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Prince Edward Theatre

  • Theatre
  • Soho
Prince Edward Theatre.jpg
Prince Edward Theatre
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Time Out says

This imposing brick theatre has housed some of the West End's biggest musicals

This handsome ‘30s theatre has had a chequered history. Its early days were all about cabaret glitz. Josephine Baker danced there in her famous banana skirt, in the London premiere of her famous act, before the theatre was converted into a dance hall with live performances in 1935. During the war, it was badly damaged in a bombing raid and turned into an air services club. In the postwar years, it entered a new chapter by being the first UK home of 'Cinerama', an enhanced '50s style of movie tech that introduced audiences to high octane immersive spectacles using a giant curved screen and three separate projectors. 

As Cinerama lost its allure in the '70s, the Prince Edward finally returned to use as a theatre, reopening with the world premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1978 smash hit ‘Evita’. On a roll, it went on to host the premieres of long-running jukebox musicals 'Mamma Mia!' (which is still playing at Novello Theatre) and 'Jersey Boys'. Today, a trip to the Prince Edward Theatre means Disney: the mouse impresario's 'Aladdin' is a firm favourite with families. 

Prince Edward Theatre boasts a vast auditorium with 1,714 seats and two balconies. Its dark red brick facade, styled after an Italian palazzo, was the first to inhabit the small area originally as the West End when it opened in 1930, but it was joined by the Cambridge and the Phoenix shortly afterwards. Inside, its restored art deco interior glows with gilt, and shades of red and rose gold. 

Details

Address:
28
Old Compton Street
London
W1D 4HS
Transport:
Tube: Tottenham Court Road/Leicester Square
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MJ the Musical

  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • Musicals

The last Michael Jackson musical to grace the West End was ‘Thriller – Live’, a revue show that was almost endearingly dumb, consisting as it did of the King of Pop’s greatest hits interspersed with a bunch of ripped men bellowing about his sales figures.  ‘MJ the Musical’ is the real deal, however, an estate-endorsed jukebox show that’s gone down a storm on Broadway. Significantly, it has a book by Lynn Nottage, one of the great American playwrights. Her text addresses aspects of Jackson’s life with a frankness that’s refreshing, if selective. It’s set in 1992, during rehearsals for the ‘Dangerous’ world tour and handily a year before child sex abuse allegations were first levelled against Jackson. ‘MJ’ thus avoids any allusion to said controversy. At the same time, it doesn’t do that thing where it pretends there was nothing unusual about him: there are allusions to everything from Bubbles the chimp to Jackson’s changing skin colour.  For the West End debut of Christopher Wheeldon’s production, ‘present day’ Michael is played by the jaw-droppingly talented original Broadway star Myles Frost. To say he’s a triple threat would be an understatement: in the acting department he’s maybe more of a vague menace, but as a dancer and singer he is extraordinary. Yes sir, he can moonwalk, and slip into all of Jackson’s propulsive dance routines effortlessly. His voice isn’t quite as piercing as Jackson’s, but it’s a fair approximation, and frankly remarkable given what he’s doing with

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