Windmill Theatre

Windmill Theatre, London, in Great Windmill Street, near Piccadilly Circus. This intimate theatre, which seated 326 on two levels, opened in 1931 in a converted cinema which dated from 1910, its first production being Michael Barrington's Inquest. In 1932 Laura Henderson and her manager Vivian Van Damm introduced a policy of continuous variety entitled Revudeville, with performances running from 2.30 p.m. to 11 p.m. The Windmill Girls, who appeared in nude tableaux, became a part of London life, and many famous comedians, among them Jimmy Edwards, Harry Secombe, and Tony Hancock, served their apprenticeship there. The Windmill was the only theatre to remain open throughout the Second World War, and became renowned for its slogan ‘We Never Closed’. After the death of Vivian Van Damm in 1960 Revudeville continued under the management of his daughter Sheila until it finally ended in 1964. The building then reverted to its former role as a cinema until 1974, when it was taken over by Paul Raymond and reopened as a theatre with a comedy entitled Let's Get Laid which ran into 1976. It was followed by a nude revue Rip-Off which ran until, in 1981, the theatre closed for conversion to a theatre-restaurant.