A-Z of Events

The Lion King

About the Venue

The Lyceum Theatre is located on Wellington Street (near Covent Garden) in London. Its nearest underground stations are Covent Garden and Charing Cross, with the nearest train station being located at Charing Cross.

There is a long and interesting history surrounding the Lyceum theatre. The London venue has routes that go as far back as the 1700s and throughout the years the location has moved slightly as well as been used for a number of different purposes. A theatre with the name Lyceum is known to have inhabited the area since 1765, but the building resembling the one we know was designed by Samuel Beazley and built in 1834 with the partnership of Peto & Grissell. Much of this design can still be found on aspects of the current building, though much of what we know today was built when the theatre was renovated in 1996. In fact if you stared at the front of the venue in 1834 you would probably only recognise the façade and the portico as the rest of the design is largely the work of Bertie Crewe in 1904 and the Holohan Architects from their 1996 restoration.

Whilst in its original location it became the venue to showcase acts from David Garrick, Charles Dibdin and later on in 1802 it was also the place where waxwork models were exhibited by none other than Madame Tussaud. After 1809 the Drury Lane Theatre Company used the venue before reconstruction occurred in 1816 and the theatre became ‘The English Opera’ house under the watch of Samuel Arnold. It was under this guise that it housed the London premiere of Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutti and the Sublime Society of Beef Steaks then made the building their home.

When the new building was erected in 1834, audiences flocked to the theatre under the name ‘Theatre Royal Lyceum And English Opera House’. During this time a large number of productions opened, some by composer John Barnett and later Michael Balfe. Visiting the theatre at this time would have meant you would be viewing The Mountain Sylph (1834), Fair Rosamund (1837), Farinelli (1839), Blanche Of Jersey (1840) and Keolanthe (1841), the latter during Balfe’s unsuccessful management attempting to produce National Opera at the theatre. After this you could have seen any number of Dickens adaptations. Later under new management the venue staged A Tale Of Two Cities (with Dickens himself consulting), The Long Strike (1866), W S Gilbert’s Uncle Baby (1863), Harlequin Cock Robin And Jenny Wren (1867) and Comedy And Tragedy (1884).

Henry Irving appeared at the theatre post 1871 when new management appeared in the form of Hezekiah Linthicum Bateman. He appeared in many plays that included Shakespeare productions. Particular performances were in The Bells (1871), Charles I (1872) and Hamlet (1874). He then became manager upon Bateman’s death and continued to star in plays (he also later inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula character as Stoker was the venue’s business manager).

Recent Years
Like many theatres in the 1960s, the venue came under threat from development in London, but the Save London Theatres Campaign saved the Lyceum and it became a Grade II* listed building. The 1980s saw the Mysteries trilogy appear before the new restoration of 1996 which also brought an end to the venue as a Mecca Ballroom.

The most recent productions at the Lyceum have been Jesus Christ Superstar (1996-1998), Oklahoma! (1999) and The Lion King (1999–).