Daly's Theatre - After Edwardes

After Edwardes

Edwardes died in 1915, leaving his estate in considerable debt. The theatre continued to be managed by Robert Evett as part of Edwardes's estate. Evett directed and produced The Happy Day (1916) and the smash hit, The Maid of the Mountains (1917), both starring José Collins. The show ran for a record-breaking three years and saved the Edwardes estate. This was followed by A Southern Maid (1917; revived 1920) and Our Peg (later adapted into Our Nell). Evett also directed revivals of The Dollar Princess.

Later, other managements took over the theatre. In 1927, Noël Coward's famous flop Sirocco played at Daly's. After this failure, Daly's returned to musical comedies but found little further success. That's a Pretty Thing played in 1933, Charley's Aunt was revived in 1934, and Young England was transferred there in 1935. The theatre eventually closed in 1937 after the last performance of The First Legion and was sold to Warner Brothers who demolished the theatre and built a large theatre and cinema called the Warner Theatre. This in turn was demolished, and the site redeveloped as the Warner Village cinema complex. It has changed hands again, and is now the Vue West End.