London Palladium
| Corinthian Bazaar National Skating Palace The Palladium |
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London Palladium in 2014
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| Address | Argyll Street London, W1 United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°30′54″N 0°08′27″W / 51.514944°N 0.140806°W |
| Public transit |
 Oxford Circus
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| Owner | Really Useful Theatres |
| Designation | Grade II* |
| Type | West End theatre |
| Capacity | 2,286 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 26 December 1910 |
| Years active | 1926 – present |
| Architect | Frank Matcham |
| Website | |
| http://www.reallyusefultheatres.co.uk/our-theatres/london-palladium (Official Website) | |
The London Palladium (/pəˈleɪdiˌʊm/) is a 2,286-seat Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety shows. The theatre has also hosted the Royal Variety Performance a record 40 times, most recently in 2014.
Walter Gibbons, an early moving-pictures manager, built the Palladium in 1910 to compete with Sir Edward Moss's London Hippodrome and Sir Oswald Stoll's London Coliseum. The facade (on the site of Argyll House, demolished in the 1860s, from which the pub opposite took the name The Argyll Arms), dates back to the 19th century. Formerly it was a temporary wooden building called Corinthian Bazaar, which featured an aviary and aimed to attract customers from the recently closed Pantheon Bazaar (now Marks and Spencers) on Oxford Street. The theatre was rebuilt a year later by Fredrick Hengler, the son of a tightrope walker, as a circus arena for entertainments that included promenade concerts, pantomimes and an aquatic display in a flooded ring. It then became the National Skating Palace – a skating rink with real ice. However the rink failed and the Palladium was redesigned by Frank Matcham, a famous theatrical architect who also designed the Coliseum, on the site that had previously housed Hengler’s Circus. The building now carries Heritage Foundation commemorative plaques honouring Lew Grade and Frankie Vaughan.
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