Savoy Theatre

Designed by C.I.Phipps and decorated by Collinson & Locke, the most beautifully fitted theatre in Europe opened its doors on 10th October 1881 with a transfer from the Opera Comique of Gilbert and Sullivan's opera Patience. Built at the instigation of impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte, who wanted his own theatre in order to stage the works of Gilbert and Sullivan, the Savoy Theatre became famous as the first public building in the world to be lit by incandescent electric lights and in one way or another it has been blazing ever since.

On 3rd June 1929, the Victorian auditorium was invaded by workmen and demolished and 135 days later "a gleaming palace had sprung up", a magic miracle of modernism built by Rupert D'Oyly Carte with Frank Tugwell as the Architect and decorative designs by Basil Ionides. The Theatre re-opened on 21st October, 1929 with a revival of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers, designed by Charles Ricketts and conducted by Dr. Malcolm Sargent.

Loved, and eventually listed, the Savoy Theatre's auditorium, ravaged by fire in the early hours of 12th February 1990, has now been triumphantly and dazzlingly recreated under the guidance of the theatre's late chairman, Sir Hugh Wontner, and the distinguished architect, Sir William Whitfield. The auditorium and public areas have been faithfully restored to the 1929 vision of Tugwell and Ionides.