The King's Theatre
| Queen's Theatre King's Theatre Italian Opera House His Majesty's Theatre |
|
Exterior of Her Majesty's Theatre, 2010
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| Address |
Haymarket London, SW1 United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°30′29″N 0°07′55″W / 51.5081°N 0.1320°W |
| Public transit |
 Charing Cross Charing Cross
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| Owner |
Really Useful Theatres (leased from the Crown Estate) |
| Designation | Grade II* |
| Type | West End theatre |
| Capacity | 1,216 on 4 levels |
| Production | The Phantom of the Opera (since 27 September 1986) |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1705 |
| Architect | Charles J. Phipps |
| Website | |
| (Official Website) | |
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre. In the early decades of the 20th century, Tree produced spectacular productions of Shakespeare and other classical works, and the theatre hosted premieres by major playwrights such as George Bernard Shaw, J. M. Synge, Noël Coward and J. B. Priestley. Since the First World War, the wide stage has made the theatre suitable for large-scale musical productions, and the theatre has specialised in hosting musicals. The theatre has been home to record-setting musical theatre runs, notably the First World War sensation Chu Chin Chow and the current production, Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, which has played continuously at Her Majesty's since 1986.
The theatre was established by architect and playwright John Vanbrugh, in 1705, as the Queen's Theatre. Legitimate drama unaccompanied by music was prohibited by law in all but the two London patent theatres, and so this theatre quickly became an opera house. Between 1711 and 1739, more than 25 operas by George Frideric Handel premiered here. In the early 19th century, the theatre hosted the opera company that was to move to the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, in 1847, and presented the first London performances of Mozart's La clemenza di Tito, Così fan tutte and Don Giovanni. It also hosted the Ballet of her Majesty's Theatre in the mid-19th century, before returning to hosting the London premieres of such operas as Bizet's Carmen and Wagner's Ring Cycle.
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