Her Majesty's Theatre

Her Majesty's Theatre, West End theatre, situated in the Haymarket, London. The first theatre on the site was built in 1705 by Sir John Vanbrugh, combining his careers as dramatist and architect. Vanbrugh's theatre was originally named the Queen's, in honour of Queen Anne, and later became the King's, and eventually Her Majesty's, in accordance with the reigns of successive monarchs. The theatre was used as London's first opera house, and many operas by Handel were presented there. It was rebuilt following a fire in 1789 entirely for the purposes of ballet and opera and remained successful. The theatre suffered a further fire in 1867 and its fortunes changed. It was again rebuilt, but did not reopen for ten years, later being forced to close. It was eventually demolished. The present Her Majesty's Theatre stands on the site of the old, and was built in 1897 to a design by C. J. Phipps, for the theatrical actor-manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree. Tree produced a successful repertoire of both Shakespeare and new works, and established a theatre school within the building, although it soon moved to other premises; the school became the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. The theatre, seating 1,283, continued to thrive after Tree's departure, presenting both plays and musicals, with some of the most successful runs including Chu Chin Chow (1916), Fiddler on the Roof (1967, for five years), and The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber (1986), which celebrated its 6,000th performance in 2001. It is operated by Really Useful Theatres.