35-608: The London Coliseum (also known as the Coliseum Theatre ) is a theatre in St Martin's Lane , Westminster , built as one of London 's largest and most luxurious "family" variety theatres . Opened on 24 December 1904 as the London Coliseum Theatre of Varieties , it was designed by the architect Frank Matcham for the impresario Oswald Stoll . Their ambition was to build the largest and finest music hall , described as
70-798: A cinema screening films in the Cinerama format between 1963 and 1968, the Sadler's Wells Opera Company moved into the building in 1968. The Sadler's Wells company changed its name to the English National Opera in 1974 and today it is used primarily for opera as well as being the London home of the English National Ballet . The London Coliseum was built by the architect Frank Matcham who intended it to be one of London's largest and most luxurious "family" variety theatres. Construction began in 1903 and
105-703: A large number of cafes and a music shop aimed at opera and theatre goers. The theatrical agency set up by Peggy Ramsay in 1953 was located in Goodwin's Court, an alley leading off the lane. Two pedestrian alleys, St Martin's Court and Cecil Court , connect St Martin's Lane with Charing Cross Road have similar usage. In the 18th-century St Martin's Lane was noted for the Academy founded by William Hogarth and later for premises of cabinet-makers and " upholsterers " such as Thomas Chippendale , who moved to better premises there in 1753, Vile and Cobb , and William Hallett around
140-602: A new generation of dancers—all while repeatedly facing bankruptcy. Braunsweg left in 1965 and Donald Albery took over until 1968, stabilising the budget with safer programming. Former Royal Ballet dancer Beryl Grey directed the company (now named London Festival Ballet ) from 1968 to 1979, raising technical standards, touring widely and inviting prominent guest stars and choreographers including Leonide Massine and Rudolf Nureyev , who picked ballerina Eva Evdokimova to be his first Princess Aurora in his production of The Sleeping Beauty in 1975. In 1979 John Field became director of
175-461: A total failure and closed down completely only two years after opening in 1906 and remained closed until December of 1907 when it was reopened and at last became successful." In 1908, the London Coliseum was host to a cricket match between Middlesex and Surrey. In 1911, dramatist W. S. Gilbert produced his last play here, The Hooligan . The theatre changed its name from the London Coliseum to
210-480: Is "exuberant Free Baroque ambitious design, the Edwardian "Theatre de Luxe of London" with richly decorated interiors and a vast and grandiose auditorium." The description continues: "Lavish foyer and circulation areas with marble facings, culminating in vast 3-tier auditorium with wealth of eclectic classical detail of Byzantine opulence, some motifs such as the squat columns dividing the lowest tier of slip boxes, backing
245-566: Is one of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain. English National Ballet is one of the foremost touring companies in Europe, performing in theatres throughout the UK as well as conducting international tours and performing at special events. The Company employs approximately 67 dancers and a symphony orchestra, (English National Ballet Philharmonic). In 1984 Peter Schaufuss became director and changed
280-638: The Jeffrey Epstein scandal. In January 2022, Rojo announced that she will leave the company at the end of the year to lead the San Francisco Ballet . Aaron S. Watkin , who performed with the company three decades prior, took over as artistic director in August 2023, after his appointment was announced in August 2022. In June 2024, the company announced Queen Camilla as its new royal patron. Artistic directors: The company's dancers are listed on
315-556: The "people's palace of entertainment" of its age. At the time of construction, the Coliseum was one of the few theatres in Europe to provide lifts for taking patrons to the upper levels of the house, and was the first theatre in England to have a triple revolve installed on its stage. The theatre has 2,359 seats making it the largest theatre in London. After being used for variety shows, musical comedies, and stage plays for many years, then as
350-411: The 2004 and 2006 Royal Variety Performances and is also the London base for performances by English National Ballet , which perform regular seasons throughout the year when not on tour. The Who performed there and recorded their concert, on 14 December 1969. While its wing space is limited due to the constricted site on which the theatre was built, as Lloyd notes, "the stage of the London Coliseum
385-679: The Brothers Grimm . This film transferred to the third of London's Cinerama houses, the Royalty Theatre on 27 November and the Coliseum was converted for single-projector Cinerama using 70mm film for the Gala UK Premiere of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World on 2 December 1963. Other 70mm films followed, The Magnificent Showman (the UK Title of Circus World ), The Great Race (a 35mm "blow up") and The Bible . With fewer films made in
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#1732848034602420-680: The Coliseum Theatre between 1931 and 1968 when a run of 651 performances of the musical comedy White Horse Inn began on 8 April 1931. Additionally, Arthur Lewis notes that: The Coliseum reverted to the original name when the Sadler's Wells Opera Company moved there in 1968 and, in 1974, the Company changed its name to become the English National Opera; it bought the freehold of the building for £12.8 million in 1992. The Coliseum hosted both
455-507: The Coliseum in 1933, films were run at the theatre for a year. The greatest sensation at this time was the showing of King Kong which ran at the Coliseum for months with 10,000 people seeing the film there every day." After a lacklustre period of poorly received musicals came to an end, in June 1961 the theatre was leased by MGM for use as a cinema during the period that the Empire, Leicester Square
490-714: The basis of the Broadway musical Busker Alley . The street is also prominently featured throughout the 1961 film Victim , which also has scenes in the Salisbury. Citations Sources 51°30′38″N 0°07′38″W / 51.51056°N 0.12722°W / 51.51056; -0.12722 English National Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet , Birmingham Royal Ballet , Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet , it
525-511: The company as a touring group both nationally in the UK and Internationally, touring abroad for the first time in 1951. Dolin also introduced a number of educational programs in the early years, designed to make ballet accessible to new audiences. Dolin remained as artistic director until 1962, succeeded by John Gilpin , who was also principal dancer with the company from 1950 to 1960 and 1962 to 1971. The Company grew in size and status, undertaking extensive national and international tours, presenting
560-564: The company before Wayne Eagling , former head of Dutch National Ballet who took over in 2006. In April 2012, following the February sudden announcement of resignation by Eagling, principal dancer for The Royal Ballet Tamara Rojo was announced to become his successor at the end of the 2012 season, in August of that year. In November 2019, Prince Andrew , who had served as Patron of the English National Ballet since 2001, resigned amid
595-479: The company for the first time such as Sir Frederick Ashton, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Christopher Bruce, Michael Clarke, John Neumeier, George Balanchine, Alvin Ailey, Roland Petit, Maurice Bejart, and John Cranko. This period is considered by many the golden age where the company reached a new and higher level. In 1990 Ivan Nagy became director (until 1993), Derek Deane (until 2001) and Matz Skoog (until 2006) and directed
630-484: The company until 1984. In 1984 Peter Schaufuss who had won both the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards as a dancer and for his production of La Sylphide with the company, became its director and revitalised the company. During his directorship he succeeded in changing the name to English National Ballet, founding the school, inviting Diana, Princess of Wales as patron and presenting many important choreographers ballets with
665-603: The company was disbanded and in 1931, one of its dancers, Ninette de Valois , founded the Vic-Wells Ballet Company in London, with Markova and Dolin as Principal dancers, Markova becoming Prima Ballerina in 1933. Following the success of their performances as the Markova-Dolin Company, Markova and Dolin decided to start their own company with the sole objective of touring both nationally and internationally, bringing ballet to audiences who had not previously had
700-703: The corner in Newport Street. The Salisbury in Covent Garden was built as part of a six-storey block around 1899 on the site of an earlier pub that had been known under several names, including the Coach & Horses and Ben Caunt 's Head; it is both Grade II listed , and on CAMRA 's National Inventory, due to the quality of the etched and polished glass and the carved woodwork. The film St Martin's Lane (also known as Sidewalks of London , 1938) starring Vivien Leigh , Rex Harrison and Charles Laughton , later formed
735-462: The format, it later became difficult to programme the theatre. It resorted to revivals of old 70mm movies before opening The Comedians on 18 January 1968 (a 70mm Panavision blow up). This ran for nine weeks and was followed by a revival of the 1956 Todd-AO epic Around the World in 80 Days , the first time this film had been shown in 70mm in London. This ran until 22 May 1968 when Cinerama pulled out and
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#1732848034602770-513: The largest seating capacity of any Theatre in the West End at 2,359. The theatre retains many of its original features and was given a Grade II* listed building by English Heritage in September 1960. Prior to Sadler's Wells Opera Company taking over the Coliseum in 1968, the house was "fully restored, redecorated, and a large orchestra pit installed". It reopened on 21 August 1968, with a production of
805-560: The name to English National Ballet and founded the school English National Ballet School , which is independent from the ballet company but joining the company premises in the new building. The Company regularly performs seasons at the London Coliseum and has been noted for specially staged performances at the Royal Albert Hall . In 2014 English National Ballet became an Associate Company of Sadler's Wells . English National Ballet
840-662: The official website with photographs and linked biographies. Rudolf Nureyev's production of Romeo & Juliet was especially created for the English National Ballet (then the London Festival Ballet) in 1977 to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee. ENB gave the world premieres of Christopher Bruce's Land, The World Again, Swansong and Symphony in Three Movements. English National Ballet commissioned Akram Khan , who had never worked with any ballet companies before, to create
875-464: The opera Don Giovanni . Another extensive renovation took place between 2000 and 2004. when the design team included the architects RHWL and Arup as acousticians and building engineers. The London Coliseum has two lifts which provide step-free access for disabled patrons to all levels, except the Upper Circle. Periodically, the Coliseum was used to show films and, when the "'talkies' arrived at
910-530: The opportunity to experience the art form. Markova and Dolin left the Vic-Wells Ballet in 1935. London Festival Ballet was founded in 1950 with the financial backing of the Polish impresario Julian Braunsweg. The name was inspired by the then imminent Festival of Britain, however the company would later be renamed to today's English National Ballet . Dolin was the company's first artistic director and established
945-445: The stalls, almost Sullivanesque; pairs of 2-tiered bow fronted boxes with domed canopies at gallery level and semi-domed, Ionic-columned pairs of 2 tiered orchestra boxes, contained in arched and pedimented frames surmounted by sculptural groups with lion-drawn chariots. Great, semi-circular, blocked architrave proscenium arch with cartouche- trophy keystone." The inaugural performance was a variety bill on 24 December 1904, but it "was
980-546: The theatre reverted to live use. St Martin%27s Lane St Martin's Lane is a street in the City of Westminster , which runs from the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields , after which it is named, near Trafalgar Square northwards to Long Acre . At its northern end, it becomes Monmouth Street . St Martin's Lane and Monmouth Street together form the B404 . The street was first built up in 1610 when Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury
1015-601: The theatre was then leased by the Cinerama Corporation to become the second of London's Cinerama locations (after the Casino Cinerama ). Conversion to three-strip projection which used three projectors was undertaken, and an 80 ft wide, 30 ft tall deeply curved screen was installed. Beginning on 16 July 1963, the theatre was renamed the Coliseum Cinerama, with the UK premiere of The Wonderful World of
1050-507: The venue opened on 24 December the following year as the London Coliseum Theatre of Varieties. It is located in St Martin's Lane , London. Matcham built the theatre for the theatrical impresario Sir Oswald Stoll and had the ambition of it being the largest and finest "People’s palace of entertainment" of the age. Matcham wanted a Theatre of Variety – not a music hall but equally not highbrow entertainment. The resulting programme
1085-410: Was a mix of music hall and variety theatre, with one act – a full scale revolving chariot race – requiring the stage to revolve. The theatre's original slogan was PRO BONO PUBLICO (For the public good). It was opened in 1904 and the inaugural performance was a variety bill on 24 December that year. English Heritage , in its description of the theatre when it was given listed status in 1960 notes that it
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1120-466: Was also on a vast scale; 55 feet wide by 92 feet deep". The stage is not raked . It has the widest proscenium arch in London and was one of the first to have electric lighting. It was built with a triple revolving stage , although this was rarely used. The Coliseum was originally designed to seat 2,939 people on four levels. Despite the seating capacity being reduced since the Theatre's opening, it still has
1155-705: Was closed for rebuilding. The initial presentation, from 6 June, was a revival of Gone With the Wind which ran for 3 months. On 2 November the World Premiere of Bachelor in Paradise took place in the presence of the film's star, Bob Hope, and following this, on 15 November, was the UK premiere of Samuel Bronston 's epic King of Kings . MGM continued to use the theatre even after the new Empire, Leicester Square reopened in December 1962, but MGM's lease expired on 19 May 1963 and
1190-536: Was founded in 1950 as Gala Performances of Ballet by the British dance couple, Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin . The Company later adopted the name Festival Ballet, then London Festival Ballet, and in June 1989, English National Ballet. Markova and Dolin were leading stars of the Ballets Russes , one of the most influential ballet companies of the 20th century. After the death of its director Serge Diaghilev in 1929,
1225-574: Was granted 5 acres (2.0 ha) of land on the street's west side. It was originally known as West Church Lane; the current name dates from 1618. A narrow street with relatively little traffic, St Martin's Lane is home to the English National Opera at the Coliseum Theatre , as well as two other theatres , the Duke of York's Theatre and the Noël Coward Theatre , second-hand bookshops, antique dealers and high class gentlemen's outfitters. It also has
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