The Prince Edward Theatre named after the then Prince of Wales opened on 3rd April 1930 with Rio Rita, a romantic musical comedy set in Mexico starring Edith Day and Geoffrey Gwyther. The show had been a big hit in New York's Ziegfeld Theatre. Sadly, it did not find similar success with London audiences and closed after only 59 performances.
However, the building itself was a success, designed by Edward A.Stone, who had been joint architect of the Piccadilly Theatre in 1928, it had interior decorations in the fashionable Art Deco style, qith staricases leading off to the stalls and dress circle. While from outside the theatre - designed in the style of an italian palazzo - appeared rather severe, inside it was decortaed in warm shades of fuchsia and gold. The auditorium was large, seating 1,650 people. The stage too was very sizeable, being specifically designed to accommodate extravagant musical shows during which an Austin saloon moght bowl on stage (Nippy, 1930) or a large, filled swimming pool form part of the set (Wish You Were Here, 1953).
The theatre had a chequered early production history and it was not until a syndicate was formed to turn the theatre into a cabaret-resterant that its fortunes took a turn for better. Large kitchains were installed beneath the stage, a semi-circular revolving dance floor was put in and staircases linking the dress circle and stalles were added. In this guise it re-opened on 2 April 1936 as the London Casino with s spectacular revue called Folies Parisiennes. The London Casino quickly became the place to go for an evening's entertainment and for the first time it was making money, takins of £6-7,000 per week being not uncommon.
In 1940 the Blitz called a halt to all such frivolity and for two years the theatre was dark. Then in July 1942 it became the home of the Queensberry All-Services Club. The audiances were members of the different forces who gathered for the recording of shows like Variety Band Box. By the time the club closed it had made more than 2,500 morale boosting broadcasts to troops overseas. Leading artists who appeared included Vera Lynn, Jack Warner, Max Well, Flanagan and Allan, child star Petula Clark and band-leaders Glenn Miller, Ambrose and Jack Hylton. Bing Crosby was singing there when he found himself competing with the noise of London's first bomb.
After the war the theatre hosted variety shows, Robert Nesbitt presented a seris of spectacular Latin Quarter Revues and there was a traditional annual pantomine - Julie Andrews appeared in Humpty Dumpty and Aladdin and Aurther Askey was a cheeky Buttons in Cinderella.
In 1945 Cimerama arrived and the theatre that had been wired for 'talkies' since the day it was built was concerted to house a large, curved 64ft wide screen with three projectors to create a three-dimensional effect. How the West Was Won ran continuosly for over two years and Stanley Kurbrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey for more than one year. It remained a cinema until in 1978 when Evita, the show that finally enabled the theatre to etablish itself as a venue for musicals, opened and ran for almost eight years. To concide with the opening the theatre reverted to its original name of the Prince Edward. Evita was followed by a three year run of Tim Rice's Chess and later by Anything Goes.
In 1992 Bernard Delfont and Cameron Mackintosh decided to rebuild the Price Edward. They spent £3 million on a compplete refurbishment of the stage and autitorium. The whole project was completed in just over three months and put the owners, Delfont Mackintosh Theatres Limited, at the forefront if musical theatre design.
The Prince Edward reopened on 3rd March 1993 with the hit Broadway musical Crazy For You. Most recently Mamma Mia!, the musical love story featuring Abba's greatest hits, broke all previous box office records when it sold out for five years before transferring to the newly refurbished Prince of Wales Theatre in June 2004.
Prior to the opening of Mary Poppins the Price Edward Theatre has again undergone some refurbishment to improve the bar areas and other facilities front of house and the artistes dressing rooms. For the first time audiences can walk out on the balcony outside the dress circle bar just as if it were a real italian palazzo.
by Rosy Runciman - Archivist.
Taken from the Mary Poppins Photographic Album
