The Adelphi Theatre in London is a 1500-seat west end theatre, located on the Strand in the City Of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The Adelphi has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, The theatre was Grade II listed for historical preservation on 1st December 1987.
The Adelphi Theatre in London was founded in 1806 as the 'Sans Pareil' (which means "Without Compare"), by merchant John Scott, and his daughter Jane who was a British theatre manager, performer, and playwright.
They gathered together a theatrical company and by 1809 the theatre was licensed for musical entertainments, pantomime, and burletta. Jane wrote more than fifty stage pieces in an array of genres: pantomimes, farces, ,melodramas and comic operettas, historical dramas, and adaptations, as well as translations before retiring to Surrey in 1819.
On 18th October 1819, the theatre reopened under its present name, The Adelphi, which was adopted from the buildings opposite.
In its early years, the Adelphi Theatre was known for melodrama which were called the 'Adelphi Screamers'. Many stories by Charles Dickens were also adapted for the stage here. Dickens's early works adapted for the stage of the Adelphi, include The Pickwick Papers, Nicholas Nickleby and The Old Curiosity Shop. The theatre itself, makes a cameo appearance in The Pickwick Papers!
In 1844 the Adelphi came under the management of Madame Celeste and comedian Benjimin Webster Dramatisations of Dickens continued to be performed, including 'A Christmas Carol'.
The old theatre was demolished, but on 26 December 1858 The New Adelphi Theatre was opened and was considered a vast improvement on the cramped circumstances of the original, which had been described by some as a "hasty conversion from a tavern hall, permanently kept in its provisional state". The new theatre could seat 1,500 people, with standing room for another 500.
By the mid-19th century, John Lawrence Toole had established his comedic reputation at the Adelphi, and the theatre hosted a number of French operettas. In 1867, however, the Adelphi gave English comic opera a boost by hosting the very first public performance of Arthur Sullivan's first opera Cox And Box.
The building was renovated in 1879 and yet again in 1887 when a public house called The Hampshire Hog, the house next door, and the nell Gwynne Tavern in Bull Inn Court were all bought by the Gattis, in order to make the theatre bigger. They also built a brand new and bigger facade and part of this can still be seen today right above the Crystal Rooms next door to the present Adelphi Theatre.
An actor who performed regularly at the Adelphi in the latter half of the 19th century, William Terriss, was stabbed to death during the run of ‘Secret Service' on 16 December 1897 whilst entering the theatre by the royal entrance in Maiden Lane which he used as a private entrance. This event is now recorded on a plaque on the wall by the stage door and outside a neighbouring pub, a sign says that the killer was one of the Adelphi's stage hands. It has been said that Terriss' ghost haunts the theatre.
On 11th September 1901, the third version of the Adelphi Theatre was opened as the 'Century Theatre' however the name reverted back in 1904. This theatre was built by Frank Kirk to the design of Ernest Runtz. George Edwardes, the dean of London musical theatre took over the management in 1908. The present Adelphi Theatre opened its doors on 3rd December 1930, redesigned in the Art Deco style by Ernest Schaufelberg. It was named the 'Royal Adelphi Theatre' and re-opened with the hit musical 'Ever Green'., and in 1940 the theatre's name again reverted back to 'The Adelphi'.and continued to host comedy and musicals as well as dramas.
A proposed redevelopment of Covent Garden by the GLC in 1968 saw the Adelphi under threat, together with the nearby Vaudeville, Garrick, Lyceum and Duchess theatres, and only an active campaign by Equity, the Musicians Union, and theatre owners under the auspices of the 'Save London Theatres Campaign' led to the abandonment of the scheme.
In 1993 Andrew Lloyd-Webber's 'Really Useful Group' bought the theatre and completely refurbished it prior to the opening of his adaptation of Sunset Boulevard. The 1998 video of Lloyd Webber's musical Cats was filmed at the theatre.
Recent shows appearing at the Adelphi include Chicago The Musical , Joseph And His Technicolour Dreamcoat, and Love Never Dies.and it is still one of the west end's premiere venues for the sale of theatre tickets.
