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Address:
Piccadilly Theatre
Denman Street
W1D 7DY
Theatre location
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Seating plan
Piccadilly Theatre
Nearest tube
Piccadilly Circus
The Piccadilly Theatre is situated on Denman Street in London''s West
End, hidden behind Piccadilly Circus.
It is currently owned and operated by the Ambassador Theatre Group, and
plays host to the Donmar Warehouse production of Guys & Dolls starring
Nigel Harman, Jenna Russell and Nigel Lindsay. From 6th March the
production will star Adam Cooper, Sally Ann Triplett, Neil Morrissey
and Kelly Price.
At its grand opening in April 1928, the Piccadilly Theatre was one of
the largest theatres to be built in London, as its souvenir brochure
claimed, ''If all the bricks used in the building were laid in a
straight line, they would stretch from London to Paris''. The opening
production starred one of the most acclaimed actresses of the period,
Miss Evelyn Laye.
In its early days, the Piccadilly operated as a cinema and made
entertainment history when it premiered the very first talking picture
to be shown in Britain, The Singing Fool with Al Jolson. He also opened
the Jazz Singer in 1928 and appeared afterwards on-stage to sing
Mammie.
The Piccadilly has presented most forms of stage entertainment from
Who''s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (with its original Broadway cast) to A
Night with Dame Edna. There have been a variety of Royal Shakespeare
Company productions including Edward II starring Ian McKellen, and
Henry Fonda also made his West End debut in the solo play, Clarence
Darrow and Y.
The 1990s witnessed an expansion in musicals, ballet and dance, notably
the most successful commercial ballet season ever to play in the West
End, with Adventures in Motion Pictures'' Swan Lake.
The Piccadilly has been home to a season of plays directed by Sir Peter
Hall, starring famous names such as Judi Dench, Michael Pennington,
Julia MacKenzie and Eric Sykes. It has also hosted the smash-hit
musical Spend Spend Spend starring the Olivier award-winning actress,
Barbara Dickson, the sell-out run of Shockheaded Peter, Noises Off
starring Lynn Redgrave, Ragtime,the transfer of the National Theatre''s
acclaimed production of Jumpers and most recently Jailhouse Rock.
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