.gif)
Lyceum Theatre (London)
Encyclopedia
The Lyceum Theatre is a 2,000-seat West End theatre
located in the City of Westminster
, on Wellington Street, just off the Strand
. There has been a theatre with this name in the locality since 1765, and the present site opened on 14 July 1834 to a design by Samuel Beazley
. The building was unique in that it had a balcony
overhanging the dress circle. It was built by the partnership of Peto & Grissell
.
The present building retains Beazley's façade
and grand portico
, but the theatre behind is substantially different from the 1904 design of Bertie Crewe
, restored to theatrical use in 1996 by Holohan Architects, after a long period of use as a Mecca Ballroom
. Famed actor David Garrick
also performed at the Lyceum. Between 1794 and 1809, the building was used as a circus, brought by Philip Astley
when his amphitheatre
was burned down at Westminster, and then a chapel, a concert room, and for the first London exhibition of waxworks displayed by Madame Tussaud in 1802.
The theatre became a "licensed
" house in 1809, and until 1812 it was used for dramatic performances by the Drury Lane Company after the burning of their own theatre
, until the erection of the new edifice. In 1816, Samuel Arnold rebuilt the house to a design by Beazley and opened it as The English Opera House, but it was destroyed by fire in 1830. The house was famous as the first theatre in London to be lit by gas and for hosting the London première of Mozart's opera Così fan tutte
. During this period, the "Sublime Society of Beef Steaks
," which had been founded in 1735 by theatre manager Henry Rich, had its home at the theatre for over 50 years until 1867. The members, who never exceeded twenty-four in number, met every Saturday night to eat beefsteaks and drink port wine.
produced a number of works in the first few years of the theatre, including The Mountain Sylph
(1834), credited as the first modern English opera
. It was followed by Fair Rosamund in 1837 and Farinelli in 1839 (both at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
), and Blanche of Jersey here in 1840. In 1841–43, composer Michael Balfe managed the theatre and produced National Opera here, but the venture was ultimately unsuccessful. From 1844 to 1847 the theatre was managed by husband and wife team Robert Keeley
and Mary Anne Keeley
, during which period the house became associated with adaptations of Charles Dickens
's novels and Christmas books. For instance, an adaptation of Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit
ran for over 100 performances from 1844–45 here, a long run for the time.
The Lyceum was later managed by Madame Lucia Elizabeth Vestris
and Charles James Mathews
from 1847–55, who produced James Planché
's "[fairy] extravaganzas" featuring spectacular stage effects. Their first big success was John Maddison Morton
's Box and Cox
. Tom Taylor
's adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities
, with Dickens himself as consultant, played in 1860, shortly after end of its serialisation and volume publication. Charles Fechter
, who managed the theatre from 1863–67 also favored spectacular productions. In 1866, Dion Boucicault
's The Long Strike (his adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell
's Manchester novels Mary Barton and Lizzie Leigh) was produced here. Ethel Lavenu
, the mother and grandmother of actors Tyrone Power, Sr.
and Tyrone Power
performed in a number pieces at the theatre in the 1860s. W. S. Gilbert
produced three plays here. In 1863, his first professional play, Uncle Baby, premièred. In 1867, he presented his Christmas pantomime
, called Harlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren
, and in 1884, he produced the drama Comedy and Tragedy.
In 1889, the world's finest Italian dramatic tenor, Francesco Tamagno
, appeared at the Lyceum, singing the leading role in the first London production of Giuseppe Verdi
's opera Otello
.
and his wife, Henry Irving
appeared at the theatre in, among other things, many Shakespeare works. Irving began with the French melodrama The Bells
, an instant hit in which he played the ghost-haunted burgomaster. The piece ran to sell-out crowds for 150 nights, which was an unusually long run at the time. Charles I, in 1872 was another hit, running for 180 nights. In 1874, Irving played Hamlet
at the theatre, perhaps his greatest triumph, running for 200 nights. In 1878, after Bateman's death, Irving took over management of the theatre from his widow. The Builder, 28 September 1878 reported that there was a difference between Irving and Mrs. Bateman regarding the personnel of the company at the Lyceum. "Mr. Irving is said to have told Mrs. Bateman that he was resolved to have actors to act with him, and not dolls, otherwise he would no longer play at the Lyceum. The result was that Mrs. Bateman threw up the management of the theatre, and Mr. Irving takes her place." Mrs. Bateman became the manager of Sadler's Wells Theatre
.
Irving continued to star in plays there, especially Shakespeare, until 1902, engaging co-star Ellen Terry
for that entire period of 24 years. Bram Stoker
worked between 1878 and 1898 as business manager of the theatre, and Irving was Stoker's real-life inspiration for the character Count Dracula
in his 1897 novel, Dracula
. Stoker hoped that Irving, with his dramatic, sweeping gestures, gentlemanly mannerisms, and speciality in playing villain roles, would play Dracula in the stage adaptation of his novel. However, Irving never agreed to appear in the stage version, although the play was produced at the Lyceum.
Irving and Terry began with Hamlet
in 1878. Their 1879 production of The Merchant of Venice
ran for an unusual 250 nights, and success followed success in the Shakespeare canon as well as in other major plays. Other celebrated productions included Much Ado About Nothing
, The Lady of Lyons by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (1878), Romeo and Juliet
, King Lear
, The Lyons Mail by Charles Reade (1883), the immensely popular Faust by William Gorman Wills (1885, which even drew applications for reserved seats from foreigners), Macbeth
(1888, with incidental music by Sir Arthur Sullivan), Henry VII
(1892), Becket by Alfred Tennyson (1893), King Arthur by J. Comyns Carr
, with incidental music by Sir Arthur Sullivan (1895), Cymbeline
(1896) and Victorien Sardou
and Émile Moreau
's play Madame Sans-Gêne (1897).
When Irving and Terry toured America, as they did several times beginning in 1883, the theatre played works with many famous actors including Johnston Forbes-Robertson
, Mrs. Patrick Campbell, Sarah Bernhardt
and Eleanora Duse. Martin Harvey, a pupil of Irving's played a season there in 1899. Benoît-Constant Coquelin
appeared as Cyrano de Bergerac
in the summer of 1898.
, in 1904 the theatre was rebuilt and richly ornamented in rococo
style by Bertie Crewe
, retaining only the façade and portico of the original building. The theatre presented music hall
and variety
, in an attempt to compete with the Palace Theatre
and the new Stoll built London Coliseum
, but this was not a success, and the theatre soon returned to presenting drama. From 1909–38 the Melville Brothers ran a successful series of spectacular melodramas. In 1919, additional minor alterations to the theatre were made by Edward Jones. Between the wars, dramas played at the theatre for ten months each year, followed by Christmas pantomimes, including Queen of Hearts in 1938. The Lyceum was the last London theatre to continue the early practise of concluding pantomimes with a harlequinade
, a free standing entertainment of slapstick clowning, juggling and tumbling. The tradition ended with the closure of the theatre in 1939.
In 1939, the London City Council
bought the building, with plans to demolish it to make room for road improvement. The theatre closed that year with a landmark performance of Hamlet directed by Sir John Gielgud
(Ellen Terry's great nephew). The road improvement plans collapsed, and after the war, in 1951, it was converted to a huge ballroom and reopened by Matthews and Sons, as the Lyceum Ballroom. Many big bands played here, including the Oscar Rabin Band
which performed frequently. In the 1960s and 1970s, the theatre was used as a pop concert venue and for television broadcasts. The Grateful Dead, The Groundhogs
, The Clash
, Bob Marley & The Wailers
, Led Zeppelin
, Queen
, The Police
, The Who
, Emerson, Lake & Palmer
, Colosseum
, U2
, The Smiths
and Culture Club
all played here. Bob Marley & The Wailers recorded their Live!
album here on 18–19 July 1975. Genesis
filmed a performance there in May 1980 for broadcast on the Old Grey Whistle Test
. This footage appears on the 2007 CD/DVD re-release of their 1980 album Duke
.
A proposed redevelopment of Covent Garden
by the GLC
in 1968 saw the theatre under threat, together with the nearby Vaudeville
, Garrick
, Adelphi
and Duchess theatre
s. An active campaign by Equity
, the Musicians' Union
, and theatre owners under the auspices of the Save London Theatres Campaign led to the abandonment of the scheme. In 1973, the theatre gained protection and was Grade II* listed as Interior despite adaptation and alteration for present ballroom use retains [a] substantial part of Crewe's work.
The theatre went dark in 1986, after the National Theatre's
promenade performances (in 1985) of Bill Bryden
's adaptation of the Mysteries
trilogy. Brent Walker leased the theatre during this time but later gave up his lease, and in 1996 it was restored and reconverted into a theatre for large-scale musicals or opera (with a suitably large orchestra pit) by Holohan Architects.
The theatre has been home to the musical theatre
version of The Lion King
since 1999. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the production, which has grossed over £289 million and been seen by more than eight million people, 250 former cast members gathered onstage, together with designer-director Julie Taymor
. Prime Minister David Cameron
and actor James Earl Jones
, who voiced the role of King Mufasa in the original Disney film, attended the performance.
station is Covent Garden
.
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
located in the City of Westminster
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...
, on Wellington Street, just off the Strand
Strand, London
Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...
. There has been a theatre with this name in the locality since 1765, and the present site opened on 14 July 1834 to a design by Samuel Beazley
Samuel Beazley
Samuel Beazley was an English architect, novelist and playwright. He became the leading theatre architect of his time and the first notable English expert in that field....
. The building was unique in that it had a balcony
Balcony
Balcony , a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade.-Types:The traditional Maltese balcony is a wooden closed balcony projecting from a...
overhanging the dress circle. It was built by the partnership of Peto & Grissell
Samuel Morton Peto
Sir Samuel Morton Peto, 1st Baronet was an English entrepreneur and civil engineer in the 19th century. A partner in Grissell and Peto, he managed construction firms that built many major buildings and monuments in London...
.
The present building retains Beazley's façade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
and grand portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
, but the theatre behind is substantially different from the 1904 design of Bertie Crewe
Bertie Crewe
Bertie Crewe was one of the leading English theatre architects in the boom of 1885 to 1915-Biography:Born in Essex and partly trained by Frank Matcham, Crewe and his contemporaries W.G.R...
, restored to theatrical use in 1996 by Holohan Architects, after a long period of use as a Mecca Ballroom
Early years
The Old Lyceum Theatre was first built in 1765 on an adjacent site, and in the late 18th century, musical entertainments were given by Charles DibdinCharles Dibdin
Charles Dibdin was a British musician, dramatist, novelist, actor and songwriter. The son of a parish clerk, he was born in Southampton on or before 4 March 1745, and was the youngest of a family of 18....
. Famed actor David Garrick
David Garrick
David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
also performed at the Lyceum. Between 1794 and 1809, the building was used as a circus, brought by Philip Astley
Philip Astley
Philip Astley was an English equestrian, circus owner, and inventor, regarded as being the "father of the modern circus"...
when his amphitheatre
Astley's Amphitheatre
Philip Astley opened Astley's Amphitheatre in London in 1773. * The structure was burned in 1794, then rebuilt. With increasing prosperity and rebuilding after successive fires, it grew to become Astley's Royal Amphitheatre and this was the home of the circus...
was burned down at Westminster, and then a chapel, a concert room, and for the first London exhibition of waxworks displayed by Madame Tussaud in 1802.
The theatre became a "licensed
Patent theatre
The patent theatres were the theatres that were licensed to perform "spoken drama" after the English Restoration of Charles II in 1660. Other theatres were prohibited from performing such "serious" drama, but were permitted to show comedy, pantomime or melodrama...
" house in 1809, and until 1812 it was used for dramatic performances by the Drury Lane Company after the burning of their own theatre
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
, until the erection of the new edifice. In 1816, Samuel Arnold rebuilt the house to a design by Beazley and opened it as The English Opera House, but it was destroyed by fire in 1830. The house was famous as the first theatre in London to be lit by gas and for hosting the London première of Mozart's opera Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....
. During this period, the "Sublime Society of Beef Steaks
Beefsteak Club
Beefsteak Club is the name, nickname and historically common misnomer applied by sources to several 18th and 19th century male dining clubs that celebrated the beefsteak as a symbol of patriotic and often Whig concepts of liberty and prosperity....
," which had been founded in 1735 by theatre manager Henry Rich, had its home at the theatre for over 50 years until 1867. The members, who never exceeded twenty-four in number, met every Saturday night to eat beefsteaks and drink port wine.
Present site
In 1834, the present house opened slightly to the west, with a frontage on Wellington Street, under the name "Theatre Royal Lyceum and English Opera House". The theatre was again designed by Beazley and cost £40,000. The new house championed English opera rather than the Italian operas that had played earlier in the century. Composer John BarnettJohn Barnett
John Barnett was an English composer and writer on music.-Life:Barnett was the eldest son of a Prussian Jew named Bernhard Beer, who changed his surname on settling in England as a jeweller. According to some he was a cousin of the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer...
produced a number of works in the first few years of the theatre, including The Mountain Sylph
The Mountain Sylph
The Mountain Sylph is an opera in two acts by John Barnett to a libretto by Thomas James Thackeray, after Trilby, ou le lutin d'Argail by Charles Nodier...
(1834), credited as the first modern English opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
. It was followed by Fair Rosamund in 1837 and Farinelli in 1839 (both at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
), and Blanche of Jersey here in 1840. In 1841–43, composer Michael Balfe managed the theatre and produced National Opera here, but the venture was ultimately unsuccessful. From 1844 to 1847 the theatre was managed by husband and wife team Robert Keeley
Robert Keeley (comedian)
Robert Keeley was an actor-manager, comedian and female impersonator of the nineteenth century. In 1823 he originated the role of 'Fritz' in Presumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein, a stage adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein.-Early life:Robert Keeley was born in London as one of...
and Mary Anne Keeley
Mary Anne Keeley
Mary Anne Keeley, née Goward was an English actress and actor-manager.She was born at Ipswich, her father being a brazier and tinman. After some experience in the provinces, she first appeared on the stage in London on July 2, 1825, in the opera Rosina...
, during which period the house became associated with adaptations of Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
's novels and Christmas books. For instance, an adaptation of Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit
Martin Chuzzlewit
The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit is a novel by Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialized between 1843-1844. Dickens himself proclaimed Martin Chuzzlewit to be his best work, but it was one of his least popular novels...
ran for over 100 performances from 1844–45 here, a long run for the time.
The Lyceum was later managed by Madame Lucia Elizabeth Vestris
Lucia Elizabeth Vestris
Lucia Elizabeth Vestris was an English actress and a contralto opera singer, appearing in Mozart and Rossini works. While popular in her time, she was more notable as a theatre producer and manager...
and Charles James Mathews
Charles James Mathews
Charles James Mathews was a British actor. He was one of the few British actors to be successful in French-speaking roles in France. A son of the actor Charles Mathews, he achieved a greater reputation than his father in the same profession and also excelled at light comedy...
from 1847–55, who produced James Planché
James Planche
James Robinson Planché was a British dramatist, antiquary and officer of arms. Over a period of approximately 60 years he wrote, adapted, or collaborated on 176 plays in a wide range of genres including extravaganza, farce, comedy, burletta, melodrama and opera...
's "[fairy] extravaganzas" featuring spectacular stage effects. Their first big success was John Maddison Morton
John Maddison Morton
John Maddison Morton was an English playwright who specialized in one-act farces. His most famous farce was Box and Cox . He also wrote comic dramas, pantomimes and other theatrical pieces.-Biography:...
's Box and Cox
Box and Cox
Box and Cox is a one act farce by John Maddison Morton. It is based on a French one-act vaudeville, Frisette, which had been produced in Paris in 1846....
. Tom Taylor
Tom Taylor
Tom Taylor was an English dramatist, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of Punch magazine...
's adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature....
, with Dickens himself as consultant, played in 1860, shortly after end of its serialisation and volume publication. Charles Fechter
Charles Fechter
-Biography:Fechter was born, probably in London, of French parents, although his mother was of Piedmontese and his father of German extraction.As a boy he had ambitions to be a sculptor's life but discovered his talent accidentally while appearing in some private theatricals. In 1841 he joined a...
, who managed the theatre from 1863–67 also favored spectacular productions. In 1866, Dion Boucicault
Dion Boucicault
Dionysius Lardner Boursiquot , commonly known as Dion Boucicault, was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the most successful actor-playwright-managers then in the...
's The Long Strike (his adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell
Elizabeth Gaskell
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, née Stevenson , often referred to simply as Mrs Gaskell, was a British novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era...
's Manchester novels Mary Barton and Lizzie Leigh) was produced here. Ethel Lavenu
Ethel Lavenu
Ethel Lavenu was a British stage actress. She was the mother of stage and silent screen actor Tyrone Power, Sr., and grandmother of the Hollywood film star Tyrone Power....
, the mother and grandmother of actors Tyrone Power, Sr.
Tyrone Power, Sr.
Frederick Tyrone Edmond Power was an English-born American stage and screen actor, who acted under the name Tyrone Power.-Early life:Power was born in London in 1869, the son of Harold Littledale Power and Ethel Lavenu...
and Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
performed in a number pieces at the theatre in the 1860s. W. S. Gilbert
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...
produced three plays here. In 1863, his first professional play, Uncle Baby, premièred. In 1867, he presented his Christmas pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
, called Harlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren
Harlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren
Harlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren; or, Fortunatus and the Water of Life, the Three Bears, the Three Gifts, the Three Wishes, and the Little Man who Woo'd the Little Maid was a pantomime written by W. S. Gilbert...
, and in 1884, he produced the drama Comedy and Tragedy.
Francesco Tamagno
Francesco Tamagno was an operatic tenor from Italy who sang with enormous success throughout Europe and America. On 5 February 1887, he cemented his place in musical history by creating the role of Otello in Giuseppe Verdi's masterpiece of the same name...
, appeared at the Lyceum, singing the leading role in the first London production of Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's opera Otello
Otello
Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887....
.
Irving years
Beginning in 1871, under manager Hezekiah Linthicum BatemanHezekiah Linthicum Bateman
Hezekiah Linthicum Bateman , known as H. L. Bateman, was an American actor and manager.Born in Baltimore, Maryland, his original goal was to be an engineer, but in 1832 became an actor, playing with Ellen Tree in juvenile leads...
and his wife, Henry Irving
Henry Irving
Sir Henry Irving , born John Henry Brodribb, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility for season after season at the Lyceum Theatre, establishing himself and his company as...
appeared at the theatre in, among other things, many Shakespeare works. Irving began with the French melodrama The Bells
The Bells (play)
The Bells is a play in three acts by Leopold Davis Lewis which was one of the greatest successes of the British actor Henry Irving. The play opened on November 25 1871 at the Lyceum Theatre in London and initially ran for 151 performances...
, an instant hit in which he played the ghost-haunted burgomaster. The piece ran to sell-out crowds for 150 nights, which was an unusually long run at the time. Charles I, in 1872 was another hit, running for 180 nights. In 1874, Irving played Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
at the theatre, perhaps his greatest triumph, running for 200 nights. In 1878, after Bateman's death, Irving took over management of the theatre from his widow. The Builder, 28 September 1878 reported that there was a difference between Irving and Mrs. Bateman regarding the personnel of the company at the Lyceum. "Mr. Irving is said to have told Mrs. Bateman that he was resolved to have actors to act with him, and not dolls, otherwise he would no longer play at the Lyceum. The result was that Mrs. Bateman threw up the management of the theatre, and Mr. Irving takes her place." Mrs. Bateman became the manager of Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue located in Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington. The present day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500 seat main auditorium and the Lilian Baylis Studio, with extensive...
.
Ellen Terry
Dame Ellen Terry, GBE was an English stage actress who became the leading Shakespearean actress in Britain. Among the members of her famous family is her great nephew, John Gielgud....
for that entire period of 24 years. Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker
Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...
worked between 1878 and 1898 as business manager of the theatre, and Irving was Stoker's real-life inspiration for the character Count Dracula
Count Dracula
Count Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula and archetypal vampire. Some aspects of his character have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian general and Wallachian Prince Vlad III the Impaler...
in his 1897 novel, Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
. Stoker hoped that Irving, with his dramatic, sweeping gestures, gentlemanly mannerisms, and speciality in playing villain roles, would play Dracula in the stage adaptation of his novel. However, Irving never agreed to appear in the stage version, although the play was produced at the Lyceum.
Irving and Terry began with Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
in 1878. Their 1879 production of The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
ran for an unusual 250 nights, and success followed success in the Shakespeare canon as well as in other major plays. Other celebrated productions included Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
, The Lady of Lyons by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (1878), Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
, King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
, The Lyons Mail by Charles Reade (1883), the immensely popular Faust by William Gorman Wills (1885, which even drew applications for reserved seats from foreigners), Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
(1888, with incidental music by Sir Arthur Sullivan), Henry VII
Henry VIII (play)
The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight is a history play by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, based on the life of Henry VIII of England. An alternative title, All is True, is recorded in contemporary documents, the title Henry VIII not appearing until the play's publication...
(1892), Becket by Alfred Tennyson (1893), King Arthur by J. Comyns Carr
J. Comyns Carr
Joseph William Comyns Carr was an English drama and art critic, gallery director, author, poet, playwright and theatre manager....
, with incidental music by Sir Arthur Sullivan (1895), Cymbeline
Cymbeline
Cymbeline , also known as Cymbeline, King of Britain or The Tragedy of Cymbeline, is a play by William Shakespeare, based on legends concerning the early Celtic British King Cunobelinus. Although listed as a tragedy in the First Folio, modern critics often classify Cymbeline as a romance...
(1896) and Victorien Sardou
Victorien Sardou
Victorien Sardou was a French dramatist. He is best remembered today for his development, along with Eugène Scribe, of the well-made play...
and Émile Moreau
Émile Moreau
Émile Moreau was a French playwright and screenwriter. In co-operation with Victorien Sardou, he wrote the plays Madame Sans-Gêne and Cleopatre . He also wrote the play Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth, and the script for its film adaptation, and was one of the co-founders of the Indian...
's play Madame Sans-Gêne (1897).
Johnston Forbes-Robertson
Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson was an English actor and theatre manager. He was considered the finest Hamlet of the nineteenth century and one of the finest actors of his time, despite his dislike of the job and his lifelong belief that he was temperamentally unsuited to acting.-Early life:Born in...
, Mrs. Patrick Campbell, Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt was a French stage and early film actress, and has been referred to as "the most famous actress the world has ever known". Bernhardt made her fame on the stages of France in the 1870s, and was soon in demand in Europe and the Americas...
and Eleanora Duse. Martin Harvey, a pupil of Irving's played a season there in 1899. Benoît-Constant Coquelin
Benoît-Constant Coquelin
Benoît-Constant Coquelin , known as Coquelin aîné, was a French actor, "one of the greatest theatrical figures of the age."-Biography:Coquelin was born in Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais...
appeared as Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac
Hercule-Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac was a French dramatist and duelist. He is now best remembered for the works of fiction which have been woven, often very loosely, around his life story, most notably the 1897 play by Edmond Rostand...
in the summer of 1898.
Later years
After being bought by Thomas BarrasfordThomas Barrasford
Thomas Barrasford was a 19th century British entertainment impresario and business entrepreneur, who owned and built a number of theatres across the United Kingdom under the Barrasford Halls brand.-Early career:...
, in 1904 the theatre was rebuilt and richly ornamented in rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
style by Bertie Crewe
Bertie Crewe
Bertie Crewe was one of the leading English theatre architects in the boom of 1885 to 1915-Biography:Born in Essex and partly trained by Frank Matcham, Crewe and his contemporaries W.G.R...
, retaining only the façade and portico of the original building. The theatre presented music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
and variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, in an attempt to compete with the Palace Theatre
Palace Theatre, London
The Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London. It is an imposing red-brick building that dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus and is located near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road...
and the new Stoll built London Coliseum
Coliseum Theatre
The London Coliseum is an opera house and major performing venue on St. Martin's Lane, central London. It is one of London's largest and best equipped theatres and opened in 1904, designed by theatrical architect Frank Matcham , for impresario Oswald Stoll...
, but this was not a success, and the theatre soon returned to presenting drama. From 1909–38 the Melville Brothers ran a successful series of spectacular melodramas. In 1919, additional minor alterations to the theatre were made by Edward Jones. Between the wars, dramas played at the theatre for ten months each year, followed by Christmas pantomimes, including Queen of Hearts in 1938. The Lyceum was the last London theatre to continue the early practise of concluding pantomimes with a harlequinade
Harlequinade
Harlequinade is a comic theatrical genre, defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "that part of a pantomime in which the harlequin and clown play the principal parts". It developed in England between the 17th and mid-19th centuries...
, a free standing entertainment of slapstick clowning, juggling and tumbling. The tradition ended with the closure of the theatre in 1939.
London City Council
London City Council is the governing body of the city of London, Ontario, Canada.-Composition:One Councillor represents each of the 14 city wards along with the Mayor,Joe Fontana resulting in a 15-member city council....
bought the building, with plans to demolish it to make room for road improvement. The theatre closed that year with a landmark performance of Hamlet directed by Sir John Gielgud
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
(Ellen Terry's great nephew). The road improvement plans collapsed, and after the war, in 1951, it was converted to a huge ballroom and reopened by Matthews and Sons, as the Lyceum Ballroom. Many big bands played here, including the Oscar Rabin Band
Oscar Rabin Band
The Oscar Rabin Band was a British Jazz dance band that was one of the most successful bands of the 1950s. Band leader Oscar Rabin played bass saxophone, an unusual instrument then as now. His friend Harry Davis, tall, elegant and good-looking, acted as compère and conductor.-Formation:Oscar...
which performed frequently. In the 1960s and 1970s, the theatre was used as a pop concert venue and for television broadcasts. The Grateful Dead, The Groundhogs
The Groundhogs
Groundhogs are a British rock band founded in late 1963, that toured extensively in the 1960s, achieved prominence in the early 1970s and continued sporadically into the 21st century.-Career:...
, The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
, Bob Marley & The Wailers
Bob Marley & The Wailers
Bob Marley & The Wailers were a Jamaican reggae, ska and rocksteady band formed by Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer in 1963. Additional members were Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso, Cherry Smith and Aston and Carlton Barrett...
, Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
, Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
, The Police
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
, The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
, Colosseum
Colosseum (band)
Colosseum is a pioneering British progressive jazz-rock band, mixing progressive rock and jazz-based improvisation.-History 1968 - 1971:The band was formed in September 1968 by drummer Jon Hiseman, tenor sax player Dick Heckstall-Smith and bass player Tony Reeves, who had previously worked together...
, U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
and Culture Club
Culture Club
Culture Club are a British rock band who were part of the 1980s New Romantic movement. The original band consisted of Boy George , Mikey Craig , Roy Hay and Jon Moss...
all played here. Bob Marley & The Wailers recorded their Live!
Live! (Bob Marley and the Wailers album)
Live! is a Bob Marley & The Wailers live album, released on 5 December 1975. Live! was recorded 18 July and 19 July 1975 at the Lyceum Theatre in London. The performance remains one of Marley's most famous...
album here on 18–19 July 1975. Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
filmed a performance there in May 1980 for broadcast on the Old Grey Whistle Test
Old Grey Whistle Test
The Old Grey Whistle Test was an influential BBC2 television music show that ran from 1971 to 1987. It took over the BBC2 late night slot from "Disco Two", which had been running since January 1970, while continuing to feature non-chart music. It was devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers...
. This footage appears on the 2007 CD/DVD re-release of their 1980 album Duke
Duke (album)
Duke is the tenth studio album by British band Genesis, released in March 1980.-Overview:The release of Duke followed solo albums by Genesis members Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford ....
.
A proposed redevelopment of Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
by the GLC
Greater London Council
The Greater London Council was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council which had covered a much smaller area...
in 1968 saw the theatre under threat, together with the nearby Vaudeville
Vaudeville Theatre
The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on The Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each new building retained elements of the previous...
, Garrick
Garrick Theatre
The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster. It opened on 24 April 1889 with The Profligate, a play by Arthur Wing Pinero. In its early years, it appears to have specialised in the performance of melodrama, and today the theatre is a...
, Adelphi
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
and Duchess theatre
Duchess Theatre
The Duchess Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, London, located in Catherine Street, near Aldwych.The theatre opened on 25 November 1929 and is one of the smallest 'proscenium arched' West End theatres. It has 479 seats on two levels....
s. An active campaign by Equity
British Actors' Equity Association
Equity is the trade union for actors, stage managers and models in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1930 by a group of West End performers....
, the Musicians' Union
Musicians' Union (UK)
-About the MU:The Musicians' Union is an organisation which represents over 30,000 musicians working in all sectors of the UK music business.-Campaigns:The MU stages regular campaigns in relation to relevant musical and industrial issues...
, and theatre owners under the auspices of the Save London Theatres Campaign led to the abandonment of the scheme. In 1973, the theatre gained protection and was Grade II* listed as Interior despite adaptation and alteration for present ballroom use retains [a] substantial part of Crewe's work.
The theatre went dark in 1986, after the National Theatre's
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
promenade performances (in 1985) of Bill Bryden
Bill Bryden
William Campbell Rough Bryden CBE is a British stage- and film director and screenwriter.-Biography:...
's adaptation of the Mysteries
The Mysteries (play)
The Mysteries is a version of the medieval English mystery plays presented at London's National Theatre in 1977. The cycle of three plays tells the story of the Bible from the creation to the last judgement....
trilogy. Brent Walker leased the theatre during this time but later gave up his lease, and in 1996 it was restored and reconverted into a theatre for large-scale musicals or opera (with a suitably large orchestra pit) by Holohan Architects.
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
version of The Lion King
The Lion King (musical)
The Lion King is a musical based on the 1994 Disney animated film of the same name with music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice along with the musical score created by Hans Zimmer with choral arrangements by Lebo M. Directed by Julie Taymor, the musical features actors in animal costumes as well...
since 1999. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the production, which has grossed over £289 million and been seen by more than eight million people, 250 former cast members gathered onstage, together with designer-director Julie Taymor
Julie Taymor
Julie Taymor is an American director of theater, opera and film. Taymor's work has received many accolades from critics, and she has earned two Tony Awards out of four nominations, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design, an Emmy Award and an Academy Award nomination for Original Song...
. Prime Minister David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
and actor James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
, who voiced the role of King Mufasa in the original Disney film, attended the performance.
Recent and present productions
- Jesus Christ SuperstarJesus Christ SuperstarJesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
(19 November 1996 – 28 March 1998) - Oklahoma!Oklahoma!Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance...
(February 1999 – June 1999) - The Lion KingThe Lion King (musical)The Lion King is a musical based on the 1994 Disney animated film of the same name with music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice along with the musical score created by Hans Zimmer with choral arrangements by Lebo M. Directed by Julie Taymor, the musical features actors in animal costumes as well...
(24 September 1999 – )
Travel
The nearest London UndergroundLondon Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
station is Covent Garden
Covent Garden tube station
Covent Garden is a London Underground station in Covent Garden. It is on the Piccadilly Line between Leicester Square and Holborn. The station is a Grade II listed building, on the corner of Long Acre and James Street...
.
External links
- Lyceum Theatre London.org.uk – Official website
- The Bram Stoker Collection (on his collaboration with Henry Irving at the Lyceum)
- Statistical information about the theatre
- Architectural information about the theatre
- Information about productions at the theatre at the Victorian WebVictorian WebThe Victorian Web is an online resource of information about the Victorian Era created at Brown University and at the University Scholars Program of the National University of Singapore....
- A cogent summary of the theatre's history
- Research article about the ownership (lessor) of the theatre, with information about the Irving era
- History of the Sublime Society of Beef Steaks