IN THE SOUVENIR PROGRAMME that accompanied the opening of the Piccadilly Theatre in April 1928, it was stated that if all the bricks used in its construction were placed end to end in a straight line, they would have stretched from London to Paris. This was another way of saying that the theatre was a huge construction, one of the largest built in London in the 20th century. Designed by Bertie Crewe and Edward A. Stone for the impresario Edward Laurillard, its 1,400 seat auditorium aimed more for space and comfort than for atmosphere and intimacy. There were elongated bars on the three levels, and beautifully equipped Ladies Salons with rows of dressing tables and mirrors to assist any necessary facial refurbishment. The fittings and decoration in green and gold were carried out in the modernist (Art Deco) style by Marc-Henri and Laverdet, as the French designers Marc-Henri Levy and Gaston Laverdet were known. The attractive four-storey Portland stone facade curves gracefully round the corner on which the theatre stands, vaguely influenced by John Nash's classical frontages in Regent Street only a few yards away.
Evelyn Laye, 'easily the most popular musical comedy actress of our time', starred in the first production here, Jerome Kern's Blue Eyes, which ran four months before transferring. For the next year, the theatre was used by Warner Bros. for the showing of 'talkies', starting with Al Jolson's second film, The Singing Fool. Live theatre returned in November 1929 with a revival of The Student Prince. A very mixed batch of productions ensued, failing to give the Piccadilly any distinctive personality or policy, a situation that continues to the present day.
Up to the outbreak of war, the theatre played host to Cicely Courtneidge
in a revue entitled Folly To Be Wise (1931), Robert Donat and Ernest Thesiger in James Bridie's A Sleeping Clergyman (1933), and Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies in The Barretts Of Wimpole Street (1935). The character of the Piccadilly was epitomized in a melange
called Choose Your Time. It consisted of a continuous programme of variety turns, a swing
band, newsreels, cartoons and Talk Of The Devil, a short play with Yvonne Amaud and John Mills.
In 1941, Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit had its premiere here. The hugely popular 'supernatural' comedy, starring Cecil Parker, Fay Compton, Kay Hammond, and Margaret Rutherford as the eccentric clairvoyant Madame Arcati, soon transferred to the St James' (since demolished) and the Duchess to complete an amazing 1997 perfommances. After touring with Macbeth (1942), John Gielgud brought it in to the Piccadilly for a few 'exhausting and not very successful' months. (Incidentally, EmestThesiger played the First Witch.) The bad luck said to attend 'the Scottish play' lingered on into 1943, when the theatre was damaged by a flying bomb attack.
In 1945, the year of its reopening, Noel Coward's revue Sigh No More was seen. It featured Joyce Grenfell, Cyril Ritchard, and Noel's close friend Graham Payn for whom he wrote the song 'Matelot'. Edith Evans and Godfrey Tearle tackled Anthony And Cleopatra (1946), and John Van Druten's The Voice Of The Turtle (1947) was coldly received. Short runs and transfers occupied the Piccadilly until the interior was completely redecorated in a streamlined rather anonymous manner in 1955, the red plush seating being reduced to 1150.
In the five years leading up to the acquisition of the theatre by Donald Albery (against stiff competition from Bernard Delfont) four comedies stood out. Peter Ustinov in his own Romanoff And Juliet (1956); Richard Attenborough, John Clements, Kay Hammond and Constance Cummings in The Rape Of The Belt (1957) by Cummings' husband Benn W. Levy; Hook, Line And Sinker (1958) with Joan Plowright and Robert Morley; and the real-life married couple Clements and Hammond in The Marriage Go Round (1959).
However, it was American drama and musicals that gave the Piccadilly
some prestige in the '60s and '70s. The original Broadway leads,
Uta Hagen and Arthur HiJ' in Edward Albee's scabrous Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1964), and Richard Kiley in Man Of La Mancha (1969) brought authority to those productions, as did Angela
Lansbury in Gypsy (1973), Claire Bloom in A Streetcar Named Desire (1974), and Henry Fonda in his solo performance as Clarence Darrow (1975). The Royal Shakespeare Company brought some of their productions
here while waiting for the Barbican to open, including the hit,
Educating Rita (1980), with Julie Walters. In 1982, the auditorium was transformed
into a nightclub during the run of a magic show called Y, and the 'Prompt Comer' Bar and Disco added. The spectacular
British musical Mutiny (1985), despite bad notices, managed to keep afloat for over
a year. And the Piccadilly sails on. . .
--From The Great Theatres of London by Ronald Bergan
Tango at the End of Winter was performed here in 1992.
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