GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING ARTIST SHEENA EASTON TO MAKE WEST END DEBUT IN 42ND STREET - CAST INCLUDES TOM LISTER, CLARE HALSE, JASNA IVIR and NORMAN BOWMAN - PREVIEWS FROM MONDAY 20 MARCH 2017 AT THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY LANE. Sheena Easton – the Grammy Award winning artist who has sold over 20 million records around the world – is to make her West End debut in the forthcoming production of 42nd Street. Easton, who remains the only artist in history to have top five records on five major Billboard … [Read more...]
Theatre Royal Drury Lane London Tickets, News & Reviews
As Frozen celebrates its first year on Broadway, Disney Theatrical Productions today announces the opening of a new production of the musical in London’s West End in Autumn 2020. With music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, and book by Jennifer Lee, Michael Grandage’s production, with set and costume designs by Christopher Oram, lighting design by Natasha Katz, and choreography by Rob Ashford, will reopen the newly refurbished Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
Frozen – produced by Disney Theatrical Productions under the direction of Thomas Schumacher - opened on Broadway in March 2018 and quickly established itself as the biggest new musical hit of its season, nominated for the Tony Award® for Best Musical. In addition to the opening in London, the musical has a North American tour planned for Autumn 2019, productions in Australia and Japan opening in 2020, and a further production for Hamburg in 2021.
LW Theatres is in the middle of a £60 million restoration project of Theatre Royal Drury Lane. The ambitious scheme not only encompasses the complete refurbishment of the magnificent 1812 Greek Revival ‘front of house’ designed by Benjamin Wyatt, but also the reconstruction of the stage facilities and dressing rooms, the creation of new bars and restaurant, plus the refashioning of the auditorium to play in both the traditional proscenium arch and in the round.
Frozen the Musical heads to Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 2020
Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Catherine Street, London, WC2B 5JF
Venue and Travel Information
Nearest Tube: Covent Garden
Tube Lines: Piccadilly
Directions from nearest tube: Turn right on Long Acre; turn right into Bow Street and after 100 metres it will be on your left in Russell Street/Catherine Street.
Railway Station: Charing Cross
Bus Numbers: (Aldwych) 6, 11, 13, 23, 59, 68, 87, 171, 172, 188, RV1, X68
Night Bus Numbers: (Aldwych) 6, 23, 188, N11, N13, N26, N47, N68, N87, N89, N155, N171, N551
Car Park: Drury Lane, Parker Street
Within Congestion Zone: Yes
Venue Facilities: Air conditioned, Bar, Disabled toilets, Infrared hearing loop, Toilets, Wheelchair accessible
Theatre Royal Drury Lane
The first theatre on the site of Drury Lane theatre was opened in 1663 as the Theatre Royal Brydges Street with an audience capacity of about 700. It was built by Thomas Killigrew who held one of only two charters granted by Charles II at his Restoration to the throne in 1662. (Theatres had been banned during Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth). The theatre survived the Great Fire of London in 1666 but burnt down in 1672 (in the days of wooden framed buildings and candles, fire was a perennial problem).
The second theatre, which opened in 1674, was much larger and could seat 2,000. The theatre struggled against stronger competition for a few years and was even forced to close, but in 1682 the Drury Lane company and their rivals joined forces under the management of Thomas Betterton. After a few successful years, the theatre again found itself in difficulty and it was not until the famous actor David Garrick took over the management in 1747 that the theatre’s fortunes began to rise. Garrick was succeeded in 1777 by the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
In 1791 the theatre was again rebuilt and opened in 1794 with a seating capacity of 3,611. This lasted only 15 years and was burnt down in 1809. Sheridan could not afford to rebuild it, but the brewer Samuel Whitbread who was one of the shareholders raised £400,000 and the fourth theatre – still there today – opened in 1814.
Some of the most famous luminaries of British Theatre performed in the historic theatres on this site, including Nell Gwynne, Mrs Siddons, Garrick, Kean and Grimaldi. The theatre has hosted musicals including Rose Marie, Show Boat, My Fair Lady and most recently Oliver! Visitors to the Upper Circle during matinees, however, be warned the Theatre Royal has its own Phantom, the notorious Man in Grey, said to be the ghost of the man whose body was found in the walls of the Theatre Royal in 1840.
Golden Ticket Winners on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Five aspiring stage managers have won their big break into the theatre industry after receiving a Golden Ticket to a week-long paid work placement on Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the record-breaking West End musical, directed by Sam Mendes. The five lucky winners were Lizzie Alderson, 25, from Maidstone, Kent, Jyothi Giles, 22, from Oxford, Joeleen Green, 29, from Albany, Australia, Patrick Mullan, 27, from County Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland, and Katie Williams, 27, … [Read more...]
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory heading for New York and UK Tour
The award-winning West End production of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, directed by Sam Mendes, continues to capture the imagination of audiences as it enters its fourth and final year at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is one of the West End’s most popular and successful stage musicals and has broken house records at Theatre Royal Drury Lane where it has been seen by over 1.8 million people since it opened in June 2013. It … [Read more...]
HEY, OLD FRIENDS: An 85th Birthday Tribute to Stephen Sondheim – Review
“Into the words / That trip your lip and fry your brain, and sprain your tongue / Into the words / So complicated, grown-ups find it scary.” So sang ‘Forbidden Broadway’ to the tune of Stephen Sondheim’s title tune from Into The Woods, and at Hey, Old Friends!, a gala marking the great composer’s 85th birthday, the Stephen Sondheim Society wasted no time in picking up on this theme. Its opening number, before anybody had said so much as ‘Hello and welcome…’ was … [Read more...]
Review of Seasons of Love at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
I have so much admiration for anyone putting on a new piece of work. It must be horrible back-stage waiting for the lights to go down and I’m sure last night was no exception for everyone involved in the world premiere of “Seasons of Love” at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Well folks, let me reassure you that you can relax as the show was excellent. Using an impressive combination of songs, instrumental pieces, dance and video projection “Seasons of Love” takes the audience on a journey … [Read more...]
West End première of Seasons of Love Theatre Royal Drury Lane 1 March 2015
West End première of a major new show from the creative team behind the London Olympics closing ceremony and world tours by Madonna and Take That. Glen Leddy for Roots of Ireland Touring Ltd presents Seasons of Love - Tickets will go on sale at 10am on Friday 21 November Seasons of Love, a joyful, spectacular music and dance production poignantly portraying three love stories over the four seasons of the year and different stages of life, will get its world premiere in the West End at the … [Read more...]
Review of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Lesson learned. Never judge a book by its cover. The first time I went to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane was to see 42nd Street in 1984, so a distant memory - and the second was Oliver! with Kerry Ellis. We sat in the gods. You get to the top by another doorway outside and gain no perception whatsoever of what the theatre is like. I'm sure it was very good, but I have Upper Circle issues that involve thoughts of sick bags and clinging onto the seat next to me, hence my apathy for going back to … [Read more...]