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Carlton Theatre, 63-65 Haymarket, London , SW1
Now Cineworld, Haymarket / The Cinema On The Haymarket

Above - The former Carlton Theatre, Haymarket in February 2008, whilst home to a live version of Noel Coward's 'Brief Encounter' in its temporarily converted number one Cinema - Photo M.L.

The Carlton Theatre opened on the 27th April 1927 with a successful musical play called 'Lady Luck' by Frith Shephard which ran for 324 performances. The cast included Leslie Henson, Cyril Ritchard, Phyllis Monkman and Madge Elliot. The programme for this first show at the Carlton Theatre can be seen below right.

The Theatre was built on former coaching stage land called Anglesea Yard and was only the second Theatre to be built in London after the First World War. The first was the Fortune.

The Carlton was designed by Frank T. Verity and S. Beverley and on its opening The Stage reported the new Theatre thus:

'Italian and Spanish Renaissance details inspired the treatment of both the exterior and interior of the theatre...

Left - The Carlton Theatre, Haymarket from the opening night programme of 'Lady Luck' in 1929.

Right - Programme for 'Lady Luck' the first production at the newly opened Carlton Theatre, Haymarket in 1929. - Click to see entire programme.

...The exterior is a good pyramidical composition, with excellent spacing and rhythm of voids, giving a sense of solidarity. The difficult graduations from plain wall to enriched tympanums are dexterously maintained, the fillings of these being beautifully disposed as regards light and shade. The auditorium walls are of gold scrumble, the lower part being in golden brown oak, while the boxes are in cream and grey, picked out in dull pinks and bands of wedgwood blue and white.' The Stage 1927.

The Carlton was designed for both Cinema and Theatre use and had a large stage.

The auditorium consisted of three levels, stalls, royal circle, and balcony, and on the Theatre's opening it could accommodate 1150 as a Theatre and 1159 as a cinema.

Right - Section of the auditorium ceiling and one of the original chandeliers of the Carlton Theatre, still visible in 2008 - Photo M.L.

The ceiling of the auditorium was a lattice of beams which cleverly hid ventilation and can still be seen today in the Cinema's number one screen. The foyer and dress circle bar were also of note and have been mostly preserved despite years of cinema use. The basement of the Cinema still houses a large room which was originally a bar and restaurant called the 'Soda Fountain,' and this sill retains its Art Deco features such as mirrored walls and the original wooden paneled bar but sadly this is now used as a store room.

Right - Cinema programme for Noel Coward's 'Bitter Sweet' at the Carlton Theatre in 1933.

The last time the Carlton was used in it's original guise as a live Theatre was for a production of 'The Anthony Newly Show' in March of 1960. This was a variety show followed by a showing of the film 'Lets Get Married,' which also starred Anthony Newley.

The Carlton Cinema as it was known by the 70s finally closed in 1977 and was partly demolished. The stage was completely lost and the land sold off for the building of an office block. The auditorium was split into three smaller cinemas, number one screen being sighted in the old balcony of the Theatre which was extended down to the proscenium wall, and now seats 491 but still retains the original Theatre's Art Deco features. The other two screens are situated in the original Stalls of the Theatre with a wall running down the middle separating the two cinemas, which seat 201 and 222.

Above - The Cineworld Cinema Haymarket's number one Cinema situated in the old Carlton Theatre's Balcony, which in 2008 was temporarily converted for live Theatre use by the Kneehigh Theatre Company for their production of Noel Coward's 'Brief Encounter.' - Photo M.L.

Ironically, in February 2008, the Cinema was back in use again as a live Theatre. The two smaller screens in the former Stalls of the Theatre were temporarily mothballed, and, because the stage house was demolished in 1977, a new stage was built to accommodate live performances, this time at the front of the number one Cinema, which is in the former Balcony of the original Theatre. Live performances of 'Brief Encounter' by the Kneehigh Theatre Company began previewing there on the 2nd of February 2008.

The play was a mixture of live action and film footage, and to recreate the Cinema experience of the 1940s the Theatre itself boasted ushers and usherettes in period costume carrying trays of ice cream and Champaign, whilst the foyers and bars were decked out with balloons. The play also included many of Noel Coward's songs and some of his poems set to music, and was highly successful right up to the end of its season at the former Carlton Theatre in November 2008.

Brief Encounter began life as a one act play called 'Still Life,' and was just one of a series of one act plays put on by Noel Coward at the Phoenix Theatre in 1936 and collectively called 'To-Night At 8.30.'

Left - Programme for 'To-Night at 8.30' at the Phoenix Theatre in 1936. - Click for more information on this and the Phoenix Theatre.

Still Life was then made into a film, directed by David Lean, the now classic 'Brief Encounter' with Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard, which opened on the 26th of November 1945 at the New Gallery in Regent Street, which has recently been converted into a Habitat store.

A live musical version of the play then followed in 1968 called 'Mr and Mrs' at the Palace Theatre but this was a flop and closed after only 44 performances.

A new film version opened in 1974 with Richard Burton and Sofia Loren but it too failed to impress.

Above - The former Carlton Theatre, Haymarket, when in use as a 'Cineworld' Cinema in 2006 - Photo M. L.