The Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster, London, located between Wych Street, Holywell Street and the Strand. It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and Kingsway.

The theatre was built cheaply as a speculative venture, and was known as one of the "rickety twins" along with the adjacent Globe Theatre. Numerous managements presented plays in English, French and German, and the house was also used for extravaganzas and English versions of French opéras bouffes. It is best remembered as the theatre where several early Gilbert and Sullivan operas had their first runs, between 1877 and 1881.

History

Background and early years

In the 16th century Lyon's Inn, one of the Inns of Chancery attached to London's Inner Temple, stood on the site. By the 1860s the area had deteriorated greatly, and the old inn had been converted into what the historians Mander and Mitchenson describe as "dwellings of a dubious nature". In 1864 part of the area was cleared, and the impresario Sefton Parry built a new theatre, the Globe, which opened in 1868. He acquired an adjacent site, bounded by Wych Street, Holywell Street and the Strand, on which he built the Opera Comique two years later. The architect was Francis Fowler.

Parry's construction of the theatres was a speculative venture: he hoped to make large profits from compensation when the area was demolished, which was even then in contemplation. both were of such flimsy construction that performers could hear each other through the common wall. Despite the nickname, the Opera Comique was by no means a twin of the Globe, being only about half the size, with a seating capacity of 862, compared with more than 1,500 at the Globe.

Another way in which the two theatres differed was that, unlike the Globe, the Opera Comique was largely underground. It was entered through tunnels from three streets (including the Strand) and was nicknamed the "Theatre Royal Tunnels". Despite this and the flimsy construction, the theatre attracted high praise from the press after it opened. The Era, commented, "For elegance of design and perfect adaptability to the requirements of dramatic art it is not surpassed, if indeed it be equalled, by any existing Theatre".

The theatre opened under the name "Royal Opera Comique" on 29 October 1870.

The first home-grown production at the theatre was a musical play in 1871, Marie, with music by Richard D'Oyly Carte and a libretto by E. Spencer Mott. This accompanied an English adaptation of Molière's Le Médecin malgré lui. The production was not a success. Opéras bouffes by Hervé, Offenbach and Lecocq, and extravaganzas by F. C. Burnand followed. After short seasons starring the Italian tragedienne Adelaide Ristori and then the English operetta star Emily Soldene, Carte became manager of the theatre in 1874, and presented The Broken Branch, an English version of Gaston Serpette's operetta La branch cassée, starring Pauline Rita. Carte's first attempt to found "a permanent abode for Light Opera" During the performance on 31 July 1879, Carte's former business partners in the Comedy Opera Company (with whom Carte, Gilbert and Sullivan had split) tried to seize the set, creating a celebrated fracas. Over Christmas 1878, during the run of H.M.S. Pinafore, the theatre was renovated and redecorated by E. W. Bradwell, reopening on 1 February 1879. The Era commented, "We can hardly overpraise the beauty and grace of the Opera Comique as it now appears to the delighted audience."

Two more Gilbert and Sullivan successes followed, now produced by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company: The Pirates of Penzance (1880) and, finally, Patience (1881), which was later transferred to Carte's new and larger theatre, the Savoy. During this period, Carte also presented various companion pieces with the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, including the 1877 revival of Dora's Dream by Arthur Cecil and Alfred Cellier; The Spectre Knight (1878); revivals of Trial by Jury; several pieces by George Grossmith beginning in 1878: Beauties on the Beach, A Silver Wedding, Five Hamlets, and Cups and Saucers; revivals of Gilbert's After All!;

Later years

Once D'Oyly Carte left the Opera Comique the theatre's fortunes declined. It was unoccupied from October to the end of 1881. James had bought adjoining premises in Holywell Street to make room for an extension to the theatre. The bars and circulation areas were, according to The Era, much improved, a spacious smoking room was added, and new emergency exits were installed. Osmond Carr's The Maid of Athens, ran for a month in June 1897, after which, said The Era, "nothing worthy of any record whatever has been attempted at this temple of the drama, which has had a singularly eccentric and mostly disastrous career." In March 1899, Horace Sedger announced a burlesque for the Opera Comique, Great Caesar, by Paul and Walter Rubens and George Grossmith Jr., but he changed his plans and presented it at the Comedy Theatre.

The Opera Comique closed in 1899 and was compulsorily purchased by the London County Council for £40,000. It was demolished in 1902 when the area was redeveloped to create Aldwych (named after old Wych Street) and Kingsway.

References and sources

References

Sources

  • Information about the Opera Comique
  • Article on the Opera Comique and other London theatres
  • Profile of the theatre and other Victorian theatres