The Palace Theatre, Cambridge Circus, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1
Special Feature

 

Hello and welcome to the first Special Feature of 2005.

This month the feature is on the Palace Theatre in London's West End and comprises of an edited chapter from 'Carriages at Eleven' by W.Macqueen Pope on the Palace Theatre's history, many period programmes from my own collection, and pictures taken on a recent tour of the Theatre, kindly organised for me by the current owners, Really Useful Theatres.

The Theatre was built in 1891 for Richard D’Oyly Carte as The Royal English Opera House on an island site at the end of London's Shaftsbury Avenue, dominating the view from Cambridge Circus.

This magnificent building was designed by Richard D’Oyly Carte himself with G H Holloway providing the drawings and J G Buckle as consultant. The architect was T E Colcutt.

The Royal English Opera House was unfortunately a major failure and the building was quickly converted, only a year later, in 1892, to a Variety Theatre by Walter Emden, and renamed The Palace Theatre of Varieties.

In 1908 Emblin Walker reconstructed the amphitheatre and in 1989 the exterior was restored to its former glory. In 2004, after the Theatre's longest run, 'Les Misserables,' the interior was given a major restoration too, consequently The Palace Theatre still remains much in its original form over a hundred years later in 2005.

Click the image to begin this month's feature.

Alternatively click the links below to go directly to that page in the feature.

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For more information on the Royal English Opera House, as the Palace Theatre was originally built, see the December 2005 Special Feature.

In 2006 the Palace Theatre is home to the Broadway Hit: Monty Python's 'Spamalot' which opened in London on the 17th October.