#1
Daly's Theatre, Leicester Square, London
Opened 27th June 1893.
Closed 25th September 1937.
Demolished 1937.
The Daly's Theatre was a sumptuous building inside and out in the typical Victorian style. It had seating for 1220 on 3 tier levels. The auditorium was one of the first in the West End to have be cantilevered (no supporting pillars.)
Its opening production was 'The Taming Of The Shrew' and was quickly followed by a very mixed program from Shakespeare to musical Comedy and music hall to recitals.
Its longest runner was the musical 'Maid Of The Mountain's' in 1919 which ran for 1352 performances, an immense run in those days. 'Charleys Aunt' was revived there and ran for its longest ever run of over 800 performances in 1934. Noel Coward had his only play considered a flop in London with 'Siracco' in 1927.
In its final years it had along run of major flops and a long run of many different managers.
Daly's was sold to Warner Brothers in 1937 and demolished before the year was out.
Pretty maids all in a row... The Empire, Daly's and the Hippodrome.
Daly's can be seen next to the tall dark building on the left of this picture. The large white building is The Alhambra Theatre, the Odeon Leicester Square now stands in its place.
Warner Brothers build a huge new super-cinema in place of Daly's that opened on 12th October 1938, less than a year after Daly's was demolished.
The auditorium seated 1775 and was on two levels.
It's opening movie was Eroll Flynn in 'Robin Hood' and the cinema was the setting for most of the London premieres of Hollywood movies many years before the larger and better equipped Empire and Odeon came along.
In 1985 Warners demolished the building except the 1938 facade and replaced it with a modern 9 screen complex that is still in use today.
The old Warner lettering is blacked out on the tower behind the Vue sign.
The premiere of James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor in 'Giant'.
Posted: 2/15/10 at 1:41pm
Daly's Theatre, Leicester Square, London
Opened 27th June 1893.
Closed 25th September 1937.
Demolished 1937.
The Daly's Theatre was a sumptuous building inside and out in the typical Victorian style. It had seating for 1220 on 3 tier levels. The auditorium was one of the first in the West End to have be cantilevered (no supporting pillars.)
Its opening production was 'The Taming Of The Shrew' and was quickly followed by a very mixed program from Shakespeare to musical Comedy and music hall to recitals.
Its longest runner was the musical 'Maid Of The Mountain's' in 1919 which ran for 1352 performances, an immense run in those days. 'Charleys Aunt' was revived there and ran for its longest ever run of over 800 performances in 1934. Noel Coward had his only play considered a flop in London with 'Siracco' in 1927.
In its final years it had along run of major flops and a long run of many different managers.
Daly's was sold to Warner Brothers in 1937 and demolished before the year was out.
Pretty maids all in a row... The Empire, Daly's and the Hippodrome.
Daly's can be seen next to the tall dark building on the left of this picture. The large white building is The Alhambra Theatre, the Odeon Leicester Square now stands in its place.
Warner Brothers build a huge new super-cinema in place of Daly's that opened on 12th October 1938, less than a year after Daly's was demolished.
The auditorium seated 1775 and was on two levels.
It's opening movie was Eroll Flynn in 'Robin Hood' and the cinema was the setting for most of the London premieres of Hollywood movies many years before the larger and better equipped Empire and Odeon came along.
In 1985 Warners demolished the building except the 1938 facade and replaced it with a modern 9 screen complex that is still in use today.
The old Warner lettering is blacked out on the tower behind the Vue sign.
The premiere of James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor in 'Giant'.
Updated On: 2/15/10 at 01:41 PM
.jpg?format=auto&width=300)
