It will be no new fact that I am a big fan of West-end and Broadway shows, particularly musicals, but recently, I’ve considered the theatres themselves and the considerable history they hold. Most of the theatres across the West-end have probably seen millions of audiences in their lifetimes, and have held a fair few celebrities too. So this is probably why, whenever I enter a theatre, I feel as though I am walking in the footsteps of greatness. Because of this, I’ve decided to have a closer look at some of the West-end’s many theatres and their histories to get an insight into what makes these buildings so very magical.
We’ll begin with the Apollo Victoria Theatre, since I remember visiting it as a child and being awed by its grand style. It has been home to the fan favourite musical ‘Wicked’ since 2006 and the show is still going strong today. It is found directly opposite Victoria station, and has held several successful shows including ‘Starlight Express’ for 18 years and ‘Wicked’ now for nearly 9. When it opened in 1930, it was originally designed as a cinema, but over time, big bands and other artists started to perform there until in 1981, it reopened as a theatre, with its opening performance a Shirley Bassey concert. It then went on to show ‘The Sound of Music’ as its first musical theatre production, and has since seen several famous names perform on its stage, in particular the original cast of Wicked, which featured Miriam Margolyes, Adam Garcia and Idina Menzel. Certain performances needed specific new design features to be installed in the theatre, for example ‘Starlight Express’, which required extensive modification of the theatre to allow a ’race track’ to be built through the middle of the audience, for the actors, on roller-skates, to travel down. When the show ended, an extensive restoration process was required to allow the theatre to return to normal use.
Just down the road for the Apollo Victoria Theatre is the Victoria Palace Theatre, home to Billy Elliot: The Musical. In the place of this building, music halls have stood since 1832, but each new owner has taken the plot and either built on and refurbished what was already there, or completely demolished and rebuilt another hall on the same grounds. The actual building known as the Victoria Palace Theatre was built in 1910 and opened the year after. Frank Matcham, the designer wanted to ensure that the auditorium would not get too hot during the summer and so included a sliding roof into the original design, which would open during the intervals of performances. For a long time the theatre mainly showed variety and revue performances, which contained lively song and dance numbers, but very little story. In 1937, the original performance of ‘Me and My Girl’ took place at the theatre, and the show really took off. This was during the Golden Age of musical theatre, when playwrights were just starting to mix the use of song and dance numbers with actual storylines, creating the modern day book musical. In 1978, the first West-end production of ‘Annie’ moved here for four years, before a variety of other acts took to the stage, including ‘Jolson’ for 10 years and now ‘Billy Elliot’ for a further 10. The success of this latest production does not look to be ending any time soon, so it may soon hold a new record for the longest show in the theatres history. During the run of ‘Me and My Girl’, the BBC took part in the first ever live broadcast of a theatre production, though at this time, they used the radio, so that people could listen and sing along to the show from home.
In my next couple of articles, I’m going to be moving across London, to look at some more of the great theatres it has to offer and their historic stories.
Images from: http://hoareleacgi.com/images/uploads/REAL---Apollo-Victoria-External-Lighting-View---Green-Hero2.jpg, http://www.e-architect.co.uk/images/jpgs/london/victoria_palace_artsteam030608_1.jpg
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