London Palladium

London Palladium, in Argyll Street. The first building on this site was a circus which ran successfully from 1871 to 1887. Its fortunes then declined, and it was reconstructed as a music-hall in three tiers, with a proscenium width of 47 ft., a stage depth of 40 ft., and a revolving stage with three concentric rings. Its seating capacity of 2,325 is the largest of any live theatre in the West End. (The Coliseum, which has more seats, now ranks as an operahouse.) The theatre opened as the Palladium on 26 Dec. 1910 with a variety bill which included Nellie Wallace and also Martin-Harvey in a one-act play. Variety was soon replaced by revue, and shows such as Rockets (1922) and The Whirl of the World (1923) had considerable success. The theatre was used as a cinema for three months in 1928, but then came under the control of George Black, who brought there the Crazy Gang in a series of shows which included Life Begins at Oxford Circus (1935), O-Kay for Sound (1936), These Foolish Things (1938), and The Little Dog Laughed (1939). From 1930 until 1938 there was also a Christmas revival of Barrie's Peter Pan. The theatre was officially renamed the London Palladium in 1934. During the Second World War more revues followed, including Irving Berlin's This is the Army, but after Black's departure in 1946 there was a policy of twice-nightly variety with a number of acts. Later, following a general trend, the Palladium changed to once-nightly performances by a top international star with only one or two supporting acts. In 1968 there was a short break in continuity when Sammy Davis Junior appeared in a musical version of Clifford Odets's Golden Boy. After 1970 musicals and star appearances both featured in the schedules. In 1974 the Christmas pantomime was replaced by a musical based on the life of Hans Andersen, with Tommy Steele in the title-role. There was a highly successful revival of The King and I in 1979, and in 1981 Barnum began a long run. Singin' in the Rain (1983 and 1989), again with Tommy Steele, based on the film, had the longest run in the Palladium's history, but the theatre had two of its rare failures with the spectacular musicals La Cage aux folles (1986) and Ziegfeld (1988). The theatre has been used more than any other for the annual Royal Variety Show since its inception in 1930.