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Architect : Bertie Crewe
Opened : 26 December 1911
Seats : 1,389 on 3 levels
Owned by : Theatre of Comedy Company
The last new theatre to be built on "The Avenue," the Princes Theatre (as it was originally called) opened on Boxing Day 1911 with a production of The Three Musketeers adapted from the novel by Alexander Dumas. The flamboyant splendour of the auditorium, designed by Bertie Crewe, was very much in keeping with the blood and thunder melodramas staged here by the Melville Brothers during the theatre’s opening seasons. The original colour scheme of cream and gold was enhanced by the lavish use of rose and white marble, alabaster and gold mosaic with symbolic classical groups painted on the domed ceiling. Sadly, these have long since been obliterated, but the lifesize groups of statuary representing Comedy, Tragedy, Poetry and Music still adorn the tops of the side boxes. Even with its large capacity (1404 seats) the architect has captured a marvelous feeling of intimacy between audience and performer with perfect acoustics.
In 1919, CB. Cochran presented the first of the Gilbert and Sullivan seasons, thereby initiating the close association between the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company and the Shaftesbury which, under various managements, lasted over forty years.
Notable productions during the 1920s included: Sarah Bernhardt in the title role of Daniel in 1921, Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe in 1921 and 1927, The Return Of Sherlock Holmes and Sybil Thorndike and Henry Ainley in Macbeth in 1926. Gershwin’s Funny Face, starring the Astaires and Leslie Henson, opened in 1928 and ran for 263 performances.
The 1930s were mainly occupied with short runs and revivals including adaptations of two Edgar Wallace stories, The Frog (1936) and The Gusher (1937). Seasons of ballet and opera by the Sadler’s Wells companies proved very popular in the early 1940s and Evelyn Laye appeared here in 1945 in Oscar Strauss’ operetta, Three Waltzes.
In the early 1950s, Maurice Chevalier starred here, as did Michael Redgrave and Peggy Ashcroft, in the Stratford-Upon-Avon production of Antony and Cleopatra. Pal Joey and Wonderful Town enjoyed successful runs in 1954 and 1955.
The theatre reopened in 1963 under a new name, the Shaftesbury, with another classic musical, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, which ran for over 500 performances. Big Bad Mouse (with Jimmy Edwards and Eric Sykes) had a record-breaking run of 635 performances in the 1966-1967 season. Hair opened in September 1968, the day after censorship ended and closed on 19th July 1973, just short of 2,000 performances.
The theatre achieved landmark status itself in March 1974, when it was placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest by the Department of Environment. Productions in the late 1970s included West Side Story, Kismet, Godspell, The Canterbury Tales, Irma La Douce, Peter Pan and Carol Channing in Hello, Dolly! In 1980, Tom Conti and Gemma Craven starred in the hit musical They’re Playing Our Song.
The Theatre of Comedy Company, founded by Ray Cooney, purchased the Shaftesbury in 1984 during their successful tenancy which had already included Run For Your Wife!, Pygmalion, Aladdin and See How They Run. Subsequent Theatre of Comedy productions were Two Into One, Rookery Nook and An Italian Straw Hat. The Company played host to Rowan Atkinson: The New Revue and Peter Bowles in The Entertainer.
In recent times, the Shaftesbury has welcomed the Cameron Mackintosh production of the musical Follies; the award--winning M. Butterfly starring Anthony Hopkins; French and Saunders; Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Song and Dance and The Theatre of Comedy’s hit, Out Of Order.
In 1991, Peter O’Toole returned to the West End in Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell followed by Alan Alda in a revival of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, Ken Hill’s Phantom Of The Opera and John Malkovich in A Slip Of The Tongue.
The dazzling and controversial Kander & Ebb musical, Kiss Of The Spider Woman, directed by Harold Prince and starring Chita Rivera, Brent Carver and Anthony Crivello, opened at the Shaftesbury in October 1992. The production went on to win the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical and subsequently transferred to Broadway where it won seven Tony Awards.
In September 1993 Cameron Mackintosh brought the award-winning Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel from the National Theatre for an eight month run at the Shaftesbury Highlights of 1995 included the Theatre de Complicite production of The Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol (January) and The Laurence Olivier Awards 1995 in April. In October Eddie Izzard -Definite Article opened for a 10 week sell-out run followed by Return to the Forbidden Planet over the Christmas period. Pete Townsend’s Tommy opened at the Shaftesbury in February 1996 and ran for a year. This spectacular production, starring Kim Wilde, went on to win three Olivier Awards including outstanding Musical Production.
From October 1997, the Shaftesbury Theatre hosted a six month season by The Royal Opera House while the ROH closed for redevelopment. Six productions were performed during the season, including new productions of II barbiere di Siviglia, Giulio Cesare and Paul Bunyan. The season opened with The Royal Opera’s new production of Franz Lehar’s classic operetta, The Merry Widow in a new English translation by Jeremy Sams.
The Broadway hit musical Rent opened at the Shaftesbury in May 1998 following the ROH season.
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