The Prince Edward Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Old Compton Street, just north of Leicester Square, in the City of Westminster.
The theatre was designed in 1930 by Edward A. Stone, with an interior designed by Marc-Henri Levy and Gaston Laverdet. Named after Prince Edward (then the Prince of Wales, briefly Edward VIII and later Duke of Windsor), it opened on April 3, 1930 with a performance of the musical Rio Rita. Other notable events in its opening years included the London debut of famed cabaret artiste Josephine Baker, who performed her famous 'Bananas Dance'.
In 1935, Stone converted the theatre to a dance and cabaret hall, being renamed the "London Casino".
As the London Casino, it was badly damaged and all its windows lost in London's worst air raid of WWII on the 10th May 1941. All neighbouring buildings directly across Greek Street were destroyed.
In 1942, stage alterations were undertaken by Thomas Braddock, re-opening as the "Queensberry All Services Club" in 1942 – a club for servicemen, the shows were broadcast on the BBC. After the war, the architects T. and B. Bradock restored the building to theatrical use, becoming the "London Casino" once again — when the King of Yiddish Music Leo Fuld hit the stage. In 1954, the same architects converted it to a cinema, reopening as the "Casino Cinerama Theatre".
In 1974, the theatre was acquired by impresario Bernard Delfont, and a new screen installed at a cost of £150,000. Four years later, in 1978, it was converted back to a theatre, by RHWL Architects and given its original name, reopening with the world première of the musical Evita on 21 June 1978. Further renovations were undertaken by RHWL in 1992–93, increasing the size of the stage, reopening 3 March 1993 with a revival of Crazy for You. The ABBA musical, Mamma Mia! premièred here on 6 April 1999, transferring to the Prince of Wales Theatre, after a five year run.
Owned by the Delfont Mackintosh Group, and with a capacity of 1,618, it currently hosts Jersey Boys which opened 18 March 2008. Until 12 January 2008 it hosted Mary Poppins, before the show toured.
Read more about Prince Edward Theatre: Recent and Present Productions
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“Discontented women dream of being rescued by Prince Charming. Discontented men dream of finding a horny blond in the back seat of a taxi.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
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—W.E.B. (William Edward Burghardt)
“I can get dressed earlier in the evening with every intention of going to a dance at midnight, but somehow after the theatre the thing to do seems to be either to go to bed or sit around somewhere. It doesn’t seem possible that somewhere people can be expecting you at an hour like that.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)