About the theatre
The Queen''s Theatre is a theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue in the West End of London, next to the Gielgud Theatre, as whose twin it was designed by W. G. R. Sprague at the beginning of the 20th century. The theatre opened in 1906. As opposed to the Gielgud, whose exterior has little changed, the facade of the Queen''s Theatre was hit by a German bomb in September 1940 so that the theatre today has a modern shell and an Edwardian interior.
The Queen''s Theatre has seen such talents as Edith Evans, George Bernard Shaw, John Gielgud, Noel Coward, Kenneth Branagh, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Hawthorne, Jane Lapotaire, Alec Guinness, Fiona Shaw and Maggie Smith.
Since April 2004, the theatre has played host to Cameron Mackintosh''s production of Les Miserables which transferred, after 18 years from the Palace Theatre just 100m up the road. The musical celebrated its 20th anniversary at the venue on 8th October 2005 and will overtake Cats as the longest running musical of all time on 8th October 2006 should it continue.
The Queen''s is set to form part of owner Cameron Mackintosh''s masterplan for a new Shaftesbury Avenue theatre complex. As part of this scheme, the foyer will be amalgimated with the adjoinding Gielgud Theatre (also owned by Mackintosh), and the Queen''s is to be reformed into 1200 seats over two levels. On the roof, will be the new Sondheim Theatre scheduled to open in late 2007.
Current shows at Queens Theatre
News items for productions at Queens Theatre
Archive shows at Queens Theatre