Vaudeville Theatre

The original theatre on this site was designed by C J Phipps and opened on 16 April 1870. The theatre was subsequently reconstructed, to designs once again by C J Phipps, and reopened on 13 Janaury 1891. This theatre added the still existing four-storey high frontage in Portland stone. The theatre then closed on 7 November 1925 when the interior was completely reconstructed to designs by Robert Atkins (the auditorium was changed from a horseshoe shape to the current rectangle shape), reopening on 23 February 1926

The Vaudeville Theatre staged mostly revues in it's early days. On 5 August 1954 the musical "Salad Days" opened here having transferred from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre and stayed for 2,329 performances - becoming the longest running production in the history of the Vaudeville Theatre. Other productions here included Arnold Wesker's "Chips With Everything", Willy Russell's play "Shirley Valentine" with Pauline Collins, and more recently the Kander and Ebb musical "70, Girls, 70" with Dora Bryan and Simon Gray's play Hidden Laughter. History repeated itself when a revival of "Salad Days" opened here on 18 April 1996 with a cast that featured the cabaret duo Kit and The Widow. The production this time though only lasted 4 months, closing on 24 August 1996.