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________________________________________________________________________________________________ Saville Theatre, 135 - 149 Shaftesbury
Avenue, Holborn, London
Above - The Odeon, Shaftesbury Avenue, in December 2006, previously the Saville Theatre.
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The Theatre was built on three levels, Stalls, Dress Circle, and Upper Circle, with two boxes and had a capacity on opening of 1,426. The Stage was 31' 6" Wide by 30' 6" Deep. The front of the Theatre was imposing and had a sculptured frieze by Gilbert Bayes running along it for nearly 40 meters, representing ‘Drama Through The Ages.’ This is still to be seen on the building today and according to the Theatres Trust 'has been described recently (1998) as ‘perhaps the most significant sculpture of the 1930s on a prominent building.’ On the day of the Saville Theatre's opening the Stage newspaper printed a short review of the building in their October 8th 1931 Edition, reprinted in Mander & Mitchenson's 'The Theatres Of London' which said:
In 1955 the interior was completely redecorated to the designs of Laurence Irving, and at the same time John Collins created a new mural for the Stalls Bar. The Saville Theatre was quite a successful Theatre during its short life and it's surprising that more wasn't done to stop its eventual demise. Right - Programme for 'Spread It Abroad' which opened at the Saville Theatre in 1936 and ran for 209 performances.
The last Play to be performed at the Saville Theatre was 'Enemy' by Robert Maugham which opened in December 1969 and had a short run before the Theatre was bought by EMI and converted into a twin Cinema, ABC 1 which seated 616 and ABC 2 which seated 581. The conversion was carried out by William Ryder and Associates and the new Cinemas opened on the 22nd of December 1970.
The conversion meant that the stage was converted too, for offices, and nowadays internally the original architecture and decoration are nowhere to be seen.
The new Cinemas however were not that successful and when the building was taken over in 2001, along with ABC the company, by Odeon the Theatre was renovated, split again, this time into four screens, and reopened as the Odeon Covent Garden, despite the fact that it's not in Covent Garden at all.
Right - Programme for 'An Evening With Maurice Chevalier' which was on at the Saville Theatre for a limited season in 1962.
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The
Saville Theatre was built by Messrs Gee, Walker and Slater to the designs
of the architects Messrs T. P. Bennett and Sons in consultation with
'The
stalls bar and saloon lounge adjoining, will please the public, special
care has been exercised in their equipment and decoration. The bar,
which has mural paintings by Mr A. R. Thompson, is 18 ft by 54 ft in
front of the counters, while the lounge, which is also decorated by
the same artist, is 42 ft by 40 ft. There is a sort of shopping arcade
in and about the lounge, as in the up-to-date hotels, and it is quite
big enough for tea dances or concerts. So comfortable, indeed, are the
lounge and the bar at the Saville, that it is to be feared that something
more than a warning bell will be necessary to clear them.'
The
Theatre was damaged in the Blitz of 1941 during the run of 'Up and Doing'
(Shown Left) but was soon restored and operating again, and the
production reopened afterwards to achieve the overall run of 603 performances.
In
its later years the Saville was often used as a concert venue when in
the 1960s Brian Epstein took over the Theatre and it played host to
the likes of The Bee Gees, The Who, Jimmi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Fats
Domino, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Chuck Berry, Elton John, and the Beatles
whose 'Hello Goodbye' promo, which is now available on the Beatles Anthology,
was filmed at the Saville Theatre.
Left
- Programme for 'Over She Goes' with Stanley Lupino which opened at
the Saville Theatre in 1936 and ran for 248 performances.
Right
- Programme for 'Here Come The Boys' in 1946 when Bernard Delfont had
taken over the management of the Saville Theatre.
Left
- Programme for Three's A Family' at the Saville Theatre.
