Lyceum Theater (London)
The Lyceum Theater is a theater in London . It is located in the West End theater district .
history
The theater was built in 1765 by James Payne for the Society of Artists . Samuel Arnold turned it into a concert and exhibition hall in 1794. Among other things, the first exhibition of Madame Tussauds wax figures took place here in 1802 .
In 1805 there were two theaters that were also used. In 1809, Samuel Arnold's son Samuel Arnold junior took over. the theater and received permission to run it as an opera house in the summer. After the fire in the Drury Lane Theater , its ensemble played in the Lyceum Theater from 1809 to 1812.
Referred to as “Theatrical Saloon” on program slips in 1792, the name “Theater Royal” appears for the first time in 1810. Mainly ballad operas , musicals and melodramas were played .
In 1818 a renovation took place. From August 1817, the Lyceum Theater became the first London theater to use gas lighting for the stage. In 1830 the house burned down and in 1834 it was reopened. In the following years the troupe of Madame Vestris, Kate Bateman and Ellen Terry played here .
Henry Irving , the leading British actor of his day, ran the theater from 1878 to 1902, and Bram Stoker (best known as the author of the novel Dracula ) was the director. Afterwards it was demolished because of excessive renovation costs and rebuilt in 1904. It was initially used as a music hall until Smith and Carpenter took over the theater in 1907 and successfully staged dramas by William Shakespeare .
From 1909 to 1938 the Melville brothers ran the Lyceum Theater. The last performances took place from June 28th to July 1st, 1939. Was performed Hamlet with John Gielgud in the title role.
After the war the building was used as a dance palace and was later closed. In 1994 it was rebuilt, and in 1996 it was reopened as a musical venue.
Current display
The musical The Lion King has been performed since October 19, 1999 .
literature
- Manfred Brauneck , Gérard Schneilin (ed.): Theater Lexicon 1. Terms and epochs, stages and ensembles . Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag Reinbek near Hamburg, 5th completely revised new edition August 2007, ISBN 978-3-499-55673-9
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 30 ′ 42.1 ″ N , 0 ° 7 ′ 10.7 ″ W.