Theatres - Her Majesty\'s Theatre

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Phantom Of The Opera ( Her Majesty's Theatre ) - Musical

The story of The Phantom of the Opera is based on a classic French thriller written by Gaston Leroux. The plot is set in the Paris Opéra Garnier. A series of strange events in this Opera House led to the birth of a mystic opera ghost. The most dramatic occurrences were a fire leaving people injured and causing deaths in 1894, the counterbalance of a chandelier crashing down and killing a woman in 1896. With some of the most extravagant sets, costumes and special effects ever designed for a musical, The Phantom of the Opera is a stage phenomenon. The musical premiered at Her Majesty's Theatre in London in October 1986 and has been played over 9.500 times on London's stages. Worldwide it has been staged in 90 cities and has won more than 50 major theatre awards. Please Note: the sides of the grand circle are side view restricted. The rear of the stalls and royal circle are restricted by the overhang.

Her Majesty's Theatre

Haymarket
London SW1Y 4QL

Nearest Tube: Piccadilly Circus
Nearest Bus Stop: 3, 6, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19, 22, 22B, 38, 53, 88, 94, 159

The current theatre is actually the 4th theatre to occupy this site:

The first, called The Queen's Theatre, was built by Sir John Vanbrugh and opened on 9 April 1705. The theatre changed it's name to The Kings Theatre in 1714 when King George I ascended the throne. This theatre was associated with opera from the early 1710's until 1789 when the theatre was destroyed by fire.

The second theatre was designed by designed by Michael Novosielski and opened in March 1791. This theatre was again associated with opera, aswell as ballet. It was here that some of Mozart's operas were first presented in London, "La Clemenza de Tito" in 1806, "Cosi fan Tutte" in 1811 and "Don Giovanni" in 1816.

Between 1816 and 1818 alterations were made to the auditorium and facades by John Nash and George Renton who also added the Royal Opera Arcade which runs along the rear of the theatre and still stands today. In 1837 the name of the theatre was changed to Her Majesty's Theatre, Italian Opera House when Queen Victoria ascended to the throne. The 'Italian Opera House' part of the name was subsquently dropped in 1847. Then, in December 1867, the theatre was once again destroyed by fire.

The theatre was rebuilt in 1869, this time designed by Charles Lee, although the theatre remained dark until 1875 when once again opera was mostly presented here. In 1892 the theatre was demolished, leaving just the Royal Opera Arcade.

The current, and fourth, theatre on this site was designed by C J Phipps and opened 28 April 1897. Now the trend has changed, showing mostly plays, with just the occasional opera. Then in 1916 "Chu Chin Chow" started a record breaking run of 2,238 performances. In 1929 Noel Coward's "Bitter Sweet" was produced here and enjoyed a run of 697 performances. After the Second World War the theatre mostly presented musicals which included "Brigadoon" in 1949, "Paint Your Wagon" in 1953, "West Side Story" in 1958 and "Fiddler On The Roof" in 1967 which had a run of 2,030 performances. The Andrew Lloyd Webber/Charles Hart musical, "Phantom of the Opera" opened here on 9 October 1986.

Renovations took place on the dome and exterior in 1992, and on the interior in 1994.