Savoy Theatre - History
The Savoy Theatre is located on the Strand in London with its nearest underground station at Charing Cross as well as Embankment. The nearest railway station is found in the form of Charing Cross.
Dating back to 1881, The Savoy Theatre was constructed by the well known Richard D’Oyly, responsible for such venues as the Palace Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue. He built the theatre where once stood the Savoy Palace. A long history had already taken place at this location as the House of Savoy had been a ruling family since the eleventh century. It had included the likes of Humbert I, Count of Sabaudia and Count Peter of Savoy. The Savoy Palace itself had existed since 1263.
But after that time, through the passing of many of the Savoy Family and a fire which damaged the building in the 1800s the location was in need of something new. In stepped the likes of Richard D’Oyly, C I Phipps and the work of Collinson & Locke. The grand opening took place on 10th October 1881 with the show being the Opera Patience by Gilbert and Sullivan, transferring from the smaller theatre Opera Comique to this brand new venue.
The Savoy Theatre soon became known for the work of Gilbert and Sullivan, with all of the last eight of their comic operas making an appearance, including The Mikado, Iolanthe, The Yeomen of the Guard and The Gondoliers. As a result, these productions became known by the term the Savoy Operas. However it was not just Gilbert and Sullivan who showcased their talents in this way, with work also appearing including Edward German, Sydney Grundy, Ivan Caryll and Basil Hood.
If you visited the theatre at this time and were a regular theatregoer, one thing you would notice is the electric lighting. Today it is obviously common place to have electrical equipment in theatres, but the Savoy Theatre was the first to introduce such technology to light the way for audiences. In fact, it was the first public building in the world to do this, making the Savoy Theatre is a great historical landmark.
The theatre was demolished by workmen who invaded the auditorium in 1929, but up until this point the productions included The Love Birds (1906), Fallen Fairies (1909), Two Merry Monarchs and Orpheus and Eurydice (1910), The Sin of David (1914) and Peter Ibbetson (1920). After the invasion the theatre was rebuilt and reopened later in 1929 with The Gondoliers by Gilbert and Sullivan. Seasons of works by these two famous partners appeared at the theatre for many decades to follow, through the 20s, the 30s, the 50s, the 60s and 70s. There have also been further seasons during the twenty first century.
The gap of the 1990s in the above summary is largely due to a fire which hit the theatre on 12th February 1990. HRH The Princess of Wales reopened the theatre in 1993. Since then many great productions have hit the stage and entertained a variety of audiences from around the world.
