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Vaudeville Theatre

  • Theatre
  • Strand
A scene from Hand To God by Robert Askins @ Vaudeville Theatre. Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel.(Opening 15-02-16)©Tristram Kenton 02/16(3 Raveley Street, LONDON NW5 2HX TEL 0207 267 5550  Mob 07973 617 355)email: tristram@tristramkenton.com
© Tristram KentonHand To God at Vaudeville Theatre
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Time Out says

Head to this historic playhouse for an entertaining line-up of playful shows

This intimate West End theatre is named for the campy song-and-dance vaudeville spectacles of its heyday, but these days, the line-up's a bit more varied, taking in everything from Oscar Wilde revivals to transfers of hit dramas to new comedies from 'The Play That Goes Wrong' creators Mischief Theatre. 

The Vaudeville Theatre that sits on the Strand today is the theatre's third incarnation: the first version opened its doors in 1870, and its interior decorators worked so close to the wire that its first patrons complained that their clothes were stained with paint. A more glamorous theatre took its place in 1891. And then, finally, the Vaudeville was rebuilt in 1926, with a thoroughly un-jazzy approach that clung onto the original 1891 facade, and opted for austere, neo-Classical stylings inside. 

The Vaudeville's biggest hit to date has been the perky, record-breaking '50s musical 'Salad Days', which charmed post-war audiences with its story of a sentient piano. Although it hasn't housed many other long-running shows, quite a few celebrities have done a turn at the Vaudeville, including child star Macaulay Culkin's return to acting in 2000, and Kit Harington and Johnny Flynn's 2018 performances in 'True West'.  

Step inside its auditorium and you'll find 690 seats across three levels, in a space that's tastefully decorated in a formal scheme of cream and gilt. As one of the West End's smaller venues, the Vaudeville's square auditorium offers immaculate sight-lines; so you'll get a good view of the action, whether it's an old school high-kicking spectacle or a brand new comedy.

Details

Address:
404
Strand
London
WC2R 0NH
Transport:
Tube: Charing Cross
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What’s on

‘Six the Musical’ review

  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • Musicals

‘Remember us from your GCSEs?’ It’s Henry VIII’s six wives – and they’ve back, bitch, to re-tell ‘her-story’ as a slick, sassy girl band. Think Euro-pop remixes of ‘Greensleeves’, Anne Boleyn spouting tweenage text-speak (‘everybody chill/it’s totes God’s will’), and K-Howard warbling #MeToo tales of gropey employers. ‘Hamilton' looms large here, and although ‘Six’ has its own moments of clever-clever hip-hop rhymes, it’s a tough comparison: this musical started life as a student show (Cambridge, obvs). But its creators, Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, have succeeded in crafting almost brutally efficient pastiche pop songs – here a ballad, there a ballsy, blinging R&B number – performed with snappy dance routines by a talented, diverse cast (and all-female band). Since inception the show seems to have been given a good lick of gloss, too; it stands up in the West End. But beneath its super-shiny surface, ‘Six’ is totes vacuous. And so basic in its feminism that it’s hard to believe it’s written by, like, actual Millennials. The whole thing is staged as a deeply unsisterly competition, each wife getting a song in which to prove they’re the biggest victim, the one who suffered the most at Henry’s hands. This is treated weirdly as comedy though, OTT shrieks and snarks escalating until they’re actually in a catfight, pulling each other’s hair. Several of the wives are characterised as dim and ditzy; some also as sexually provocative and vain. But by adopting the contemporary pop conce

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