Joseph & Palm Court

There has been a theatre on this site since 1806 when The Sans Pareil Theatre opened here, it soon changed its name to The Adelphi Theatre in 1819 and to The Theatre Royal, Adelphi in 1829. This theatre was demolished in 1858 to make way for a new theatre which opened later that same year and was also called The Theatre Royal, Adelphi before changing to The Royal Adelphi Theatre in 1867.

At the turn of the century the theatre was virtually completely reconstructed and reopened in 1901 as The Century Theatre, but it reverted to its previous name the following year. The theatre was then once again completely reconstructed in 1930 - just the external walls and the Royal Entrance at the rear of the theatre in Maiden Lane remained - this new theatre was designed in the 'Art Deco' style of the period by Ernest Schaufelberg and opened as The Royal Adelphi Theatre on 3 December 1930 before changing its name back to The Adelphi Theatre in 1940. Recently the theatre was extensively refurbished for the 1993 opening of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "Sunset Boulevard" when the seating capacity was also increased by about 80.

The name 'Adelphi' refers to the development of 24 terraced houses that were begun by the Adam brothers, John, Robert, James and William in 1772 and occupied the land between The Strand and The River Thames - John Adam Street, Adam Street and Lower Robert Street. The Greek word for brothers is 'Adelphoi', hence the name 'Adelphi'.

Productions at the current Adelphi Theatre include Meredith Wilson's "The Music Man" starring Van Johnson, it opened 16 March 1961 and run for just under 400 performances. "Charlie Girl" opened on 15 December 1961 and run for over 2000 performances. Recent productions include the very successful revival (with revisions) of the Noel Gay musical "Me and My Girl" which opened 12 February 1985, when it closed on 16 January 1993 the theatre was extensively refurbished prior to Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "Sunset Boulevard" opening here on 12 July 1993.