The Novello Theatre in London is a west end theatre situated on the Aldwych in the City of Westminster. The theatre was built as one of a pair with the Aldwych Theatre which sits on either side of the Waldorf Hotel, both being designed by W.G.R Sprague.
The theatre opened as the Waldorf Theatre on 22nd May 1905, and was renamed the Strand Theatre, in 1909 before it was again renamed as the Whitney Theatre, in 1911 before once again becoming the Strand Theatre, in 1913.
In 2005, the theatre was renamed the Novello by its owners Delfont Mackintosh Theatres in honour of Ivor Novello who lived in a flat above the theatre from 1913 to 1951.
The black comedy ArsenicAnd Lace had a long run of 1337 performances here in the 1940s, and Sailor Beware ran for 1231 performances from 1955. Stephen Sondheim's musical A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum opened here on the day of JFK's assassination, running for nearly two years.
In 1971, the hilarious comedy No Sex Please We're British opened here, remaining for over 10 years of its 16-year run before it transferred to the Garrick Theatre in 1982.
The Novello Theatre was extensively refurbished in 1930 and again in the early 1970s. It was Grade II listed by English Heritage on 20th July 1971. After The Rat Pack- Live From Las Vegas in 2005, its centenery anniversary year, the theatre was extensively refurbished. The current bringing the current seating capacity to 1,105.
The theatre reopened on 8th December 2005 with the RSC's annual London season, playing to 4-week runs of concluding in March 2006.
In 2006, the theatre played host to the London première of the Broadway musical Footloose which starred Cheryl Baker before making way when it closed on 11th November,for the Royal Shakespeare Company's return season for 2006-7, following which the Broadway musical The Drowsey Chaperone made its European première on 6th June 2007. The London production of the show starred Elaine Paige, Bob Martin,and John Partridge. The London production however closed after a run of only two months on 4 August 2007 after failing to attract audiences, despite positive notices.
It was announced on 10th July 2007, just three days after the announcement of Drowsey's premature closure that the Novello Theatre would be the home of a new musical version of the MGM motion picture Desperately Seeking Susan with music by the band Blondie, directed by Angus Jackson, and starring Emma Williams and Kelly Price. The musical previewed on 16th October 2007 receiving its world première on 15th November 2007. However, just two weeks after its opening, following a critical mauling, the show announced its final performance to be held on 15th December 2007, having played just four weeks of previews and four weeks of open run, losing a staggering £3.5 million.
A quick replacement came in the form of the cross-West End transfer of Shadowlands from the nearby Wyndhams Theatre which commenced on 21st December 2007 for a 12 week run to 25th February 2008.
Theatre tickets to all performances at the Novello Theatre in London are available to book securely through this website.
end at the Novello Theatre. London's most joyous musical has been hailed by critics as a musical triumph. CRAZY FOR YOU has received more five star reviews than any other musical this year. 
