So which West End Theatres could do with a face lift?

The Playhouse looks OK at the moment. I was there for La Cage twice recently and thought it was OK. A lick of paint wont harm it I guess especially when you look at the drab, awful place called The Phoenix. I know for a fact its over 25 years since this got a touch up of any kind.
I was i the Duchess last night and it is like a bloody war bunker- so depressing, the whole place needs to be tarted up drastically.

Updated On: 2/26/09 at 01:38 PM

The Adelphi! But I guess it looks...not shabby, but a lot less fantastic than other theatres because it isn't a particularly beautiful old style building, it's more modern. You just don't get the "Wow" like you do when you walk into the...Theatre Royal or the Colosseum. (?)

I know, it's just the actual building rather than the seats and stuff that let it down, pity.
I know they recarpetted a while ago =P

Do you feel the same as me about art deco theatres.
Art Deco is just too cold for a theatre building.
Thats what I was thinking at The Duchess last night. Horrendous.
I worked at the Adelphi for a year in the late 80s and was never happy with the decor, its much nicer working in an oldie like The Palladium or Her Majestys etc.

The Prince Edward was one of the worst in town until Cameron did the current rebuild we see today. Rats were seen on a regular basis throughout the auditorium and sometimes on stage, during the runs of 'Evita' and 'Chess'
(See my thread below about the PE)

Updated On: 2/26/09 at 02:02 PM

You mean the outside of the Queens obviously, as the auditorium is an oldie (not that nice an oldie i must say!)

The Queens was built at the same time as the Gielgud as twin theatres and had the same facade and foyer until a bomb cleared it in the 1940s.

Same as The Aldwych and The Novello (then called The Waldorf Theatre).
Plans have been spoken about for decades about rebuilding the front of the Queens but its something Cameron hasn't acted on since he took over the theatre. That would have been a priority for me!

Aldwych



Novello

In the current programme for Les Mis, it discusses plans to redo the Queens facade.

Quote from Cam Mack:
"After 16 years at the Palace Theatre, Les Mis now feels as if has never been anywhere else but here at the Queen's. Though I am obviously delighted at this, it does mean I have not been able to refurbish the theatre in the way that I have already achieved with my other theatres, the Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, Novello, Noel Coward, Gielgud and Wyndham's. HOWEVER, WE ARE ABOUT TO START A COSMETIC SPUCE-UP which will go some way towards reaching the high standards we strive for in all our theatres to ensure the maximum enjoyment of theatregoers"

Next to the writing is a designer's rendering of the planned facade for the Queens - a simple stone facade with columns on the second level, a big Les Mis logo, and panels around the sides advertising Cameron's other shows: Oliver, Avenue Q etc.

Oh right. This was my first programme for Les Mis while its been at the Queens, so I didn't know that :)

See, it looks gorgeous and it would be so easy and fast to do.