The Princess's Theatre or Princess Theatre was a theatre in Oxford Street, London. The building opened in 1828 as the "Queen's Bazaar" and housed a diorama by Clarkson Stanfield and David Roberts. It was converted into a theatre and opened in 1836 as the Princess's Theatre, named for then Princess Victoria before her accession as queen.[1] After an unsuccessful series of promenade concerts, alterations were made on the interior, and the theatre was reopened on 26 December 1842 with Vincenzo Bellini's opera La sonnambula. The theatre, by now under the management of John Medex Maddox, presented operas and other entertainments, such as General Tom Thumb.
The theatre is best remembered for Charles Kean's Shakespeare revivals, beginning in 1849 and continuing for ten years. Kean presented these in lavish and well-researched "authentic" productions[2] and also presented French drama. Dion Boucicault became the theatre's leading actor, and Ellen Terry and Henry Irving got their starts at the theatre. Thereafter, the theatre presented mainly melodrama. H. J. Byron wrote a series of Christmas pantomimes for the theatre, beginning in 1859 with Jack the Giant Killer, or, Harlequin, King Arthur, and ye Knights of ye Round Table[3] and followed the next year by Robinson Crusoe, or Harlequin Friday and the King of the Caribee Islands![4] In 1863, Sefton Parry, recently returned from Cape Town, appeared as Cousin Joe in the farce The Rough Diamond.[5] In 1864, a particularly popular drama was presented at the theatre called The Streets of London. The theatre was demolished and rebuilt in 1879–80. After this, the theatre continued to present melodramas, including The Lights o' London (1881) and The Silver King (1882).
In 1887, the theatre hosted the farcical comedy Romany Rye written by George Robert Sims, performed by the company of Gilbert Elliott,[6] and the show toured from there to the Theatre Royal, Exeter, where the opening night resulted in the Exeter Theatre Royal fire, which was the deadliest theatre disaster in UK history, killed 186 people.
Princess House has stood on the site of the theatre since 1931.
The theatre closed permanently in 1902 after its last success, The Fatal Wedding by Theodore Kremer, and the building became a warehouse. It was demolished in 1931 and replaced by the art deco Princess House (at 150 Oxford Street). This initially housed a Woolworth store, then subsequently (in 1986) the flagship HMV store, which closed in 2014 and was replaced by a Sports Direct store.[7]
^Bruegge, Andrew Vorder "W. S. Gilbert: Antiquarian Authenticity and Artistic Autocracy" (Associate Professor, Department Chair, Department of Theatre and Dance, Winthrop University). Professor Bruegge presented this paper at the Victorian Interdisciplinary Studies Association of the Western United States annual conference in October 2002 10 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 26 March 2008
^Lee, Amy Wai Sum. "Henry J. Byron"[permanent dead link], Hong Kong Baptist University
^"Theatre Royal, Exeter". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. 30 August 1887.
^Saint, Andrew, ed. (2020). "Chapter 3". Survey of London, vol. 53: Oxford Street. Yale University Press.
Hartnoll, Phyllis (1983). The Oxford Companion to the Theatre (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-211546-4.
Thomas, Peter (1995). "Princess's Theatre". In Banham, Martin (ed.). The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. London: Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-43437-8.
"Princess's Theatre". Retrieved 24 August 2007.
External linksedit
Media related to Princess's Theatre, London at Wikimedia Commons
January 01, 1970
princess, theatre, london, 51583, 13778, 51583, 13778, 1847, poster, princess, theatre, princess, theatre, princess, theatre, theatre, oxford, street, london, building, opened, 1828, queen, bazaar, housed, diorama, clarkson, stanfield, david, roberts, converte. 51 30 57 N 0 8 16 W 51 51583 N 0 13778 W 51 51583 0 13778 1847 poster for the Princess s Theatre The Princess s Theatre or Princess Theatre was a theatre in Oxford Street London The building opened in 1828 as the Queen s Bazaar and housed a diorama by Clarkson Stanfield and David Roberts It was converted into a theatre and opened in 1836 as the Princess s Theatre named for then Princess Victoria before her accession as queen 1 After an unsuccessful series of promenade concerts alterations were made on the interior and the theatre was reopened on 26 December 1842 with Vincenzo Bellini s opera La sonnambula The theatre by now under the management of John Medex Maddox presented operas and other entertainments such as General Tom Thumb The theatre is best remembered for Charles Kean s Shakespeare revivals beginning in 1849 and continuing for ten years Kean presented these in lavish and well researched authentic productions 2 and also presented French drama Dion Boucicault became the theatre s leading actor and Ellen Terry and Henry Irving got their starts at the theatre Thereafter the theatre presented mainly melodrama H J Byron wrote a series of Christmas pantomimes for the theatre beginning in 1859 with Jack the Giant Killer or Harlequin King Arthur and ye Knights of ye Round Table 3 and followed the next year by Robinson Crusoe or Harlequin Friday and the King of the Caribee Islands 4 In 1863 Sefton Parry recently returned from Cape Town appeared as Cousin Joe in the farce The Rough Diamond 5 In 1864 a particularly popular drama was presented at the theatre called The Streets of London The theatre was demolished and rebuilt in 1879 80 After this the theatre continued to present melodramas including The Lights o London 1881 and The Silver King 1882 In 1887 the theatre hosted the farcical comedy Romany Rye written by George Robert Sims performed by the company of Gilbert Elliott 6 and the show toured from there to the Theatre Royal Exeter where the opening night resulted in the Exeter Theatre Royal fire which was the deadliest theatre disaster in UK history killed 186 people Princess House has stood on the site of the theatre since 1931 The theatre closed permanently in 1902 after its last success The Fatal Wedding by Theodore Kremer and the building became a warehouse It was demolished in 1931 and replaced by the art deco Princess House at 150 Oxford Street This initially housed a Woolworth store then subsequently in 1986 the flagship HMV store which closed in 2014 and was replaced by a Sports Direct store 7 References edit Thomason p 883 Bruegge Andrew Vorder W S Gilbert Antiquarian Authenticity and Artistic Autocracy Associate Professor Department Chair Department of Theatre and Dance Winthrop University Professor Bruegge presented this paper at the Victorian Interdisciplinary Studies Association of the Western United States annual conference in October 2002 Archived 10 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine accessed 26 March 2008 Lee Amy Wai Sum Henry J Byron permanent dead link Hong Kong Baptist University Script for Robinson Crusoe or Harlequin Friday permanent dead link 1860 Leeds Intelligencer 19 September 1863 p 3 Theatre Royal Exeter Exeter and Plymouth Gazette 30 August 1887 Saint Andrew ed 2020 Chapter 3 Survey of London vol 53 Oxford Street Yale University Press Hartnoll Phyllis 1983 The Oxford Companion to the Theatre 4th ed Oxford Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 211546 4 Thomas Peter 1995 Princess s Theatre In Banham Martin ed The Cambridge Guide to Theatre London Cambridge University Press ISBN 0 521 43437 8 Princess s Theatre Retrieved 24 August 2007 External links edit nbsp Media related to Princess s Theatre London at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Princess 27s Theatre London amp oldid 1217189765, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
