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The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on The Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each new building retained elements of the previous structure. The current building opened in 1926, and the capacity is now 690 seats. Rare thunder drum and lightning sheets, together with other early stage mechanisms survive in the theatre.

The Vaudeville Theatre is the third such building on the site, having been opened in 1870, substantially redesigned in 1891 and extensively improved in 1926. This tradition of attention to customer comfort means that today, while retaining its Victorian elegance, it is one of the few air-conditioned theatres in the West End.

Since its opening, the Vaudeville has presented a wide range of shows, from comedy (Blithe Spirit, Absurd Person Singular, Dead Funny, An Evening with Gary Lineker) through melodrama (The Invisible Man) and history (Portrait of A Queen with Dorothy Tutin as Queen Victoria) to Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya and T S Eliot’s The Family Reunion.

It is impossible to list all the great plays, players and productions that have delighted theatregoers over its 132 year history, but the highlights include: -

Dame Gladys Cooper’s West End debut in The Belle Of Mayfair, Dame Sybil Thorndike in Arsenic and Old Lace, Ian Carmichael in Critic’s Choice, Alan Bates in Stage Struck, Albert Finney in Reflected Glory, Michael Gambon and Jonathan Pryce in Uncle Vanya, Dame Maggie Smith in Snap, Glenda Jackson in Stevie, Julia Mackenzie in Woman In Mind, Pauline Collins in Shirley Valentine, Maureen Lipman in Re:Joyce! Alison Steadman in The Memory of Water and Macauley Caulkin in Madame Melville.

Since 1892, the Vaudeville has only had 5 owners. The Gatti Family who owned it until 1969, then Sir Peter Saunders the impresario famous for producing London’s longest running show, The Mousetrap. In 1983 Michael Codron, a great and prolific producer, bought the theatre selling it to Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen in 1996. In 2001, the Tony Award winning American producer, Max Weitzenhoffer was delighted to acquire the Vaudeville, having enjoyed his experience producing in London with his UK producing partner, Nica Burns. In 2000 their production of Defending The Caveman (Apollo Theatre) won the Olivier Award for Best Entertainment. In 2001 they scored a hat trick at the Evening Standard Awards: their production of Medea (Queens Theatre) winning Best Actress for Fiona Shaw and Best Director for Deborah Warner and Feelgood (Garrick Theatre) a commissioned play by Alistair Beaton winning Best Comedy.