The London Coliseum (also known as the Coliseum Theatre) is a theatre in St Martin's Lane, Westminster, built as one of London's largest and most luxurious family variety theatres. Opened on 24 December 1904 as the London Coliseum Theatre of Varieties, it was designed by the architect Frank Matcham for the impresario Oswald Stoll. Their ambition was to build the largest and finest music hall, described as the "people's palace of entertainment" of its age.
thumb|Interior showing stage, orchestra pit, boxes, and seating
thumb|The domed ceiling
At the time of construction, the Coliseum was one of the few theatres in Europe to provide lifts for taking patrons to the upper levels of the house, and was the first theatre in England to have a triple revolve installed on its stage. The theatre has 2,359 seats making it the largest theatre in London.
After being used for variety shows, musical comedies, and stage plays for many years, then as a cinema screening films in the Cinerama format between 1963 and 1968, the Sadler's Wells Opera Company moved into the building in 1968. The Sadler's Wells company changed its name to the English National Opera in 1974 and today it is used primarily for opera as well as being the London home of the English National Ballet.
History
The London Coliseum was built by the architect Frank Matcham who intended it to be one of London's largest and most luxurious family variety theatres. Construction began in 1903 and the venue opened on 24 December the following year as the London Coliseum Theatre of Varieties. It is located in St Martin's Lane, London.
Matcham built the theatre for the theatrical impresario Sir Oswald Stoll and had the ambition of it being the largest and finest "people's palace of entertainment" of the age. In 1911, dramatist W. S. Gilbert produced his last play here, The Hooligan.
The theatre changed its name from the London Coliseum to the Coliseum Theatre between 1931 and 1968 when a run of 651 performances of the operetta White Horse Inn began on 8 April 1931. Additionally, "pantomimes began in 1936 with Cinderella and continued regularly until 1946. In 1947 the musical Annie Get Your Gun was staged at the Coliseum and had a staggeringly successful run for the time, of 1,304 performances and three continuous years which was the longest run in theatrical history. There then followed a long run of major American hits beginning with Kiss Me, Kate in 1951, Guys And Dolls in 1953, The Pajama Game in 1955, and Damn Yankees in 1957. But this exceptional period did at last come to an end in 1957 when the production of Bells Are Ringing failed to enthrall anyone." when the design team included the architects RHWL and Arup as acousticians and building engineers.
The London Coliseum has two lifts which provide step-free access for disabled patrons to all levels, except the Upper Circle.
Use as a cinema
Periodically, the Coliseum was used to show films and, when the "'talkies' arrived at the Coliseum in 1933, films were run at the theatre for a year. The greatest sensation at this time was the showing of King Kong which ran at the Coliseum for months with 10,000 people seeing the film there every day."