Prince of Wales Theatre

Prince of Wales Theatre, West End theatre, situated on Coventry Street, London. The theatre opened as the Prince’s Theatre in January 1884 under actor-manager Edgar Bruce. The opening production was W. S. Gilbert’s comedy The Palace of Truth. It was renamed the Prince of Wales Theatre in 1886. Its first successful production was a mime show, L’Enfant Prodigue (The Prodigal Son) in 1891. This was followed shortly afterwards by a George Edwardes production, In Town, which is generally seen as the forerunner of the English musical. The turn of the century saw performances by Mrs Patrick Campbell, Johnston Forbes-Robertson, John Martin-Harvey, and Marie Tempest in a variety of plays. However, from 1903 for 30 years the theatre housed only musicals and revues. The current building was constructed by Robert Crombie, the theatre being rebuilt in 1937 in the style of the period; the look chosen for the interior was simple but with dramatic flowing curves. This redesign gave the theatre a bigger stage and auditorium, suitable for major musical productions. In recent years the theatre has hosted lavish musicals, including a record-breaking run of Aspects of Love (1989) by Andrew Lloyd Webber; Annie Get Your Gun (1992); City of Angels (1993); the long-running success, Smokey Joe’s Café (1996), based on the songs of Leiber and Stoller; West Side Story (1999); Fosse (2000); and The Witches of Eastwick (2001). The theatre seats 1,122 and was recently redecorated in the original 1930s style. It is currently controlled by Delfont Mackintosh Theatres, which is jointly owned by Cameron Mackintosh.