Queen's Theatre
The
Queen's Theatre is a theatre in
Shaftesbury Avenue in the
West End of London, next to the
Gielgud Theatre, as whose twin it was designed by
W.G.R. Sprague at the beginning of the
20th century. The theatre opened in
1906. The theatre has a modern shell but an Edwardian interior following a hit on the
facade by a
German bomb in September
1940. The Queen's Theatre has seen such talents as
Edith Evans,
George Bernard Shaw,
John Gielgud,
Noel Coward,
Kenneth Branagh,
Marlene Dietrich,
Miranda Richardson,
Nigel Hawthorne,
Jane Lapotaire,
Alec Guinness,
Fiona Shaw and
Maggie Smith.
Since April 2004, the theatre has played host to Cameron Mackintosh's production of
Les Misérables which transferred after 18 years at the nearby
Palace Theatre. The musical celebrated its 20th anniversary at the venue on 8th October 2005 and will overtake
Cats as the longest running musical of all time on 8th October 2006.
The Queen's is set to form part of owner
Cameron Mackintosh's masterplan for a new Shaftesbury Avenue theatre complex. As part of this scheme, the foyer will be amalgamated with the adjoining
Gielgud Theatre (also owned by Mackintosh), and the Queen's will be transformed into 1200 seats over two levels. On the roof, will be the new
Sondheim Theatre scheduled to open in late 2007.
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Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch*
Queen's Theatre, Dorset Garden
