Early years The theatre was designed for the brothers Walter and Frederick Melville by
Bertie Crewe and opened on 26 December 1911, the last new theatre to open in Shaftesbury Avenue. The site, at the junction of Shaftesbury Avenue and
High Holborn, had previously been what the theatre historians
Mander and Mitchenson call "a maze of derelict property". The exterior is faced in
terracotta and brick stone with a three-tier façade of vertically aligned windows, topped by a pillared
cupola above the entrance. The New Prince's was London's first entirely steel-framed theatre, with no supporting pillars in the auditorium to obstruct the view. The original colour scheme of the auditorium was cream and gold. '' (1919), starring
Maggie Teyte|alt=couple in 18th-century costume, the man kneeling on one knee, the woman standing The Brothers Melville, who were already running the
Lyceum Theatre, London, intended to continue their policy of staging popular melodramas. Early shows at the New Princes included Carlton Wallace's
The Apple of Eden (1912),
Arthur Shirley and
Ben Landeck's
Women and Wine (1912) and Walter Howard's romantic drama
The Story of the Rosary, (1913), In 1913 the theatre presented a comedy, ''
Brewster's Millions'', and
Shakespeare's
The Merchant of Venice with
Frank Cellier as Shylock, but reverted to melodrama with ''On His Majesty's Service
(1914), When London Sleeps
(1915) and For England, Home, and Beauty'' (1915), which ran for a hundred performances. From September of that year the theatre presented a sell-out eighteen-week season of
Gilbert and Sullivan operas by the
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, returning to the
West End for the first time since 1908. During the season the company presented ten
Savoy operas including the first revival of the 1884 work
Princess Ida.
1920s From February 1920
Pretty Peggy, a musical, ran for 168 performances. In April 1921
Sarah Bernhardt appeared in the title role of Daniel in a play by
Louis Verneuil, '', revived at the Prince's in 1921|alt=stage scene with male figure, centre, cowering from ghosts surrounding him; they are in the costumes of various historical figures D'Oyly Carte returned in October 1921 for a 27-week season during which
Ruddigore was seen in London for the first time since the original 1887 run.
Sybil Thorndike appeared in
Macbeth with
Henry Ainley (1926), In December 1927
George Robey presented his
revue Bits and Pieces. The following year
Fred and
Adele Astaire starred in the
Gershwins' musical
Funny Face, with
Leslie Henson. The run was interrupted by a gas explosion in High Holborn not far from the theatre, but after the reopening the show completed a run of 263 performances. The last major production of the 1920s was a
farce,
A Warm Corner, starring
W. H. Berry; it ran for 238 performances from December 1929. For the next few years short runs and revivals predominated at the Prince's. In 1933
Charles Macdona revived
Victorien Sardou's
Diplomacy with an all-star cast that included
Gerald du Maurier,
Lewis Casson,
Basil Rathbone,
Margaret Bannerman and
Joyce Kennedy. During the 1934 season the Prince's featured a revival of
Edward German and
Basil Hood's comic opera
Merrie England, which ran for 187 performances. It was followed by a revival of
Sullivan and Hood's
The Rose of Persia the following year – the first professional staging of the piece since the original London run in 1899–1900. It did not achieve the success of the revival of
Merrie England, closing after 25 performances. In 1935 there was a rare venture into the classics, with a revival of
The Alchemist. Two of
Ian Hay's adaptations of
Edgar Wallace stories followed:
The Frog (1936, 483 performances) and
The Gusher (1937, 137 performances). A 1938 success, with 260 performances, was
Wild Oats, described as "a song and laugh show" with music by
Noel Gay and words by
Douglas Furber. In March 1939, aiming to attract a new, younger, audience to the theatre,
J. B. Priestley arranged to have his comedy
When We Are Married – which had run successfully at the
St Martin's Theatre at normal West End prices – transferred to the Prince's with tickets at half the usual price.
Sitting Pretty (1939) was a comedy starring
Sydney Howard. Towards the end of the year,
Firth Shephard launched a topical revue, ''Shephard's Pie''.
1940s (1926 photograph), star of
Wild Rose|alt=young, slim white woman with straight dark hair in low cut evening gown, seated and turning her head to look at the camera Productions during the
Second World War included another Shephard revue,
Fun and Games (August 1941, with a cast including Sydney Howard,
Carol Raye and
Richard Hearne);
Wild Rose (August 1942, a revised version of the 1920 musical
Sally, starring
Jessie Matthews);
Old Chelsea (February 1943, starring
Richard Tauber), and
Halfway to Heaven (December 1943, a comedy starring Howard and
Bobby Howes).
Sadler's Wells Theatre being closed for the duration of the war, its opera and ballet companies toured, and in 1944 based themselves at the Prince's for London seasons. The opera season included
The Bartered Bride,
La bohème,
Madame Butterfly,
Rigoletto,
The Marriage of Figaro and
Cosi fan tutte; the company was led by
Joan Cross, and included
Peter Pears,
Owen Brannigan and
Rose Hill. The ballet season presented twelve works, including
Coppélia,
Swan Lake,
Carnaval and the premiere of
Miracle in the Gorbals, with choreography by
Robert Helpmann and music by
Arthur Bliss; the company included Helpmann,
Margot Fonteyn,
Alexis Rassine and
Moira Shearer. In 1945
Evelyn Laye starred in
Oscar Straus's operetta
Three Waltzes, In 1946 the theatre staged another Shephard revue,
The Shephard Show, with Hearne,
Arthur Riscoe,
Douglas Byng and
Marie Burke. it opened in May 1950 and ran for 452 performances. In 1951 the theatre presented seasons of dance by
Uday Shankar and his Indian Dancers,
Pearl Primus and her African Dance company and the
Royal Swedish Ballet. Montague's management ended in 1952. The freehold of the theatre remained in the Melville family until 1961; between 1957 and 1961 the theatre was directed by Andrew Melville.
1960s D'Oyly Carte made its last Prince's appearances in 1960–61, a nine-week season, presenting ten operas.
King Kong, a South African musical, ran from February to October 1961, and there were what Mander and Mitchenson describe as "several uneventful productions" until
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes opened in August 1962. It was still running (and moved to another theatre) when the Prince's closed for reconstruction in November 1962. The old
Shaftesbury Theatre, further down
Shaftesbury Avenue, had closed in 1941, reduced to a ruin during the
Blitz, and the owners of the Prince's adopted its name for their theatre. The old
raked stage was replaced with a horizontal one, and lighting equipment described as "the last word in modernity" was installed; the seating capacity of the renovated auditorium was 1,470. The Shaftesbury reopened on 20 November 1965 with
Twang!!,
Lionel Bart's musical version of the
Robin Hood story.
The Times later described it as the most expensive flop in West End history to that date. The critic
J. C. Trewin described the first night as "a rout" with "some fairly general booing". The show closed after 43 performances, after which the theatre was closed until October 1966, when success returned with a farce,
Big Bad Mouse, originally written by
Philip King and
Falkland Cary, but extensively and successfully ad-libbed through by its stars,
Eric Sykes and
Jimmy Edwards – "two comedians abounding in their own exuberance" according to Trewin. It ran for 634 performances to April 1968. Theatre censorship ended in Britain on 26 September 1968, and the following night the musical
Hair opened at the Shaftesbury. Described as an "American Tribal Love-Rock Musical", the show contained profanity and scenes of nudity unthinkable until then. It had an exceptionally long run and was just short of its 2,000th performance when part of the theatre ceiling collapsed and the house had to be closed.
1970s '', 1975 In 1973 the theatre was at risk of demolition, faced by proposals by the
Greater London Council for a massive road-building programme and by a plan to build an office block on the site. Nearly twenty years earlier a campaign to preserve the
St James's Theatre from demolition and commercial redevelopment had failed, despite high-profile support led by
Laurence Olivier and
Vivien Leigh, but in the 1970s the campaign "Save London's Theatres" rescued the Shaftesbury (and other theatres). In March 1974 the theatre was protected by being given official grade II
listed building status. After the necessary internal repairs the theatre reopened with a well-received revival of
West Side Story in December 1974. Other productions in the 1970s included a musical stage version of the
BBC television series
''Dad's Army'', starring
Arthur Lowe,
John Le Mesurier and
Clive Dunn (October 1975 to February 1976). In September 1978 the theatre presented a revival of
Hamilton Deane and
John L. Balderston's 1920s dramatisation of
Dracula, starring
Terence Stamp, with scenic designs by
Edward Gorey; it ran for three months.
1980s ''
They're Playing Our Song (1980–1982) starring Tom Conti and Gemma Craven was produced by the actor and writer Ray Cooney. After the end of that run and a nine-month closure Cooney presented his farce, Run For Your Wife'' with
Richard Briers,
Bernard Cribbins and
Bill Pertwee. This was the first play under the banner of the Theatre of Comedy, founded by Cooney, who said, "We have the finest comedy talents in the world in this country, both performers and writers, and I could never understand why we could not create our own theatre of comedy". The Theatre of Comedy became the lessee of the Shaftesbury, and later bought the building. The company was funded by a founding group of well-known actors and authors. The intention was for the Shaftesbury to have a programme of British comedy showcasing existing and new talent. Substantial runs in the 1980s included
Shaw's Pygmalion (1984) with
Peter O'Toole,
Jackie Smith-Wood and
John Thaw;
Two into One, another Cooney farce, starring
Donald Sinden and
Michael Williams, and described by
The Stage as masterly (1984–1986);
Saturday Night Live, a revue starring
Rowan Atkinson (1986), of which the reviewer in
The Stage wrote, "One leaves the theatre genuinely weak from laughter";
Sondheim's
Follies with an all-star cast in a 645-performance run (1987–1989); and
M. Butterfly starring
Anthony Hopkins (1989).
1990s Sinden and Williams starred again in a Cooney farce,
Out of Order, in 1990, which won the
Olivier Award for best comedy in 1991. In 1992 the American television executive
Donald L. Taffner, a shareholder in the Theatre of Comedy since 1986, became the majority shareholder and chairman of the company. and
Suzy Izzard in her show
Definite Article (1995), of which the reviewer in
The Stage wrote, "you will laugh, laugh again and continue laughing until you feel considerable physical pain. I did." A revival of
Rodgers and Hammerstein's
Carousel ran from September 1993 to March 1994, with choreography by
Kenneth MacMillan; the sets, by
Bob Crowley, were, in the view of
The Times "the biggest star in
Nicholas Hytner's lavish production". In 1996–97 the theatre staged
Tommy, a musical by
Pete Townshend and
Des McAnuff (1996–97), with
Paul Keating in the title role. The production showcased the Shaftesbury's advanced technical facilities:
The Stage called the production "a unique theatrical experience, with scenery that falls faultlessly into place, up, down and sideways ... superb lighting ... wonderfully balanced sound ... and immaculate projection". The musical itself was less well liked: in his
Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre (2001)
Kurt Gänzl comments, "London gave it the thumbs down in 11 expensive months". From May 1998 to October 1999 the Shaftesbury was host to the musical
Rent, which, following a recent fashion for musicals borrowing the plots of
Puccini operas, drew on that of
La bohème; it starred
Anthony Rapp,
Adam Pascal,
Wilson Jermaine Heredia and
Jesse L. Martin from the original Broadway cast.
Napoleon (September 2000 to February 2001), and
Peggy Sue Got Married starring
Ruthie Henshall (August to October 2001).
Umoja: The Spirit of Togetherness was well received on opening in November 2001, but noise complaints from the inhabitants of the flats near the theatre resulted in the closure of the show three months later. Further short runs followed for
Thoroughly Modern Millie (21 October 2003), starring
Amanda Holden and
Maureen Lipman;
Bat Boy: The Musical (27 August 2004) by Keythe Farley,
Brian Flemming and
Laurence O'Keefe, starring
Deven May; and
The Far Pavilions (14 April 2005), starring
Kulvinder Ghir; it was described by
The Stage as "a galumphing great Asian white elephant of a musical". They were followed by
Daddy Cool (21 September 2006) by
Frank Farian, starring
Michelle Collins,
Javine Hylton and Harvey Junior, and
Fame: The Musical (4 May 2007) by
Jacques Levy and Steve Margoshes, starring
Ian Watkins and
Natalie Casey of which
The Times commented, "It really is difficult to find a kind word to say about
Karen Bruce's production of this shockingly clumsy spin-off". The theatre then had a long run with
Hairspray: The Musical, which ran from 30 October 2007 to 28 March 2010. It was written by
Marc Shaiman and
Scott Wittman; the original cast starred
Michael Ball,
Leanne Jones,
Mel Smith and
Tracie Bennett. Later in the run
Brian Conley and then
Phill Jupitus succeeded Ball in the lead role.
2010s During the decade the external façades of the theatre were renovated, and the original early-20th-century canopy was uncovered and restored. The auditorium was reconfigured, air conditioning and ventilation updates, and a fly tower with increased technical capability was constructed. was followed by another musical,
Flashdance (26 September). After that there was a magic show,
Derren Brown – Svengali (8 June 2011). The theatre returned to musicals with
Rock of Ages (27 September 2011); that was followed by a second run of
Burn the Floor (6 March 2013), which was succeeded by a new musical by
Tim Rice and Stuart Brayson,
From Here to Eternity, (30 September 2013). A revival of
The Pajama Game (13 May 2014), which transferred from the
Chichester Festival, was notable for being the first West End show to be
crowd funded. It was followed by
Memphis, starring
Beverley Knight (22 October 2014); After a short season by a touring "magic spectacular"
The Illusionists – Witness the Impossible (14 November 2015),
Motown, presented the story of the
Motown record label founder
Berry Gordy (March 2016). On 20 November 2019 a new musical
& Juliet opened at the Shaftesbury. The run was interrupted when the
COVID-19 pandemic forced West End theatres to close on 16 March 2020.
2020s The theatre reopened on 30 June 2021 with the musical
Be More Chill (30 June 2021), after which
& Juliet resumed its interrupted run in September. Another American musical,
Mrs Doubtfire, opened on 12 May 2023, with music and lyrics by
Karey and
Wayne Kirkpatrick and a book by Karey Kirkpatrick and
John O'Farrell. The theatre is scheduled show the musical
Avenue Q from March to August 2026. ==Notes==