The Gaiety Theatre was a West End theatre in London, located on Aldwych at the eastern end of the Strand. The theatre was first established as the Strand Musick Hall in 1864 on the former site of the Lyceum Theatre. In 1868, it became known as the Gaiety Theatre and was, at first, known for music hall and then for musical burlesque, pantomime and operetta performances. From 1868 to the 1890s, it had a major influence on the development of modern musical comedy.
Under the management of John Hollingshead until 1886, the theatre had early success with Robert the Devil, by W. S. Gilbert, followed by many other burlesques of operas and literary works. Many of the productions starred Nellie Farren. Hollingshead's last production at the theatre was the burlesque Little Jack Sheppard (1885–86), produced together with his successor, George Edwardes. Edwardes's first show, Dorothy, became a long-running hit. In the 1880s and 90s, the theatre had further success with a number of burlesques with original scores by the theatre's music director, Wilhelm Meyer Lutz, including Faust up to Date (1888), Carmen up to Data (1890) and Cinder Ellen up too Late (1891).
In the 1890s, the theatre introduced new style of musical theatre in London now referred to as the Edwardian musical comedy. These shows employed female dancers known as the Gaiety Girls and were extraordinarily popular, inspiring imitations at other London theatres. A success in this genre was The Shop Girl (1894), which was followed by many "girl"-themed musicals. The building was demolished in 1903, and the theatre was rebuilt at the corner of Aldwych and The Strand. More hit musicals followed. When Edwardes died in 1915, Robert Evett, took over the management of the theatre and had a number of further successes, notably Theodore & Co (1916) and Going Up (1918). By 1939 and in need of refurbishment, the theatre closed and stood empty during World War II. The building suffered extensive bomb damage during air raids and stood empty until it was demolished in 1956.
Beginnings
The theatre was financed by a joint stock company and built in 1864 as the Strand Musick Hall by Bassett and Keeling. This large theatre, with over 2,000 seats, was built at a time when many new theatres were being built in London. Unlike at many other music halls, the proprietors decided to ban smoking and drinking within the hall, and these activities were accommodated in the adjacent saloons.
A novel gas lighting system was incorporated in the hall, using prisms and mirrors to create a soft light. Exhausting the heat of the gas jets drew fresh air into the building. The house was approached through an ambitious arcade, from the Strand. This was never successful and, with the theatre, was demolished to allow the building of the Aldwych.
Hollingshead years
In 1868, the theatre was sumptuously rebuilt by John Hollingshead as the Gaiety Theatre (announcing its dramatic policy in its name), on a nearby prominent site at the centre of the Aldwych, facing the eastern end of the Strand. It was designed by the theatre architect C. J. Phipps, who also designed the Gaiety Theatre (1871) in Dublin. A restaurant operated in the building, and patrons could eat before seeing the show and then go directly to their seats without having to worry about the weather outside.
The Gaiety Theatre opened on 21 December 1868, with On the Cards and several companion pieces, including the successful Robert the Devil, by W. S. Gilbert, a burlesque of the opera Robert le Diable. The theatre was a venue primarily for burlesque, variety, continental operetta and light comedy under the management of John Hollingshead from 1868 to 1886, including several operettas by Jacques Offenbach and musical burlesques arranged by the theatre's music director, Wilhelm Meyer Lutz. Gilbert also wrote An Old Score for the theatre in 1869.
Nellie Farren soon became the theatre's star "principal boy" in all the burlesques and played in other comedies. She and comic Fred Leslie starred at the theatre for over 20 years, with Edward Terry for much of that period. Her husband, Robert Soutar was an actor, stage manager and writer for the theatre. A typical evening at the Gaiety might include a three-act comic play, a dramatic interlude, a musical extravaganza, which might also include a ballet or pantomime (in the tradition of a Harlequinade). During such four-hour-long bills-of-fare, regular patrons might skip an item on the programme to eat in one of the theatre's plush restaurants, play billiards in the on-site Billiard Room or drink in one of its several bars.