Novello Theatre, London

Current show: Noises Off closes 30 June 2012, followed by Derren Brown: Svengali from 12 July to 11 August 2012, followed by Mamma Mia! from 6 September 2012
Architect: W G R Sprague Opened: 22 May 1905 Listed: Grade II	Seats: 1,067 on 4 levels Archive: Previous shows at this theatre

Originally named The Waldorf, this theatre is a twin with the Aldwych Theatre on the other side of the Waldorf Hotel. The theatre's name was changed to the Strand Theatre in 1909, then to the Whitney Theatre in 1911 and in 1913 it reverted back to the Strand Theatre. During this time the theatre was refurbished a couple of times, firstly in 1930 when the boxes around the rear of the Dress Circle where removed and again in the early 1970s. On 8 December 2005, after a six month long refurbishment programme costing some £3¼million, the name was changed to The Novello Theatre in honour of Ivor Novello who lived for many years in a flat above the theatre.

Productions here include in 1942 Joseph Kesselring's black comedy Arsenic And Old Lace which enjoyed a run of 1,337 performances. The 1955 production of Sailor Beware run for 1,231 performances and made a star out of Peggy Mount. In 1963 Stephen Sondheim musical comedy A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To the Forum had the unfortunate co-incidence of opening the same day as that American President J F Kennedy was assassinated. It managed a run of some 22 months, closing in December 1965. The longest running comedy in the UK, No Sex Please We're British, opened here on 3 June 1971 and continued until it transferred to the Duchess Theatre on 2 August 1986. During the run the theatre was completely redecorated, reseated and refurbished. (No Sex Please - We're British finally closed at the Duchess Theatre on 5 September 1987 after a total run of 6,761 performances). More recent productions include Lost in Yonkers, Saint Joan and the musical bio Buddy which, after six years at The Victoria Palace Theatre, transferred to this theatre in October 1995 for a further 6½ years.

Delfont Mackintosh Theatres took over the management of the theatre on 25 March 2003 (they had owned the theatre's freehold since 1991). They undertook a major refurbishment of the building theatre and it reopened as The Novello Theatre on 8 December 2005 with Shakespeare's Twelfth Night presented by The Royal Shakespeare Company.

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