Qualla: Palace Theatre, London

Palace Theatre, London: Introduction

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Txllxt TxllxT, CC BY-SA 4.0. When Andrew Lloyd Webber bought the Palace Theatre in 1983 for £1.3 million, the first thing he did was take down the huge neon sign that had defaced the terracotta facade for decades. "Much to the chagrin of West End producers," he later remembered, "who told me I had removed the greatest theatre advertising sight in London." The producers had a point. By then the Palace had been a London landmark for almost a century - a vast red-brick mass at Cambridge Circus whose corner site, opposite the Shaftesbury Theatre, made it visible from half of Theatreland. But Lloyd Webber had a longer view. Underneath the neon was a Grade II* listed Victorian theatre that had hosted Anna Pavlova, premiered the first British wildlife film, presented Britain's first Royal Variety Performance, and would, eventually, become home to a global theatrical phenomenon about a boy wizard.

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Image: Txllxt TxllxT | CC BY-SA 4.0

Palace Theatre, London: Tableaux Vivants and the First Wildlife Film

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Andy Roberts, CC BY 2.0. The Palace's first decades were defined by a peculiar Victorian compromise. When the London County Council denied the theatre permission to build a promenade - then a popular feature at the Empire and Alhambra, where adult entertainment thrived - the Palace responded with tableau...

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Image: Andy Roberts | CC BY 2.0

Palace Theatre, London: Pavlova, Chevalier, and Royal Variety

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Rev Stan from London, UK, CC BY 2.0. When Alfred Butt took over as manager in 1904, he reshaped the theatre as a destination for star turns. The dancer Maud Allan created a sensation with her Vision of Salome. Anna Pavlova performed here. Margaret Cooper, an elegant pianist-singer, drew sophisticated crowds. The mus...

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Image: Rev Stan from London, UK | CC BY 2.0

Palace Theatre, London: Marx Brothers, Astaire, and the Threat of Demolition

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Steve Cadman from London, U.K., CC BY-SA 2.0. On 11 March 1925 the musical comedy No, No, Nanette opened at the Palace starring Binnie Hale and George Grossmith Jr. Its 665-performance run made it the third longest-running West End musical of the decade. The Marx Brothers appeared in 1931, performing selections from their Br...

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Image: Steve Cadman from London, U.K. | CC BY-SA 2.0

Palace Theatre, London: Two Records: Superstar and Les Mis

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit en:User:Nevilley, CC BY-SA 3.0. Two extraordinary runs defined the Palace in the final third of the twentieth century. Jesus Christ Superstar opened in 1972 and ran for 3,358 performances, finally closing in 1980. Five years later, on 4 December 1985, Les Misérables moved into the theatre from the Barbican Cent...

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Image: en:User:Nevilley | CC BY-SA 3.0

Palace Theatre, London: The Boy Who Came Back

Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK, CC BY 2.0. On 7 June 2016 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child began previews at the Palace - a two-part play written by Jack Thorne from an original story by Thorne, J. K. Rowling, and John Tiffany. It opened officially on 30 July. The production was suspended in March 2020 because of the COV...

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Image: Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK | CC BY 2.0