History
The inaugural performance was a variety bill on 24 December 1904. In 1911, dramatist W. S. Gilbert produced his last play here, The Hooligan.
The theatre changed its name from the London Coliseum to the Coliseum Theatre between 1931 and 1968 when a run of 651 performances of the musical comedy White Horse Inn began on 8 April 1931. It reverted to the original name when the Sadler's Wells Opera Company moved there in 1968. clThe Company changed its name to the English National Opera in 1974 and bought the freehold of the building for £12.8m.
From 16 June 1963 it became the second of London's three Cinerama Theatres, first showing the 3-strip version for the first 5 months, then 70mm single strip film was shown until 22 May 1968 when it screened its final movie.
It has the widest proscenium arch in London and was one of the first to have electric lighting. It was built with a revolving stage although this was rarely used. The theatre retains many of its original features and was Grade II* listed by English Heritage in September 1960. The design team for the refurbishment was RHWL (architects), Arup Acoustics (acousticians) and Arup (building engineers).
The theatre hosted both the 2004 and 2006 Royal Variety Performances, in the presence of HRH the Prince of Wales.
Read more about this topic: Coliseum Theatre
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