Shows
The Victoria Palace opened with a variety bill, and under Alfred Butt, all the famous music-hall names of the period took the stage.
In 1934, the Victoria Palace joined the ranks of regular theatres with the production of “Young England”. This play was written by Walter Reynolds as a full-blooded patriotic melodrama, but was unrestrainedly guyed by audiences and rapidly became a cult. A quarter of a million people saw the play which was transferred to the Kingsway theatre and then to Daly’s, the total run lasting six months.
On the 16th December 1938, the Victoria Palace saw the opening night of “Me And My Girl”. At the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the musical had played 1046 performances. It was revived in 1944 and had another long run.
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From February 1945, the theatre renewed its connection with variety for a season and on the 17th April 1947 the Crazy Gang took to the stage. They played at the Victoria Palace for an incredible 15 years with their final performance taking place on 19th May 1962. Following the Crazy Gang, the next production was of The Black and White Minstrel Show - their show ran for 4344 performances and they were here for 10 years until November 1972. |
During the 70’s, productions at the theatre included: SwingalongaMax with Max Bygraves, Basil Brush in his own show, “Carry on London” with the cast of the popular films and the original London Production of “Annie”.
The 80’s saw various shows come and go, including Elizabeth Taylor in “The Little Foxes”, and the musicals “Call Me Madam”, “Charlie Girl” with Cyd Charisse, “Barnum” with Michael Crawford, “High Society”, “Winnie” with Robert Hardy and “Brigadoon”. |
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In 1989, “Buddy” began its long run at the Victoria Palace until 1995 when the show transferred to the Strand Theatre. Following “Buddy” came the hugely popular “Jolson” starring one of Britain’s best loved entertainers, Brian Conley. Since 1997, the theatre has played host to “Always”, “Fame”, the revival of “Annie”, “Girls’ Night Out”, The Rocky Horror Show”, “Soul Train” and “The Pajama Game”. From September 2000 until September 2001 the theatre was once again the host for the highly successful production of “Fame”. |
On the 16th October 2001, the history continued with the Broadway smash hit revival of “Kiss Me, Kate” which collected the Laurence Olivier award for Best Musical Revival and ran for a year. Following “Kiss Me, Kate” came the hugely popular musicals “Grease” and “Tonight’s The Night – The Rod Stewart Musical” with a book by Ben Elton. The pantomime “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” enjoyed a spirited five weeks over Christmas 2004 starring Lily Savage entertaining audiences of all ages.
The current production of “Billy Elliot” opened to great acclaim in March 2005 and has gone on to collect every Best Musical award possible. |
