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His Majesty's Theatre

  • Theatre
  • St James’s
Her Majesty\'s Theatre.jpg
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Time Out says

The West End home of Lloyd Webber's record-breaking 'Phantom'

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's ludicrously extravagant mega-hit 'The Phantom of the Opera' has been haunting His Majesty's Theatre since its triumphant 1986 opening night, making it the West End's longest-running musical (after 'Les Miserables'). And the theatre's grand, tarnished late-Victorian facade makes it a perfect home for the operatic antics within. Maria Björnson's lavish scenic design sits in an auditorium that's full of gold statuary and appropriately Parisian stylings, and she even used the theatre's original stage machinery to make the phantom sail across the lake in his underground lair.

But audiences have been flocking to this Haymarket site for centuries before the Phantom warbled his first notes. In 1705, Queen Anne gave her permission for a theatre to be built on the site of an old stableyard, and periwigged crowds attended first plays, then operas: composer Handel made his debut here. In 1789, the theatre burnt down following an arson attack (the culprit was never found) and was rebuilt, first in 1791, and then along more modern lines in 1897.

Designed by Charles J Phipps, His Majesty's Theatre is decorated in French Renaissance style, with a well-planned interior that comfortably accommodates 1,216 seats across four levels. It's housed many a hit musical, including record-breaking (but since forgotten) 1916 show 'Chu Chin Chow', and the London premieres of Broadway hits including 'West Side Story' and 'Fiddler on the Roof'. Today, it's under the ownership of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group, and is likely to house his biggest hit for years to come.

During the reign of Elizabeth II (and Victoria) it was renamed Her Majesty’s Theatre, but has switched back to His Majesty’s for the forseeable.

Details

Address:
57
Haymarket
London
SW1Y 4QL
Transport:
Tube: Piccadilly Circus
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What’s on

The Phantom of the Opera

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Musicals

This review is from 2012. I’m not sure any show ‘deserves’ to be the most successful entertainment event of all time, but I’ll hand it current holder of that title, ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ – it still works hard for its audience. Sure, chunks of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s opus have never left 1986. But whereas describing a musical as ‘stuck in the ’80s’ is usually shorthand for cheap, thin synth orchestration, nothing could be further from the truth here: the portentously swirling keyboards and crunch of hair metal guitar that powers ‘Phantom’s title song have a black hole-like immensity, sucking you in with sheer juggernaut bombast. Mostly, though, ‘Phantom…’ remains strong because its high production values haven’t been allowed to sag. The late Maria Björnson’s design is a heady barrage of ravishing costumes and lavish sets that change frequently, working in everything from pastoral jollity to an ancient Carthaginian theme on the way to the Phantom’s stunning underground lair. It’s totally OTT – in one scene the Phantom zaps at his nemesis Raul with a staff that fires actual fireballs – and anybody who describes the plot (homicidal lunatic grooms girl) as ‘romantic’ should probably be put on some sort of register. But its blazingly earnest ridiculousness and campy Grand Guignol story are entirely thrilling when realised with the show’s enormous budget. And while Hal Prince’s production may have been hailed as rather gauche back in the day, in 2013 it all comes across as rather

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