Wyndham's Theatre

Wyndham's Theatre

Honour, starring Diana Rigg, at Wyndham's in 2006
Address St. Martin's Court
London, WC2
United Kingdom
Coordinates 51°30′40″N 0°07′42″W / 51.511111°N 0.128222°W / 51.511111; -0.128222
Public transit London Underground Leicester Square
Owner Salisbury Estate
Operator Delfont Mackintosh Theatres
Designation Grade II* listed
Type West End theatre
Capacity 759 on 4 levels
Production No Man's Land
Construction
Opened 16 November 1889 (1889-11-16)
Architect W. G. R. Sprague
Website
Wyndham's Theatre page on the Delfont Mackintosh Theatres site

Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by the actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W.G.R. Sprague, the architect of six other London theatres between then and 1916. It was designed to seat 759 patrons on three levels although later refurbishment increased this to four. The theatre was Grade II* listed by English Heritage in September 1960.[1]

History

Wyndham had always dreamed of building a theatre of his own and through the admiration of a patron and the financial confidence of friends, he was able to realise his dream when Wyndham's Theatre opened on 16 November 1899, in the presence of the Prince of Wales. The first play performed there was a revival of T. W. Robertson's David Garrick.

In 1910, Gerald du Maurier began an association with the theatre which lasted 15 years and to include the stage debut of the screen actress Tallulah Bankhead. Du Maurier's small daughter, Daphne, often watched her father's performance from the wings. Thirty years later she presented her own play, The Years Between, on the same stage.

In April 1953 the theatre premiered Graham Greene's first play, The Living Room, with a cast including Dorothy Tutin.[2] In January 1954, a small-scale musical pastiche, Sandy Wilson's The Boy Friend, which had begun life at the much smaller Players' Theatre, was moved to the Wyndham stage. It ran for 2,078 performances, before eventually transferring to Broadway. During the 60s and early 70s the theatre continued to provide a setting for stars such as Alec Guinness (Wise Child), Vanessa Redgrave and Diana Rigg.

The blockbuster of the decade – Godspell – opened at Wyndham's in January 1972 and lasted to October 1974. The original cast included David Essex, Marti Webb and Jeremy Irons.

Wyndham's Theatre just before its opening on 16 November 1900.

Among more recent distinguished productions were the world premiere of The Ride Down Mt. Morgan by Arthur Miller and the British premiere of Edward Albee's Three Tall Women, starring Maggie Smith. Twenty-five years after making her debut there, Diana Rigg returned to play a hugely successful season as Medea. The critically acclaimed comedy, 'Art', by Yasmina Reza, began its record-breaking run at Wyndham's in 1996 with Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay and Ken Stott in the cast. It opened in October 1996, and transferred to the Whitehall Theatre in October 2001.

Madonna made her West End debut there in 2002, performing in a sell-out production of Up For Grabs. This was followed by many other dramatic productions including Dinner and the National Theatre's Democracy during 2004, Holly Hunter in By The Bog Of Cats, American TV star Ruby Wax in a children's stage version of The Witches which ran during March 2005, followed by a controversial limited season of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues which ran without the stars – Sharon Osbourne and her daughter Aimee, who dropped out the night before the production opened. Since then, theatre patrons have seen Sienna Miller star alongside Helen McCrory, Reece Shearsmith and Clive Rowe in a new production of Shakespeare's As You Like It.

A large-scale replica of the facade of the theatre was constructed at the Universal Studios theme park in Orlando as part of the park's London themed area.[3]

Delfont Mackintosh era

In May 2005, the theatre was taken over by Cameron Mackintosh's Delfont-Mackintosh Ltd. which began operations of the venue in September 2005. In October 2005 the theatre presented Tom Stoppard's Heroes, a translation of the French play Le vent des peupliers by Gérald Sibleyras which starred Richard Griffiths and John Hurt.[4]

The following year the theatre hosted a new production of Joanna Murray-Smith's play Honour starring Diana Rigg, Martin Jarvis and Natascha McElhone, which ran between 7 February and 6 May 2006. It later hosted the West End transfer of the Menier Chocolate Factory's hit production of Stephen Sondheim's musical Sunday in the Park with George, which starred Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell and ran till September. Between December 2006 and April 2007, the theatre presented the West End commercial transfer of Alan Bennett's National Theatre hit The History Boys which played to sell-out houses during its run until April 2007.

Bill Kenwright's production of Somerset Maugham's The Letter played through summer 2007, before a short hiatus where Chita Rivera was scheduled for a London return but was forced to postpone. Shadowlands, based on the life story of C.S. Lewis opened in October 2007, starring Charles Dance and Janie Dee, before another return of Alan Bennett's The History Boys from December 2007.

The theatre closed temporarily for refurbishment works before reopening in September 2008 with Kenneth Branagh starring in Michael Grandage's production of Chekhov's Ivanov in a new version by Tom Stoppard, the opening play in the Donmar West End twelve-month season at Wyndham's, with tickets at Donmar Warehouse prices.[5]

The Donmar West End season also included Derek Jacobi starring in Twelfth Night, Judi Dench in Yukio Mishima's Madame de Sade and Jude Law in Hamlet, all staged by Grandage.

Recent, present and future productions

Donmar West End at the Wyndham's

References

  1. ↑ English Heritage listing details accessed 28 Apr 2007
  2. ↑ http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2003/nov/12/theatre.grahamgreene
  3. ↑ "On the Road to Diagon Alley: The London Embankment".
  4. ↑ Aleks Sierz, "Sir Tom in the doghouse", The Telegraph, 10 October 2005. Retrieved 2012-12-15.
  5. ↑ Mark Shenton reporting for The Stage on the 2008 refurbishment
  6. ↑ http://westend.broadwayworld.com/article/AVENUE_Q_Finds_A_New_Home_In_The_West_End_20100121
  7. ↑ http://www.wyndhams-theatre.com/
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