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62-676: The Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster , London, located between Wych Street , Holywell Street and the Strand . It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and Kingsway . The theatre was built cheaply as a speculative venture, and was known as one of the "rickety twins" along with the adjacent Globe Theatre . Numerous managements presented plays in English, French and German, and

124-510: A Children's Pinafore with an entirely juvenile cast (1878); In the Sulks (1880); and Uncle Samuel (1881). Once D'Oyly Carte left the Opera Comique the theatre's fortunes declined. It was unoccupied from October to the end of 1881. At the start of 1882, John Hollingshead and Richard Barker presented Mother-in-Law , a frivolous comedy by George R. Sims , which ran in a double bill with

186-528: A Westminster parliamentary borough (constituency). The Anglican Diocese of Westminster was short-lived, being absorbed back into the Diocese of London in 1550. Despite having no borough corporation and having ceased to be the seat of a diocese, Westminster continued to be described as a city. In 1585 the Westminster Court of Burgesses was established to administer certain judicial powers in an area known as

248-463: A burlesque called Vulcan , until May. They were followed by a spoof called The Wreck of the Pinafore by H. Lingard and Luscombe Searelle , described by The Era as "curious and impudent", which ran until October. During the rest of the 1880s a succession of managements presented a wide range of genres, from adaptations of French plays, Shakespeare , Sheridan , Ibsen , and a Dickens adaptation by

310-553: A portcullis as the main charge, which now forms the crest . The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the City of Westminster. Gaston Serpette Serpette, the son of a rich industrialist, was born in Nantes , in western France. He qualified as a lawyer before deciding to devote himself to music. In 1868 he entered the composition class of Ambroise Thomas at

372-454: A bad comedy … and a worse burlesque", according to The Era . Later that year Augustus Harris presented Charles Villiers Stanford 's comic opera Shamus O'Brien , which ran for two months, from March to May. Osmond Carr's The Maid of Athens , ran for a month in June 1897, after which, said The Era , "nothing worthy of any record whatever has been attempted at this temple of the drama, which has had

434-628: A car or van, 6.0%; work mainly at or from home, 5.5%; bicycle, 3.1%; train, 3.0%. Westminster Children's Services administers many primary and secondary schools. In addition, there are several state-funded faith schools, primarily Church of England (CE), and Roman Catholic (RC), but Christian non-denominational (ND) schools are also in the borough, and there are several non-profit-making junior and senior independent schools . The city operates two reference libraries; Westminster Reference Library and Marylebone Information Service. Westminster Reference Library holds several special collections: of which

496-433: A number of major parks and open spaces , including Hyde Park , and most of Regent's Park . Away from central London the borough also includes various inner suburbs, including St John's Wood , Maida Vale , Bayswater , Belgravia and Pimlico . The borough had a population of 204,300 at the 2021 census. The original settlement of Westminster was historically a separate urban area to the west of London, growing up around

558-520: A singularly eccentric and mostly disastrous career." A revival of a musical adaptation of Alice in Wonderland , with music by Walter Slaughter , opened for the Christmas season of 1898 and ran until mid-February 1899. In March 1899, Horace Sedger announced a burlesque for the Opera Comique, Great Caesar , by Paul and Walter Rubens and George Grossmith Jr. , but he changed his plans and presented it at

620-475: A spacious smoking room was added, and new emergency exits were installed. In 1891, George Edwardes took on the management of the theatre and presented a burlesque of Joan of Arc by Adrian Ross , J. L. Shine and Frank Osmond Carr , with a cast including Arthur Roberts and Marion Hood . It was well received and ran from January to September. After that, the theatre reverted to its pattern of rapidly changing productions and short-lived managements. A feature of

682-474: A successful double bill of Gilbert and Sullivan 's Trial by Jury and Offenbach's Geneviève de Brabant . After Morton a succession of managements between May 1876 and September 1877 staged productions that made little impact. In November 1877 the Comedy Opera Company, managed by Carte, took on the lease and staged the premiere of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Sorcerer . This was followed in 1878 by

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744-512: A succession of shows that were successful in Paris, but not considered suitable for the public of London or New York. Of La petite muette , the London paper The Era reported most favourably on the music, but made it clear that the plot was too risqué for English tastes: "not even the most elaborate circumlocution would enable me to steer clear of offending the modesty of your fair readers were I to recite

806-561: Is Westminster City Council . To the east, Westminster borders the City of London , with the boundary marked by Temple Bar . Other neighbouring boroughs (anti-clockwise from north-east) are Camden , Brent , Kensington and Chelsea , Wandsworth and Lambeth , the latter two being separated from Westminster by the River Thames . Charing Cross in Westminster is the notional centre of London, being

868-560: Is above mediocrity, and ... far surpasses the usual run of opéra-bouffe music." Serpette followed this with more works in the same genre: Le manoir du Pic-Tordu (1875), Le moulin du vert-galant (1876) and La petite muette (1877), which, after its Paris première, became the first of Serpette's shows to be played in New York, where it opened at the Fifth Avenue Theatre but ran for only five performances. Serpette continued with

930-454: Is at 14 St James's Square . Many countries' embassies or High Commissions are in Westminster. The current Westminster coat of arms was given by an official grant on 2 September 1964. Westminster had other arms before, which had a chief identical to the chief in the present arms. The symbols in the lower two thirds of the shield stand for former municipalities now merged with the city, Paddington and St Marylebone. The original arms had

992-583: The City and Liberty of Westminster . From 1856 the area was also governed by the Metropolitan Board of Works , which was established to provide services across the metropolis of London. In 1889 the Metropolitan Board of Works' area was made the County of London . From 1856 until 1900 the lower tier of local government within the metropolis comprised various parish vestries and district boards . Within

1054-575: The Comedy Theatre . The Opera Comique closed in 1899 and was compulsorily purchased by the London County Council for £40,000. It was demolished in 1902 when the area was redeveloped to create Aldwych (named after old Wych Street) and Kingsway . City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a London borough with city status in Greater London , England. It is the site of

1116-569: The Gazette de Beaux-Arts and L'Occident , respectively) and wrote the musical column of the Paris newspaper, in which his disagreement with Solomon was published. Serpette also worked as a conductor. One of his appointments was in London, conducting the ballets at the re-opening of Carte's former Royal English Opera House when it was relaunched as the Palace Theatre of Varieties in 1892, and throughout

1178-631: The London Assembly , the borough forms part of the West Central constituency. The following table shows the ethnic group of respondents in the 1991 to 2021 censuses in Westminster. The borough ranks highest on one standard criteria in analysing housing supply and demand, the proportion of private rented accommodation relative to other types of housing in England. A study in 2017 by Trust for London and The New Policy Institute found that Westminster has

1240-618: The Metropolitan Borough of Paddington , and the parish of the St Marylebone became the Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone . The various territories within the old City and Liberty of Westminster became the Metropolitan Borough of Westminster . The new boroughs came into being on 1 November 1900; a few days ahead of that a royal charter was issued conferring city status on the new borough of Westminster from its creation. The Court of Burgesses, which had ceded most practical powers to

1302-725: The Paris Conservatoire , and in 1871 won France's top musical prize, the Prix de Rome , previously won by Berlioz , Thomas, Gounod , Bizet and Massenet , among others. Serpette's winning entry was Jeanne d'Arc , a cantata to a libretto by M. J. Barbier, which was performed at the Paris Opéra in November of the same year. However, to the distress of the conservative element at the Conservatoire, Serpette also submitted an operetta . When it

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1364-637: The Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens , in January 1874, and at the Opera Comique , London in an English version presented by Richard D'Oyly Carte in October of the same year. The critic of London's The Morning Post , noted that in the London version there were so many interpolations into Serpette's original score that "barely half the solos are from his pen". He added that the music "though not remarkable for originality,

1426-472: The minster church of Westminster Abbey. Westminster was an important centre of royal authority from Saxon times, and was declared a city in 1540. It was gradually absorbed into the urban area of London, but London's official city boundaries remained unchanged, covering just the area called the City of London , broadly corresponding to the medieval walled city. From the 19th century some metropolis -wide administrative bodies were introduced. The County of London

1488-475: The "botching" of French operetta scores when adapted for the English stage. Serpette took the pragmatic view that the French and English publics were so different that Parisian operettas had to be drastically rewritten to succeed in London, and he offered his fellow French composers three choices: "they must either refuse to permit their works to be adapted" (in which case no London producer would touch them), or "master

1550-519: The City and Liberty of Westminster, the three parishes of St George Hanover Square , St James Piccadilly and St Martin-in-the-Fields were governed by their vestries , whilst the parishes covering the central part of Westminster formed the Westminster District and the parishes and territories adjoining the border with the City of London formed the Strand District . Beyond the liberty to

1612-502: The City of Westminster. Mayfair and St James's within the City of Westminster also have a large concentration of hedge fund and private equity funds. The West End is known as the Theatre District and is home to many of the leading performing arts businesses. Soho and its adjoining areas house a concentration of media and creative companies. Oxford Street is a busy shopping destination. The City of Westminster contains some of

1674-495: The English language, and do it themselves which they never will", or settle for being adapted by those who knew what the West End public required. This was not Serpette's only incursion into print. He was music critic for a number of Paris newspapers and journals. He reviewed music for Gil Blas magazine (his review of Debussy 's Pelléas et Mélisande appeared simultaneously with reviews by Paul Dukas and Vincent D'Indy for

1736-407: The English operetta star Emily Soldene , Carte became manager of the theatre in 1874, and presented The Broken Branch , an English version of Gaston Serpette 's operetta La branch cassée , starring Pauline Rita . Carte's first attempt to found "a permanent abode for Light Opera" failed, and the theatre passed into other hands for the next three years. The word "Royal" was dropped from the name of

1798-859: The Sherlock Holmes, Arts and Business collections are the most comprehensive. In addition to the collections in Westminster Reference Library the city has two specialist libraries: the Westminster Music Library , the largest music library in the UK and the Westminster Chinese Library in the Charing Cross Library. Free City of Westminster operated public lending libraries in Westminster include: The London Library , an independent lending library funded by subscription,

1860-525: The South Coast including Clapham Junction , Sutton , Brighton , Eastbourne , Gatwick Airport ( [REDACTED] ), Guildford , Portsmouth , and Southampton . Services operated by Southern . Gatwick Airport [REDACTED] Services operated by Gatwick Express . The City of Westminster is served by 27 London Underground stations and 10 of the 11 lines. By 2009 Westminster City Council had electric vehicle charging points in 15 locations through

1922-621: The United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government . It contains a large part of central London , including most of the West End , such as the major shopping areas around Oxford Street , Regent Street , Piccadilly and Bond Street , and the entertainment district of Soho . Many London landmarks are within the borough, including Buckingham Palace , Westminster Abbey , Whitehall , Westminster Cathedral , 10 Downing Street , and Trafalgar Square . The borough also has

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1984-481: The abbey and the river he built a palace, thereby guaranteeing that the seat of Government would be fixed at Westminster, and inevitably drawing power and wealth west out of the old City of London. For centuries Westminster and the City of London were geographically quite distinct. It was not until the sixteenth century that houses began to be built over the adjoining fields, eventually absorbing nearby villages such as Marylebone and Kensington , and gradually creating

2046-410: The city (13 car parks and two on-street points). Users pay an annual fee to cover administration costs to register and use the points. By 2018 there were 60 electric vehicle charging locations. In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were: underground, metro, light rail, tram, 21.0% of all residents aged 16–74; on foot, 9.3%; bus, minibus or coach, 9.3%; driving

2108-815: The crosses. These include Green Park , Hyde Park , Kensington Gardens , Regent's Park and St James's Park . In addition to parks and open spaces within the borough, the City owns and maintains East Finchley Cemetery and crematorium in the London Borough of Barnet . Four National Rail stations serve the City of Westminster: [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Heathrow Airport [REDACTED] Services operated by Heathrow Express and Elizabeth line ( [REDACTED] ) . [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] South London, Sussex and

2170-400: The diocese was abolished in 1550. The area was historically part of the county of Middlesex . Whilst an important centre of royal authority from Saxon times, Westminster was not formally incorporated as a borough for local government purposes until 1900. However, it was declared a city in 1540 on the elevation of Westminster Abbey to being a cathedral . From at least 1545 there was also

2232-410: The early 1890s was the frequent presentation of adaptations from, or original works by, novelists such as Henry James , Rudyard Kipling and George Moore . A further season of French plays, performed in their original language, was followed by a German season, also given in the original, in 1894, which ran for more than two months. In early 1895, " Nellie Farren started her unfortunate season here with

2294-451: The ensuing season. Towards the end of his career, Serpette had more of his works performed in England. Augustus Harris and F. C. Burnand adapted La demoiselle du téléphone as The Telephone Girl in 1896; it toured the country for three years. Serpette, in line with his earlier comments on adaptations, agreed to the addition of new musical items by J. M. Glover. His last show, written in 1903, originally entitled Cuvée reservée 1810 ,

2356-463: The historians Mander and Mitchenson describe as "dwellings of a dubious nature". In 1864 part of the area was cleared, and the impresario Sefton Parry built a new theatre, the Globe , which opened in 1868. He acquired an adjacent site, bounded by Wych Street , Holywell Street and the Strand , on which he built the Opera Comique two years later. The architect was Francis Fowler . Parry's construction of

2418-485: The house was also used for extravaganzas and English versions of French opéras bouffes . It is best remembered as the theatre where several early Gilbert and Sullivan operas had their first runs, between 1877 and 1881. In the 16th century Lyon's Inn , one of the Inns of Chancery attached to London's Inner Temple , stood on the site. By the 1860s the area had deteriorated greatly, and the old inn had been converted into what

2480-467: The incident on which the plot turns." A Serpette piece, Le carnet du diable , was reviewed in The Era in 1895 under the headline, "Indecency in Paris". Serpette's works were continually in demand in Paris. Between 1874 and 1900, with librettists including such writers as Henri Meilhac and Georges Feydeau , he wrote more than twenty full-length operettas, and at least nine shorter ones. Nevertheless, in

2542-478: The most famous sites in London, including Buckingham Palace , Westminster Abbey , the Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament) and Big Ben . Charing Cross is the notional centre of London and the location where distances from London are measured. This custom appears to have begun with the set distances of the 12 Eleanor crosses to Lincoln, England in the north, and expanded even after destruction of most of

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2604-651: The name "Royal Opera Comique" on 29 October 1870. A company from the Théâtre Déjazet in Paris, led by the veteran actress Virginie Déjazet , presented Victorien Sardou 's comedy Les Prés Saint-Gervais and two shorter pieces, to an audience that included the Prince of Wales . The following year, French drama continued, when the Comédie-Française company made its first appearance outside France, an event that caused considerable interest. The first home-grown production at

2666-664: The newer authorities, was finally abolished in 1901. The modern borough was created in 1965 under the London Government Act 1963 . It was a merger of the old Paddington, St Marylebone and Westminster metropolitan boroughs, and Westminster's city status was transferred to the enlarged borough. In 1966 the city was granted the right to appoint a lord mayor . The local authority is Westminster City Council, which meets at Westminster Council House (also known as Marylebone Town Hall ) and has its main offices at Westminster City Hall on Victoria Street. Since 2000, for elections to

2728-516: The nickname, the Opera Comique was by no means a twin of the Globe, being only about half the size, with a seating capacity of 862, compared with more than 1,500 at the Globe. Another way in which the two theatres differed was that, unlike the Globe, the Opera Comique was largely underground. It was entered through tunnels from three streets (including the Strand) and was nicknamed the "Theatre Royal Tunnels". It

2790-518: The north, the two parishes of Paddington and St Marylebone were also governed by their vestries. The Westminster District was renamed the St Margaret and St John Combined Vestry in 1887, and unsuccessfully petitioned to be incorporated as a borough in 1897. In 1900 the lower tier of local government within the County of London was reorganised into metropolitan boroughs . The parish of Paddington became

2852-453: The novelist's son, to musical shows, including The Fay o' Fire by Edward Jones and Henry Herman, which The Era later described as "notable as introducing Miss Marie Tempest to the regular stage". Composers whose works were presented at the Opera Comique in this period included Julia Woolf, Meyer Lutz and Victor Roger . Performers included Nelly Bromley , Frank Wyatt , Johnston Forbes-Robertson , Julia Gwynne and Penley. The theatre

2914-458: The point from which distances from London are measured. After the depopulation of Roman London in the 5th century, an Anglo Saxon agricultural and trade settlement likely developed to its west, associated with the Middle Saxons , sometimes called Lundenwic ('London village' or London port'). Over time, Lundenburh ('London fort'), the former Roman city with its still-existing Roman walls,

2976-409: The same team's H.M.S. Pinafore , which became a hit, running for 571 performances, the second-longest theatrical run in history, to that date. During the performance on 31 July 1879, Carte's former business partners in the Comedy Opera Company (with whom Carte, Gilbert and Sullivan had split) tried to seize the set, creating a celebrated fracas. Over Christmas 1878, during the run of H.M.S. Pinafore ,

3038-405: The theatre in 1876. Burnand and Charles Morton were both briefly managers there, presenting extravaganzas and comic operas respectively. Morton's season in 1876 included well-received productions of Offenbach's Madame l'archiduc and Lecocq's La fille de Madame Angot , featuring Soldene and Kate Santley and, in the second piece, W. S. Penley , promoted from the chorus. Morton also presented

3100-470: The theatre was a musical play in 1871, Marie , with music by Richard D'Oyly Carte and a libretto by E. Spencer Mott. This accompanied an English adaptation of Molière 's Le Médecin malgré lui . The production was not a success. Opéras bouffes by Hervé , Offenbach and Lecocq , and extravaganzas by F. C. Burnand followed. After short seasons starring the Italian tragedienne Adelaide Ristori and then

3162-403: The theatre was renovated and redecorated by E. W. Bradwell, reopening on 1 February 1879. The Era commented, "We can hardly overpraise the beauty and grace of the Opera Comique as it now appears to the delighted audience." Two more Gilbert and Sullivan successes followed, now produced by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company : The Pirates of Penzance (1880) and, finally, Patience (1881), which

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3224-408: The theatres was a speculative venture: he hoped to make large profits from compensation when the area was demolished, which was even then in contemplation. It remained in contemplation for more than thirty years. The two theatres, which backed on to each other, became known as "the rickety twins": both were of such flimsy construction that performers could hear each other through the common wall. Despite

3286-419: The third-highest pay inequality of the 32 London boroughs. It also has the second-least affordable private rent for low earners in London, behind only Kensington and Chelsea . In education, 82% of adults and 69% of 19-year-olds having Level 3 qualifications. The City of Westminster covers all or part of the following areas of London : Many global corporations have their global or European headquarters in

3348-418: The vast Greater London that exists today. Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries abolished the abbey at Westminster, although the former abbey church is still called Westminster Abbey . The church was briefly the cathedral of the Diocese of Westminster created from part of the Diocese of London in 1540, by letters patent which also granted city status to Westminster, a status retained after

3410-408: The view of the English critic Andrew Lamb , "Serpette was destined to continue, along with Varney , Vasseur , Roger and Lacome , in the shadow of such French operetta composers as Planquette , Audran and, later, Messager ." In late 1892, in the press of London and Paris, Serpette engaged in a lively debate with the English composer Edward Solomon . The latter protested about what he called

3472-465: Was again renovated in 1885, under the proprietorship of the actor-manager, David James . The Era thought that the refurbishments made it "one of the most convenient, handsome, and acceptable places of entertainment in London". James had bought adjoining premises in Holywell Street to make room for an extension to the theatre. The bars and circulation areas were, according to The Era , much improved,

3534-555: Was created in 1889, replaced in 1965 by the larger administrative area of Greater London , which since 2000 has been led by the Mayor of London . The cities of London and Westminster retain their separate city statuses despite having long been part of the same urban area. The modern borough was created in 1965 as part of the same reforms which created Greater London, covering the area of the three former metropolitan boroughs of Westminster , Paddington and St Marylebone . The local authority

3596-648: Was later transferred to Carte's new and larger theatre, the Savoy . During this period, Carte also presented various companion pieces with the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, including the 1877 revival of Dora's Dream by Arthur Cecil and Alfred Cellier ; The Spectre Knight (1878); revivals of Trial by Jury ; several pieces by George Grossmith beginning in 1878: Beauties on the Beach , A Silver Wedding , Five Hamlets , and Cups and Saucers ; revivals of Gilbert's After All! ;

3658-468: Was played on the piano to Gounod, Thomas and the members of the Académie des Beaux-Arts , the academy's secretary, Viscount Delaborde, declared that Serpette "had gone to the bad". Finding himself unwelcome in serious musical circles, Serpette continued to compose operettas. In 1873 he wrote the three-act La branche cassée , to a libretto by Adolphe Jaime and Jules Noriac . The piece was well received at

3720-519: Was repopulated and Lundenwic declined, becoming pastoral and partly known as Aldwych (Aldwic—'old village'), the name of which lives on for a section of Westminster. The origins of the City of Westminster pre-date the Norman Conquest of England. In the mid-11th century, King Edward the Confessor began the construction of an abbey at Westminster, only the foundations of which survive today. Between

3782-473: Was reportedly draughty, and its long flight of stairs leading down to the level of the stalls was a dangerous fire hazard. Despite this and the flimsy construction, the theatre attracted high praise from the press after it opened. The Era , commented, "For elegance of design and perfect adaptability to the requirements of dramatic art it is not surpassed, if indeed it be equalled, by any existing Theatre". Another London journal reported: The theatre opened under

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3844-556: Was specially composed for England, and, under the title Amorelle , toured the provinces in 1903–04 before opening at the Comedy Theatre in London in February 1904. Serpette was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1898. For some time he left Paris to live in Algeria, where he had purchased vineyards. During one of his sea trips between Algiers and Marseille , he was knocked down by

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