Royalty Theatre

Royalty Theatre

1840 Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School 1850 (Royal) Soho Theatre 1850 New English Opera House 1861 New Royalty Theatre
Programme cover for La Périchole and Trial by Jury (1875)
Address	Dean Street, Soho Westminster, London, England
Coordinates	51°30′50″N 0°07′58″W / 51.513917°N 0.13279°W / 51.513917; -0.13279
Owner	Frances Maria Kelly
Designation	Demolished
Type	Theatre and opera
Capacity	657 seats (1906)
Current use	Site occupied by office block
Construction
Opened	25 May 1840
Closed	25 November 1938
Rebuilt	1883 Thomas Verity (alterations)
Architect	Samuel Beazley

The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. Established by the actress Frances Maria Kelly in 1840, it opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938.^[1] The architect was Samuel Beazley. The theatre's opening was ill-fated, and it was little used for a decade. It changed its name twice and was used by an opera company, amateur drama companies and for French pieces.

In 1861, it was renamed the New Royalty Theatre, and the next year it was leased by Mrs Charles Selby, who enlarged it from 200 seats to about 650. The theatre continued to change hands frequently. In the 1860s, it featured F. C. Burnand's burlesque of Black-Eyed Susan, which ran for nearly 500 nights, and a burlesque by W. S. Gilbert, The Merry Zingara. The theatre was managed by Henrietta Hodson during the early 1870s, who also produced mostly burlesques and comedies, including Gilbert's The Realm of Joy and Ought We to Visit Her? On 25 March 1875 the Royalty, under the direction of Selina Dolaro, enjoyed an historic success with Trial by Jury.

In 1877, Kate Santley took control of the theatre, running it for nearly 30 years. She had the theatre rebuilt and it reopened in 1883. In this period, it featured opera-bouffes adapted from the French. M. L. Mayer and plays in French. It was increasingly hard for the theatre to compete with larger new London theatres. In 1891, the theatre started a policy of modern drama, presenting plays by Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw. When the theatre finally had a great success, with Charley's Aunt in 1892, its popularity led to its transference after only a month to a larger theatre. In 1895–96 the theatre underwent another renovation. Arthur Bourchier's The Chili Widow ran for over 300 nights. In the new century, Mrs Patrick Campbell played at the theatre. After another renovation in 1906, Sarah Bernhardt led her own company in a season. In 1912, Milestones, by Arnold Bennett and Edward Knoblauch had over 600 performances. The Man Who Stayed at Home played for 584 performances.

The Co-Optimists played at the theatre after the war as did Noël Coward's The Vortex. In 1932, While Parents Sleep was a hit. The theatre closed in 1938 and was demolished in 1953.