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____________________________________________________________________________________________ Phoenix Theatre, Charing Cross Road, WC2. Formerly the Alcazar.
Above - The Phoenix Theatre during the run of 'Blood Brothers' in October 2006.
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The Theatre was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, Bertie Crew, and Cecil Masey, with an auditorium designed by Theodore Komisarjevsky. The Theatre was built by Bovis Ltd., on land which had previously been a factory and then became a Music Hall for a while, called the Alcazar.
Right - Programme for 'The Limping Man' at the Phoenix Theatre in 1935.
The Phoenix Theatre's has two entrances on two different streets, one in Charing Cross Road, which you can see in the picture at the top of this page, and the second (Shown Left) on Phoenix Street from which the Theatre takes its name. Left - The second entrance to the Phoenix Theatre, on Phoenix Street from which the Theatre takes its name - Photo M.L. The day after the Phoenix opened, The Stage reviewed this new Theatre in their 25th of September edition, here reprinted from 'The Theatres of London' by Mander and Mitchenson which read: 'The distinguished columns here are blues and pinks on a cream ground, and the whole is lavishly picked out with modelling in gold. Large windows in the adjacent promenade allow late-comers and others who might for some reason or other be prevented from getting to their seats to view the stalls level and the stage. The circle appears to come far forward and has a commodious upper circle above it. Care has been taken in the comfort of the seating. Each seat has sufficient body and leg room and is provided with its own hat rack. There are six roomy private boxes. The upholstery has a touch of the medieval, and is in a rare shade of dark pink with a touch of heliotrope or light purple in its pattern. In the front of the house rich reds, blues, and gold appear to be the prime colours. Bars and cloakrooms are well appointed, but no attempt has been made here in the shape of elaborate decoration. A striking feature in the interior decoration will be found in the fine reproductions of works by old masters. Here we have well executed copies of pictures by Titian, Giorgione, Tintoretto and Pinturicchio. The safety curtain carries Jacopo del Sellaio's 'The Triumph of Love' the original of which can be seen in the Oratorio di S. Ansano, Fiesole. These reproductions are the work of Vladimir Polunin.' Text in quotes above from The Stage 25th of September 1930, as reprinted in 'The Theatres of London' by Mander and Mitchenson.
Right - Programme for 'To-Night at 8.30' at the Phoenix Theatre in 1936. 'Ladies and Gentlemen... The idea of presenting three short plays in an evening instead of one long one is far from original. In fact, if one looks back over the Years, one finds that the "triple bill" formula has been used, with varying degrees of success, since the earliest days of the Theatre. Latterly, however, that is (during the last quarter of a century), it has fallen from favour. Occasionally still a curtain-raiser appears in the Provinces, but wearing a sadly hang-dog expression, because it knows only too well, poor thing, that it would not be there at all were the main attraction of the evening long enough.
From our point of view behind the footlights the experiment will obviously be interesting. The monotony of repetition will be reduced considerably and it is to be hoped that the stimulus Miss Lawrence, the Company and I will undoubtedly derive from playing several roles during a week instead of only one, will communicate itself to the audience, thereby ensuring that a good time be had by all.
The primary object of the scheme is to provide a full and varied evening's entertainment for theatregoers who, we hope, will try their best to overcome any latent prejudices they may have against short plays and, at least, do us the honour of coming to judge for themselves.' Text in quotes above by Noel Coward - From a Programme for 'To-Night At 8.30' in 1936. Left - The Programme of Plays within the 'To-Night at 8.30' season - from a Programme for 'To-Night at 8.30' at the Phoenix Theatre in 1936. The Phoenix Theatre has had a checkered history with many successes and quite a few failures, all too numerous to mention here. However in March of 1968 there was a major success with 'Canterbury Tales' which ran for over 2000 performances, and of course more recently the production of 'Blood Brothers' which transferred here in November of 1991 from the Lyric and is still running in 2008. |
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Above - The Main Entrance for the Phoenix Theatre during the run |
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Adelphi Aldwych Apollo Apollo Victoria Arts Cambridge Comedy Criterion Dominion Drury Lane Duchess Duke Of Yorks Fortune Garrick Gielgud Haymarket Her Majesty's London Coliseum London Palladium Lyceum Lyric New Ambassadors New London Noel Coward / Albery Novello Old Vic Palace Peacock Phoenix Piccadilly Playhouse Prince Edward Prince of Wales Queen's Royal Opera House Savoy Shaftesbury St. Martin's Trafalgar Studios / Whitehall Vaudeville Victoria Palace Wyndham's
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The
Alcazar was an unusual kind of Music Hall which was basically a very
long hall with three different stages which the audience would then
wander from, one to the other, as each 'Turn' finished their act and
the next began. It was also used as a kind of audition space where,
although the public paid for admission, Theatre managers did not as
they were always on the look out for new 'Turns' to populate their own
Theatres and Music Halls. Unfortunately for the owner, Lucien Samett,
the idea didn't take off and the Alcazar soon became something quite
different. 
The
Phoenix was one of many Theatres which opened in 
After
the success of the Phoenix Theatre's opening play, which had a three
month contract but could have carried on if it hadn't had, the next
production was the equally successful 'Late Night Final' by Louis Weitzenkorn
which opened in June 1931 and ran for 132 performances. However, after
this the Theatre did not do so well and became a 
Noel
Coward was back in 1936 though and the Theatre picked up considerably
with his productions of one act plays called 'Tonight at 8.30' (See
Programme Right and Noel Coward's own description below). This did
very well and ran for 157 performances. One of the plays in this series
was 'Still Lives' which was later made into the now classic Film 'Brief
Encounter.' More on this can be found on the 
Its
spirit is further humiliated by the fact that the leading actors treat
it with the utmost disdain, seldom leaving their star dressing-rooms
to glance at it, let alone play it. Therefore it has to get along as
well as it can in the hands of small part actors and understudies who,
although frequently far more talented and charming than their principals,
have neither the name, authority nor experience to triumph over rustling
programmes, banging seats and a general atmosphere of bored impatience.
A
short play, having a great advantage over a long one in that it can
sustain a mood without technical creaking or over-padding, deserves
a better fate, and if, by careful writing, acting and producing I can
do a little towards reinstating it in its rightful pride, I shall have
achieved one of my more sentimental ambitions.
All
of the plays included in the programmes have been written especially.
There has been no unworthy scuffling in cupboards and bureau drawers
in search of forgotten manuscripts, and no hurried refurbishing of old,
discarded ideas.