Theatre Royal, Nottingham
Encyclopedia
The Theatre Royal, Nottingham in Nottingham
, England
, is part of the city's Royal Centre, which also incorporates the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall
. The theatre is in the heart of Nottingham City Centre
and is owned by Nottingham City Council
. The Theatre Royal attracts major touring dramas, opera
, ballet
, West End
musicals and an annual pantomime
.
columns designed by Charles J. Phipps are still a major Nottingham
landmark.
The Theatre Royal opened on Monday, 25th September 1865 with Sheridan
's The School for Scandal
.
Baroness Orczy's The Scarlet Pimpernel
(1903) was first produced at the Theatre Royal by Fred Terry
and Julia Neilson
before being published as a novel. Although initially the play was met with little success, the novel is credited with influencing the mystery genre and arguably creating the "masked hero" genre.
On October 6, 1952, the theatre made history with the world premiere of The Mousetrap
(as part of a pre-West End tour). The play has gone on to be the longest-running theatrical production in the world.
In 1969 the city council bought the theatre and began restoring it, re-opening it in 1978. It was in need of restoration and had earned a reputation as one of the worst theatres for backstage conditions in the country.
The original capacity was 2,200 comprised as follows:
Dress Circle - 250
Private Boxes - 50
Upper Boxes - 250
Pit - 850
Gallery - 800
was engaged to build the new Empire Palace of Varieties next door. The Theatre Royal was closed between the end of April and September 1897 for remodelling. The works included building new dressing rooms at the rear to clear part of the site for the Empire. Matcham also refashioned the existing auditorium.
Frank Matcham pioneered the use of cantilevered steel in his designs, and patented his design. This allowed balconies to be built without the use of supporting pillars; which had characterised the work of the previous generation of theatre architects, such as Phipps. Without pillars, lowering the stage and increasing the rake of the tiers: sight lines were much improved and the audience capacity increased to around 3,000.
2010 Aladdin
with Stephen Mulhern
and Gray O'Brien
.
2009 Jack and the Beanstalk
with Nigel Havers
and Jenna-Louise Coleman
.
2008 Cinderella
with Brian Conley
.
2007 Peter Pan
with Debra Stephenson
and John Challis
.
2006 Aladdin with Basil Brush
, Christopher Biggins
and Claire Sweeney
.
2005 Snow White
with Claire Sweeney and Keavy Lynch.
2004 Dick Whittington with Kevin Kennedy
and Colin Baker
.
2003 Peter Pan with Joe Pasquale
and Leslie Grantham
.
2002 Cinderella with Bobby Davro
and Alex Lovell
.
2001 Aladdin with Cannon and Ball
and Sooty
.
2000 Jack and the Beanstalk with the Chuckle Brothers
and Bonnie Langford
.
1999 Snow White.
1998 Dick Whittington with Lesley Joseph
, John Nettles
and Hilary Minster
.
1997 Cinderella with Bradley Walsh and Judy Cornwell
.
1996 Peter Pan.
1993 Mother Goose
with Frank Windsor
and Maggie Moonie.
1991 Cinderella with Anne Charleston
.
1985 Aladdin with The Patton Brothers
, Jimmy Cricket
and Barbara Windsor
.
1981 Aladdin with Barbara Windsor, Keith Harris and Billy Dainty
.
1975 Robin Hood
with The Patton Brothers.
1974 Jack and the Beanstalk with Little and Large
and Dorothy Dampier
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, is part of the city's Royal Centre, which also incorporates the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall
Nottingham Royal Concert Hall
The Royal Concert Hall in the English city of Nottingham, is part of the city's Royal Centre, which also incorporates the Victorian Theatre Royal...
. The theatre is in the heart of Nottingham City Centre
Nottingham City Centre
Nottingham city centre is the cultural, commercial, financial and historical heart of Nottingham, England. Nottingham's city centre represents the central area of the Greater Nottingham conurbation....
and is owned by Nottingham City Council
Nottingham City Council
Nottingham City Council is the non-metropolitan district council for the unitary authority of Nottingham in Nottinghamshire. It consists of 55 councillors, representing a total of 20 wards, elected every four years. It is led by Jon Collins, of the majority Labour Party. The deputy leader of the...
. The Theatre Royal attracts major touring dramas, opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
, West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
musicals and an annual pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
.
History
The Theatre Royal was completed in 1865, after six months of work and costing the clients, lace manufacturers John and William Lambert £15,000 . The Classic façade and CorinthianCorinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
columns designed by Charles J. Phipps are still a major Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
landmark.
The Theatre Royal opened on Monday, 25th September 1865 with Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan was an Irish-born playwright and poet and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. For thirty-two years he was also a Whig Member of the British House of Commons for Stafford , Westminster and Ilchester...
's The School for Scandal
The School for Scandal
The School for Scandal is a play written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on May 8, 1777.The prologue, written by David Garrick, commends the play, its subject, and its author to the audience...
.
Baroness Orczy's The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a play and adventure novel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, set during the Reign of Terror following the start of the French Revolution. The story is a precursor to the "disguised superhero" tales such as Zorro and Batman....
(1903) was first produced at the Theatre Royal by Fred Terry
Fred Terry
Fred Terry was an English actor and theatrical manager. After establishing his reputation in London and in the provinces for a decade, he joined the company of Herbert Beerbohm Tree where he remained for four years, meeting his future wife, Julia Neilson...
and Julia Neilson
Julia Neilson
Julia Neilson was an English actress best known for her numerous performances as Lady Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel, for her roles in many tragedies and historical romances, and for her portrayal of Rosalind in a long-running production of As You Like It.After establishing her reputation in a...
before being published as a novel. Although initially the play was met with little success, the novel is credited with influencing the mystery genre and arguably creating the "masked hero" genre.
On October 6, 1952, the theatre made history with the world premiere of The Mousetrap
The Mousetrap
The Mousetrap is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. The Mousetrap opened in the West End of London in 1952, and has been running continuously since then. It has the longest initial run of any play in history, with over 24,500 performances so far. It is the longest running show of the modern...
(as part of a pre-West End tour). The play has gone on to be the longest-running theatrical production in the world.
In 1969 the city council bought the theatre and began restoring it, re-opening it in 1978. It was in need of restoration and had earned a reputation as one of the worst theatres for backstage conditions in the country.
Phipps' Building - 1865
The elegant portico, with its six Corinthian columns of Ancaster stone; owe much to the desire of the Lamberts to build a prestigious theatre. Indeed, the orientation of the portico was designed to afford maximum effect; closing a new street from the Great Market Place, Market Street (originally named Theatre Street).The original capacity was 2,200 comprised as follows:
Dress Circle - 250
Private Boxes - 50
Upper Boxes - 250
Pit - 850
Gallery - 800
Matcham's remodelling - 1897
The noted theatrical architect Frank MatchamFrank Matcham
Frank Matcham was a famous English theatrical architect. He is buried in Highgate Cemetery.-Early career:...
was engaged to build the new Empire Palace of Varieties next door. The Theatre Royal was closed between the end of April and September 1897 for remodelling. The works included building new dressing rooms at the rear to clear part of the site for the Empire. Matcham also refashioned the existing auditorium.
Frank Matcham pioneered the use of cantilevered steel in his designs, and patented his design. This allowed balconies to be built without the use of supporting pillars; which had characterised the work of the previous generation of theatre architects, such as Phipps. Without pillars, lowering the stage and increasing the rake of the tiers: sight lines were much improved and the audience capacity increased to around 3,000.
The building today
The theatre has four tiers of seating, the stalls, dress circle, upper circle and balcony with a total capacity of 1,186 seats. It has seven fully licensed bars including The Green Room Cafe Bar on the ground floor and The Restaurant on the dress circle level.Pantomime
The theatre has an annual pantomime, usually starring local or national celebrities. Some of them include;2010 Aladdin
Aladdin
Aladdin is a Middle Eastern folk tale. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , and one of the most famous, although it was actually added to the collection by Antoine Galland ....
with Stephen Mulhern
Stephen Mulhern
Stephen Daniel Mulhern is a British TV presenter, entertainer, and former magician. He began presenting in the studio on CITV in May 1998 and became a leading presenter until he left in August 2002. He has presented a number of shows, including SMTV Live, Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown and...
and Gray O'Brien
Gray O'Brien
Gray O'Brien is a Scottish television and film actor, best known for his portrayal of the villainous Weatherfield businessman Tony Gordon in the popular British soap opera Coronation Street from 2007 to 2010, and as Dr Richard McCaig on Casualty from 1996 to 1998.O'Brien was born in Stewarton,...
.
2009 Jack and the Beanstalk
Jack and the Beanstalk
Jack and the Beanstalk is a folktale said by English historian Francis Palgrave to be an oral legend that arrived in England with the Vikings. The tale is closely associated with the tale of Jack the Giant-killer. It is known under a number of versions...
with Nigel Havers
Nigel Havers
Nigel Allan Havers is an English actor. He is probably best known for his BAFTA-nominated role as Lord Andrew Lindsay in the 1981 British film Chariots of Fire, and for his role as Dr. Tom Latimer in the British TV comedy series Don't Wait Up...
and Jenna-Louise Coleman
Jenna-Louise Coleman
Jenna-Louise Coleman is an English actress, known for appearing in the British soap opera Emmerdale.-Background:Coleman was born in Blackpool, Lancashire...
.
2008 Cinderella
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
with Brian Conley
Brian Conley
Brian Conley is an English comedian, television presenter, singer and actor. At the peak of his television career, he was the highest-paid male television personality in the UK. Outside of television, he is best known for his frequent portrayals of Buttons in pantomime versions of...
.
2007 Peter Pan
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
with Debra Stephenson
Debra Stephenson
Debra Stephenson is an English actress, comedian, impressionist and singer.-Career:At the age of fourteen Stephenson appeared on BBC TV's Opportunity Knocks, winning her way through to the All-Winners' Final, broadcast live from the London Palladium...
and John Challis
John Challis
John Challis is an English actor.-Career:He is probably best known for his role as Terrance Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce in the long running comedy show Only Fools and Horses, and its 2005 spin-off, The Green Green Grass....
.
2006 Aladdin with Basil Brush
Basil Brush
Basil Brush is a fictional anthropomorphic fox raconteur, best known for his appearances on daytime British children's television. He is primarily portrayed by a glove puppet, but has also been depicted in animated cartoon shorts and comic strips...
, Christopher Biggins
Christopher Biggins
Christopher Kenneth Biggins is an English actor and media personality.-Career:Biggins was born in Oldham, Lancashire, England and brought up in Salisbury, Wiltshire, where he took elocution lessons and participated in local drama groups...
and Claire Sweeney
Claire Sweeney
Claire Jane Sweeney is an English actress, singer and television personality best known for playing the role of Lindsey Corkhill in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside and her appearance on the first series of the Reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother.-Early Life:Sweeney was born in Walton, Liverpool...
.
2005 Snow White
Snow White
"Snow White" is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm...
with Claire Sweeney and Keavy Lynch.
2004 Dick Whittington with Kevin Kennedy
Kevin Kennedy
Kevin Kennedy may refer to:*Kevin Kennedy *Kevin Kennedy *Kevin Kennedy , screenwriter of The Assassination of Richard Nixon*Kevin J. Kennedy, former CEO of JDSU, current CEO of Avaya* Kevin Kennedy, Ed.D.,...
and Colin Baker
Colin Baker
Colin Baker is a British actor who is known for playing Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 to 1976 and as the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986.- Background:Colin Baker was born in London, but moved north to...
.
2003 Peter Pan with Joe Pasquale
Joe Pasquale
Joseph Ellis "Joe" Pasquale is an English comedian from Grays, Essex, arguably most famous for his high-pitched voice, use of visual gags and more recently being crowned "King of the Jungle", on the reality TV show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!...
and Leslie Grantham
Leslie Grantham
Leslie Michael Grantham is an English actor best known for his role as "Dirty" Den Watts in the soap opera EastEnders. He is also a convicted murderer, having served 10 years for the killing of a German taxi driver, and he generated significant press coverage as the result of an online sex scandal...
.
2002 Cinderella with Bobby Davro
Bobby Davro
Bobby Davro is a British actor and comedian. He is mainly known for his work as an impressionist...
and Alex Lovell
Alex Lovell
Alexandra "Alex" Lovell is an English television presenter.-History:Lovell was born in Gravesend, Kent, grew up in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, and attended Rose Bruford College drama school in London....
.
2001 Aladdin with Cannon and Ball
Cannon and Ball
Cannon and Ball are an English comedy double act consisting of Tommy Cannon and Bobby Ball. The duo met in the early 1960s while working as welders in Oldham, Lancashire...
and Sooty
Sooty
Sooty is a British glove puppet bear and TV character popular in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and other countries. The children's television show which bears his name has continued in various forms since the 1950s and, according to the Guinness Book of Records, is the...
.
2000 Jack and the Beanstalk with the Chuckle Brothers
Chuckle Brothers
Barry Elliott and Paul Elliott , better known as the Chuckle Brothers, are British comedians. They are best known for their work on their BBC show ChuckleVision, which celebrated its 21st anniversary in March 2010 with a tour called An Audience with the Chuckle Brothers, which started in January...
and Bonnie Langford
Bonnie Langford
Bonita Melody Lysette "Bonnie" Langford is an English actress, dancer and entertainer. She came to prominence as a child star in the early 1970s then she subsequently became a companion of Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy's Doctor Who and has appeared on stage in various musicals such as Peter Pan:...
.
1999 Snow White.
1998 Dick Whittington with Lesley Joseph
Lesley Joseph
Lesley D Joseph is an English actress and broadcaster.-Life and career:Joseph was born in Northampton. She is best known for starring in the BBC sitcom Birds of a Feather from 1989–1998, in which she played Dorien Green, the Jewish next-door neighbour of the main characters Sharon and Tracy...
, John Nettles
John Nettles
John Vivian Drummond Nettles, OBE is an English actor, historian and writer who is best known for playing the lead roles in Bergerac and Midsomer Murders.-Early life:...
and Hilary Minster
Hilary Minster
Roger Michael Hilary Minster, better known as Hilary Minster, was an English character actor....
.
1997 Cinderella with Bradley Walsh and Judy Cornwell
Judy Cornwell
Judy Valerie Cornwell is an English actress best known for her role as Daisy in the British sitcom Keeping Up Appearances.-Biography:...
.
1996 Peter Pan.
1993 Mother Goose
Mother Goose
The familiar figure of Mother Goose is an imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes which are often published as Mother Goose Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one "nursery rhyme". A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom...
with Frank Windsor
Frank Windsor
Frank Windsor is an English actor, mainly on television.He attended Queen Mary's Grammar School, Walsall. He began his career on radio and made an appearance in a 1953 film of Henry V...
and Maggie Moonie.
1991 Cinderella with Anne Charleston
Anne Charleston
Anne Charleston is an Australian actress currently based in Galway, Ireland and the UK. She is known for her roles as Madge Bishop in the Australian soap opera Neighbours and Lily Butterfield in Emmerdale.-Early career:...
.
1985 Aladdin with The Patton Brothers
The Patton Brothers
The Patton Brothers, Jimmy Patton and Brian Patton, are the two elder brothers of Paul and Barry Elliot, The Chuckle Brothers. They began their career as a double act in 1954, and their father was comedian, Gene Patton....
, Jimmy Cricket
Jimmy Cricket
Jimmy Cricket is a comedian. He currently lives with his family in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England.- Early life and career :...
and Barbara Windsor
Barbara Windsor
Barbara Ann Windsor, MBE , better known by her stage name Barbara Windsor, is an English actress. Her best known roles are in the Carry On films and as Peggy Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders....
.
1981 Aladdin with Barbara Windsor, Keith Harris and Billy Dainty
Billy Dainty
William Hooper Frank John Dainty was a British comedian, dancer, physical comedian and pantomime and television star....
.
1975 Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
with The Patton Brothers.
1974 Jack and the Beanstalk with Little and Large
Little and Large
Little and Large were a British comedy double act comprising straight man Syd Little and comic Eddie Large . They formed their partnership in 1962, appearing as singers in local pubs around the North-West of England...
and Dorothy Dampier