Palace Theatre

When the Palace Theatre was opened it was originally named the Royal English Opera House. Owner Richard D’Oyly Carte intended it to be the English home for grand opera. It began with success, showing Arthur Sullivan’s Ivanhoe. Yet when this opera came to an end Carte had not lined up any operas to follow it at the theatre, and after so much initial success the theatre, bizarrely had to shut down. It then enjoyed varying degrees of success until the 20th century, when musical director Herman Finck made the Palace Theatre famous for its orchestra – and its dancing girls! Some notably long runs have occurred for shows in the theatre, including The Sound of Music, Jesus Christ Superstar and Les Miserables. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Woman in White then received its premier here in 2004, and ran for a stunning 19 months.