Royalty Theater
The Royalty Theater was a theater on Dean Street in Soho , London that existed from 1840 to 1938.
history
The theater went back to the idea of the actress Frances Maria Kelly (1790-1882) to found a theater academy. On the evening of the opening on May 25, 1840, three pieces were performed: Summer and Winter by Morris Barnett , a melodrama , The Sergeant's Wife , and a farce , The Midnight Hour . The theater closed after just a week, presumably in part due to the high ticket prices of five or six shillings . On February 22, 1841, the theater was reopened at lower admission prices and used briefly by Kelly for her own monologues . With her illness, however, the use of the theater temporarily ended.
The theater building was reopened in 1850 as the (Royal) Soho Theater and was named New English Opera House from November 5, 1850 . The building was rented mainly to amateur actors. In 1861 Albina di Rhona took over the theater and changed the name to New Royalty Theater . The reopening turned out to be unsuccessful.
In the early 1870s, the theater was directed by Henrietta Hodson , who mainly staged burlesque and comedies, including WS Gilbert's The Realm of Joy and Ought We to Visit her? In 1872 the building was renamed the Royalty Theater and has kept that name ever since. On March 25, 1875, the theater, then under the direction of Selina Dolaro , had a great success with the performance of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta Trial by Jury . From 1877 the theater was directed by Kate Santley . From 1891, more modern dramas were performed, including plays by Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw . A great success was celebrated with the production of Brandon Thomas' piece Charley's Aunt in 1892.
After alterations and renovations, during which the number of seats was increased to 657, the theater was reopened on January 4, 1906. The last performance was on November 25, 1938, and in 1953 the building was demolished.
origin
In January 1850, the theater reopened as the Royal Soho Theater after being renovated by WW Deane and SJ Nicholl. November 1850, it was renamed the New English Opera House . Various productions have been performed, including the English Grand Opera. The performances were mostly done by amateurs who hired the theater at standard prices.
In 1861 Albina di Rhona , a Serbian ballerina and comic actress, took over the management of the theater. She named it New Royalty Theater and had it called by “M. Bulot, Parisian interior designer for his Imperial Majesty, Louis Napoleon, ”remodeled and redecorated with cut glass glasses, painted panels, blue satin curtains and gold. In the opening program, di Rhona , the leader of the Boston Brass Band from America, danced a horn solo, and a melodrama , Atar Gull, was performed with 14-year-old Ellen Terry in the cast. However, the reopening was not a success.
In 1862 the theater was leased by Mrs. Charles Selby , who also ran an acting school. It enlarged the original theater and could accommodate around 650 people. She used the theater to showcase it to her students and occasionally rented it out to other people. The theater kept changing hands.
It was directed by Martha Cranmer Oliver from 1866 to 1870 , who featured mostly burlesque , including FC Burnand's burlesque by Black-Eyed Susan , which ran for nearly 500 nights, and a burlesque by WS Gilbert, The Merry Zingara . The theater was directed by Henrietta Hodson in the early 1870s . She also produced mostly burlesques and comedies , including Gilberts' The Realm of Joy and Ought We to Visit her?
In 1872, it came to be known as the Royalty Theater , and kept that name (although it was occasionally known as the New Royalty Theater).
literature
- Raymond Mander, Joe Mitchenson: Lost Theaters of London. Rupert Hart-Davis, London 1968, ISBN 0-450-02838-0
Web links
- History of the theater on arthurlloyd.co.uk
Individual evidence
- ^ The Pitt Estate on Dean Street: The Royalty Theater | British History Online. Retrieved May 15, 2019 .
- ↑ Theater PDF. Retrieved May 15, 2019 .
- ^ The Royalty Theater, 73 Dean Street, Soho. Retrieved May 15, 2019 .