About the Vaudeville Theatre

The Vaudeville opened on the Strand in 1870, on the site of a billiards club that had failed. C. J. Phipps designed it, and at first it sat behind two houses. Those were cleared in 1889, giving the theatre its own frontage on the Strand, and the stone front and the foyer you walk through today date from then.

The auditorium is younger than the building. The inside was rebuilt in 1926, and the old horseshoe was replaced with a rectangle. That rebuild is why the rows run straight instead of curving round. Some of the old stage machinery survives backstage, including rare thunder drums and lightning sheets.

In 1968 the Vaudeville was on a list to be knocked down, along with the Adelphi, Garrick, Lyceum and Duchess. A campaign saved all five, which is why this stretch of the Strand still has its theatres.

It's Grade II listed, and it's been run by Nimax Theatres since 2005.

Notable past productions

• Our Boys (from 1875), which ran for four years and set the long-run record of its day
• Absurd Person Singular (1974)
• Stomp!
• The Ladykillers (2011)
• The Duck House (2013)
• The Importance of Being Earnest (2018)
• Emilia (2019)
• Groan Ups (2019), the start of Mischief's run here
• Magic Goes Wrong (2019)

Other venues of similar size

• Garrick Theatre, 733 seats on Charing Cross Road, also run by Nimax, with the same three levels: Stalls, Dress Circle and Grand Circle
• St Martin's Theatre, 564 seats in West Street, over three levels
• Wyndham's Theatre, around 750 seats on Charing Cross Road, over three levels