The New London Theatre is a west end theatre situated on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden. The site was formerly occupied by the Winter Garden Theatre until 1965.
The New London Theatre is built on the site of previous taverns and theatres which housed music hall. A place of entertainment has been located on the site since Elizabethan times. Nell Gwynn was associated with the tavern, which became known as the Great Mogul by the end of the 17th century, and presented entertainments in an adjoining hall, including "sing-songs".and "glee clubs" The Mogul Saloon was built on the site in 1847, which was also sometimes known as the "Turkish Saloon or the "Mogul Music Hall." In 1851, it became the Middlesex Music Hall, also known as The Old Mo. This in turn was rebuilt as the New Middlesex Theatre Of Varieties , in 1911 by Frank Matcham for Oswold Stoll.
In 1919, the theatre was sold to George Grossmith Jr and Edward Laurillard who refurbished and reopened it as the Winter Garden Theatre. The pair produced Kissing Time in 1919, followed by A Night Out fhe year after, both starring Stanley Holloway. Grossmith and Laurillard also became managers of the Apollo Theatre in 1920, but expanding their operation caused Grossmith and Laurillard to end their partnership, with Grossmith retaining control of the Winter Garden.
Grossmith then partnered with George Edwardes's former associate, Pat Malone, to produce a series of mostly adaptations of imported shows at the Winter Garden Theatre between 1920 and 1926. Grossmith co-wrote some of the Winter Garden pieces, directed many of his own productions and starred in several, notably as Otis in Sally. Several of the later productions lost money, and Grossmith and Malone ended the partnership.
The Vagabond King was produced at the theatre in 1927, and in 1929 Fred and Adele Astaire, starred in Funny Face. The year after, Sophie Tucker, played in the Vivian Ellis musical Follow A Star and in 1923, Gracie Fields appeared here in Walk This Way.. several other key productions followed over the next two decades however the theatre was forced to close permanently in 1959 when it was sold by the Rank Organisation to a developer. It was then gutted and remained vacant until 1965 to be replaced in 1973 by the current building.
Designed by architect Paul Tvrtkovic and scenic designer Sean Kenny (Blitz! Oliver! Pickwick), modelled after the Walter Gropius Total-Theater, and with a seating capacity of 960 on 2 levels, the theatre's auditorium first opened with a television recording of Marlene Dietrich's one-woman show. The theatre officially opened on 2nd January 1973 with a production of The Unknown Soldier And His Wife which starred Peter Ustinov. It then hosted Grease starring Richard Gere as Danny.
Beginning in 1977, the theatre was used as a television studio for several years and then returned to use as a theatre. The New London Theatre's biggest hit was the Andrew Lloyd-Webber muysical Cats which premièred there on 11th May 1981.for a mammoth run before finally closing in 2002 making it at the time the longest running west end musical in history.
The New London Theatre also hosted the 1977 BBC Sports Personality Of The Year as well as the Masters snooker between 1976 and 1978. Another great fact is the famous video clip for the Queen anthem We Are The Champions was shot there in October 1977, which followed a minor 70-min. gig.
Between 2003 and 2005 the New London hosted Bill Kenwright's revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Joseph And His technicolor Dreamcoat, which closed after a two and a half year run on 3rd September 2005. More recently, the venue played host to the London transfer of the Off Broadway productio Blue Man Group, which closed in June 2007, The current production is a transfer of the National Theatre's War Horse. The New London Theatre has been owned since 1991 by Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Theatres. The theatre building also contains an underground car park, a cabaret venue, a basement nightclub, shops and a residential tower. In November 2007, Really Useful Theatres Ltd announced that the New London is to be put up for sale and they are currently inviting offers.
Theatre tickets for all performances at the New London Theatre are available to book securely online through this website.
has electrified both audiences and critics alike. 
