton in The Unknown.
From 1923 to 1933, the theatre was the home of the series of twelve farces, known as The Aldwych farces, most of which were written by Ben Travers. Members of the regular company for these farces included Ralph Lynn, Tom Walls, Ethel Coleridge, Gordon James, Mary Brough, Winifred Shotter and Robertson Hare.[4] In 1933, Richard Tauber presented and starred in a new version of Das Dreimäderlhaus at the Aldwych under the title Lilac Time. From the mid-1930s until about 1960, the theatre was owned by the Abrahams family.[5]
Vivien Leigh, who later won an Academy Award for the film version, appeared in a 1949 London production of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Aldwych, which was directed by her husband, Laurence Olivier. Bonar Colleano co-starred as Stanley.
On 15 December 1960, after intense speculation, it was announced that the
Since 2000, the theatre has hosted a mixture of plays, comedies and musical theatre productions. Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Whistle Down the Wind played until 2001, and Fame enjoyed an extended run from 2002 to 2006. From 2006 to 2011, it was the home to the British musical version of Dirty Dancing.[7][8]
In 1990–91, Joan Collins starred in a revival of Private Lives at the Aldwych. The theatre is referred to in Julio Cortázar's short story Instructions for John Howell (Instrucciones para John Howell) in the anthology All Fires the Fire (Todos los fuegos el fuego).
in 1972. Evening Standard special award, annually from 1964 to 1973 and finally in 1975. For his involvement with these Aldwych seasons, run without Arts Council or other official support, Daubeny won the Peter Daubeny, foreign plays in their original productions, invited to London by the theatre impresario World Theatre Seasons in Stratford. During absences of the RSC, the theatre hosted the annual Shakespeare Memorial Theatre productions that were first staged at the RSC's Shakespeare, as well as the transfer of most of the Nicholas Nickleby, and The Greeks, The Wars of the Roses Among numerous RSC productions staged at this venue were [6]
Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar, Stephen Sondheim, Cats (musical), Elton John
Greater London, City of Westminster, Covent Garden, United Kingdom, England
Greater London, Soho, City of London, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, BAE Systems
United Kingdom, Comedy, Slapstick, Christmas, Harlequinade
The Old Vic, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Macbeth
Royal Exchange, Manchester, Braham Murray, London, Bbc, Titus Andronicus
Hamlet, Royal National Theatre, Chariots of Fire, The Taming of the Shrew, Richard Eyre
BBC Radio 4, King Lear, Macbeth, EastEnders, Bristol Old Vic