New London Theatre

New London Theatre, West End theatre, situated in Drury Lane, London. It is part of a complex of buildings and is built on the site of the Winter Garden Theatre, which was demolished in 1965. The New London was designed by Sean Kenny, who ensured its versatility with an enormous revolve that includes the stage, orchestra pit, and some seats, and enables the venue to change from proscenium to open stage with ease. When the New London opened in January 1973, this technology earned it the reputation of “a theatre of the future”. It has an audience capacity of up to 911.

The first production shown at the New London was The Unknown Solider and His Wife in 1973, both written by and starring Peter Ustinov. However, over the next few years it proved hard to find suitable productions for the theatre, and from 1977 until 1980 it was used as a television studio. In May 1981 it returned to being used as a theatre with the opening of Cats, an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. At last the full potential of the theatre was being exploited and the show became immensely popular. By the end of the century the show was still housed at the New London and, having outperformed other musicals on Broadway and the West End, was known as the longest-running musical in the world. It was announced by producer Cameron Mackintosh that Cats would close in May 2002.