Prince of Wales Theatre
Prince of Wales Theatre showing Mamma Mia!
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| Address |
Coventry Street London, W1 United Kingdom |
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| Coordinates | 51°30′37″N 0°07′55″W / 51.51025°N 0.13201°W |
| Public transit |
 Piccadilly Circus
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| Owner | Delfont Mackintosh Theatres |
| Designation | Grade II |
| Type | West End theatre |
| Capacity | 1,160 |
| Production | The Book of Mormon |
| Construction | |
| Opened | January 1884 |
| Rebuilt | 1937 (Robert Cromie) |
| Architect | C. J. Phipps |
| Website | |
| Prince of Wales Theatre website at Delfont Mackintosh Theatres | |
The Prince of Wales Theatre is a West End theatre in Coventry Street, near Leicester Square in London. It was established in 1884 and rebuilt in 1937, and extensively refurbished in 2004 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, its current owner. The theatre should not be confused with the former Scala Theatre in Charlotte Street, off Tottenham Court Road that was known as the Prince of Wales Royal Theatre or Prince of Wales's Theatre from 1865 until its demolition in 1903.
The first theatre on the site opened in January 1884 when C.J. Phipps built the Prince's Theatre for actor-manager Edgar Bruce. It was a traditional three-tier theatre, seating just over 1,000 people. The theatre was renamed the "Prince of Wales Theatre" in 1886 after the future Edward VII. Located between Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square, the theatre was favourably situated to attract theatregoers.
The first production in the theatre was an 1884 revival of W. S. Gilbert's The Palace of Truth starring Herbert Beerbohm Tree, preceded by a one-act comedy, In Honour Bound. This was soon followed by a free adaptation of Ibsen's A Doll's House, called Breaking a Butterfly. In 1885, Lillie Langtry, reputedly the first "society" lady to become an actress, played in Princess George and The School for Scandal. The first hit production at the theatre was the record-breaking comic opera, Dorothy, starring Marie Tempest, which was so successful that its authors used the profits to build the Lyric Theatre, where it moved in 1888. The wordless mime play L'Enfant Prodigue premiered in 1891 which, together with A Pierrot's Life in 1897, brought respectability to mime troupes in Britain.
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