The London Palladium in Soho
West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London. Along with New York City's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London.[1]
There are a total of 39 theatres in the West End, with the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, opened in May 1663, the oldest theatre in London.[2] The Savoy Theatre – built as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan – was entirely lit by electricity in 1881.[3]
Society of London Theatre (SOLT) announced that 2018 was a record year for the capital's theatre industry with attendances topping 15.5m for the first time since the organization began collecting audience data in 1986. Box office revenues exceeded £765m.[4] While attendance in 2019 was down 1.4% compared to the previous year, box office revenues reached a record £799m.[5] Famous screen actors, British and international alike, frequently appear on the London stage.[6]
Clicking on the link on this page will redirect to Wikipedia's West End theatre article.
Sources[]
- ↑ Christopher Innes, "West End" in The Cambridge Guide to Theatre (Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1195, ISBN 0-521-43437-8
- ↑ London's 10 oldest theatres The Telegraph
- ↑ Shakespeare's indoor Globe to glow by candlelight - The Guardian
- ↑ 2018 BOX OFFICE FIGURES RELEASED BY SOCIETY OF LONDON THEATRE AND UK THEATRE (March 2019 - Society of London Theatre
- ↑ "New Figures Reveal West End Theatre is Thriving". London Box Office. February 2020. https://www.londonboxoffice.co.uk/news/post/west-end-thriving.
- ↑ "Stars on stage". London theatre. Retrieved 23 June 2015