The Gaiety Theatre is a theatre on South King Street in Dublin, Ireland, off Grafton Street and close to St. Stephen's Green. It specialises in operatic and musical productions, with occasional dramatic shows.

History

In April 1871, the brothers John and Michael Gunn obtained a 21-year licence to establish "a well-regulated theatre and therein at all times publicly to act, represent or perform any interlude, tragedy, comedy, prelude, opera, burletta, play, farce or pantomime". In favour of the Gunn's licence application was that, unlike the existing theatres, they were not proposing to promote local drama which had acquired something of a reputation with the Dublin Castle administration for stirring up nationalist sentiments.

The city centre site was 17 metres wide on King Street and 42 metres deep towards Tangier Lane. The Gunns employed the experienced theatre architect C.J. Phipps. The audience capacity was 2000 spread over four floors: the 'parterre' or ground floor pit with 21 rows of seats; the dress circle and upper circle comprising: balcony stalls with 7 rows of seats, the first circle with 6 rows of seats, the amphitheater with 2 rows of seats; and the top floor gallery with 9 rows of seats; As a receiving house, there was no need for extensive rehearsal spaces, workshops or storage areas.

The theatre was built for £26,000, and construction was completed in just 28 weeks. The Gaiety was opened on 27 November 1871, with the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland as guest of honour for a double bill which included the comedy She Stoops to Conquer and a burlesque version of La Belle Sauvage. and, despite several improvements to public spaces and stage changes, it retains several Victorian era features and remains Dublin's longest-established, continuously producing theatre. In the 1990s, Groundwork Productions took on the lease and the theatre was eventually bought by the Break for the Border Group. The Gaiety was purchased by music promoters MCD (in turn owned by Denis Desmond and his wife Caroline) in the late 1990s. The new owners undertook a refit of the theatre, These handprints include those of Luciano Pavarotti, Brendan Grace, Maureen Potter, Twink, John B Keane, Anna Manahan, Niall Toibin and Brian Friel. Clodagh Rodgers (a contestant in that particular contest) later presented her RTÉ TV series The Clodagh Rodgers Show from the theatre in the late 1970s.

Bob Hewson, the father of U2 lead singer Paul "Bono" Hewson, was a tenor who performed at the Gaiety with the Rathmines and Rathgar Musical Society. In December 2004, U2 filmed a music video for "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" at the Gaiety. Both the song and the video are tributes from son to father.

The Gaiety is known for its annual Christmas pantomime and has hosted a pantomime every year since December 1873, though no production was possible in 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis, with the scheduled panto, The Little Mermaid postponed until 2021. Actor and director Alan Stanford directed both Gaiety productions of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Irish entertainer June Rodgers starred in the Gaiety pantomime for years, until she began to headline the equally established Olympia Theatre panto. The Gaiety's pantomimes have included Irish performers that appeal to homegrown audiences, including a number of Fair City actors.

References

  • Gaiety Theatre Scrapbook, 1913-1937 at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Special Collections Research Center
  • Souvenir of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the opening of the Gaiety Theatre: 27 November 1871; with Michael Gunn's compts., Digital Library@Villanova University.