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Princess's

3271

There were entertainments of various kinds on this site from 1828 onward. In that year the Royal Bazaar opened, including a diorama, exhibition rooms and concert rooms. Rebuilt after a fire in 1830 it continued on similar lines featuring, for example, concerts on the Euterpeon (one of the mechanical instruments then popular, producing orchestral musical effects). An attempt made to convert the building to a theatre in 1836 failed, but the architect T Marsh Nelson eventually made an effective conversion and the Princess’s Theatre opened in 1840, retaining the old concert rooms. It had three tiers of boxes around a rectangular pit, plus a gallery. In this form it saw many of Charles Kean’s most celebrated productions.

After various limited campaigns of improvement the theatre was rebuilt, retaining some of the old fabric, by C J Phipps. The works were so radical that an adjoining building occupied by a jeweller fell down.

By the end of the century the theatre was failing and it closed permanently in 1902. Plans for major improvements were prepared by three separate theatre architects in 1905, 1907 and 1908, but none was carried out. The theatre had been dark for twenty-nine years when it was finally demolished in 1931.

Built / Converted
1840
Dates of use
  • 1840 - 1902
Current state
Demolished
Current use
Demolished
Address
73 Oxford Street, London, Westminster, WC1A 1DG, England
Website-
Further details
Other names
Royal Bazaar , Queen’s Bazaar , Princess’s Theatre
Events
  • Owner/Management: see Diana Howard, op cit, for a full list of licensees
  • 1828 Design/Construction: as the Royal Bazaar, British Diorama & Exhibition of Works of Art
    Unknown
    - Architect
  • 1830 Alteration: rebuilt after fire
    Unknown
    - Architect
  • 1836 Alteration: conversion to theatre (not completed)
    Charles Stewart Duncan
    - Architect
  • 1840 Design/Construction:
    Crace & Sons
    - Consultant
    decorators
  • 1840 Alteration: completed conversion to theatre
    T Marsh Nelson
    - Architect
  • 1840 - 1902 Use:
  • 1857 Alteration: improvements to auditorium
    Unknown
    - Architect
  • 1869 Design/Construction:
    J Macintosh
    - Consultant
    redecorated
  • 1869 Alteration: major works of renovation
    Unknown
    - Architect
  • 1880 Alteration: rebuilt theatre, incorporating parts of old fabric
    C J Phipps
    - Architect
  • 1883 Alteration: safety works
    J G Buckle
    - Architect
  • 1897 Alteration: alterations
    A Blomfield Johnson & T Moore
    - Architect
  • 1905 Alteration: improvements and part reconstruction (unexecuted)
    William Hunt
    - Architect
  • 1907 Alteration: extensive reconstruction (unexecuted)
    W G R Sprague
    - Architect
  • 1908 Alteration: extensive reconstruction (unexecuted)
    Frank Verity
    - Architect
Capacities
  • Capacity
    Original
    Description
    c.1500
Listings
  • Listing
    Not listed
Stage type
-
Building dimensions: -
Stage dimensions: -
Proscenium width: -
Height to grid: -
Inside proscenium: -
Orchestra pit: -