The Queen's Theatre opened on 8 October 1907, almost 10 months after its twin, the Gielgud Theatre, on the adjoining corner of Shaftesbury Avenue. The architect for both was W.G.R. Sprague, the Queen's being the seventh West End theatre he had designed in addition to many outside London. Seating over 1,000 it was slightly larger than the Gielgud and like most theatres at the time exhibited a combination of architectural styles and influences, the most predominant being what was then termed the 'Edwardian Renaissance' style. The theatre's opening was not as auspicious as was hoped, the first show, Sugar Bowl, a comedy by Madeleine Lucette Riley, only ran for 36 performances and was quickly followed by an assortment of equally short-lived plays and comedies.

In September 1940 a highly successful run of Rebecca with Owen Nares, Celia Johnson and Margaret Rutherford was brought to a premature end when the theatre received a direct hit during a bombing raid. The stone dome, grand staircase and foyer spaces were almost completely obliterated and the Queen's went dark for nearly 20 years. Since reopening in 1959, it's fared slightly better, staging the seductive Marlene Dietrich in two cabaret seasons and Alec Guinness in his own take on Jonathan Swift's writings. The greatest success, however, is the 2004 transfer of RSC's version of Boublil and Schönberg's Les Miserable that continues to draw in audiences.

What's On

Please visit their website.