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The history of Delfont Mackintosh Theatres.

In 1991, impresario Bernard Delfont offered Cameron Mackintosh a partnership in his theatres – the Prince Edward and the Prince of Wales. Over 30 years later, Delfont Mackintosh Theatres has reinvented, restored and refurbished some of the West End’s most iconic theatres, including the Gielgud, Noël Coward, Novello, Sondheim, Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, Victoria Palace and Wyndham’s.

Cameron Mackintosh headshot

Theatre History

The directors of the company are: Cameron Mackintosh and William Village.

  • The History of the Gielgud Theatre

    Opened as the Hicks Theatre on 27 December with The Beauty of Bath, a musical play by Seymour Hicks (after whom the theatre was named) and Cosmo Hamilton.

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  • The History of the Noël Coward Theatre

    The New Theatre opened with a revival of Rosemary by Louis N Parker and Murray Carson in which the co-directors Sir Charles Wyndham and Mary Moore starred.

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  • The History of the Novello Theatre

    The Novello Theatre, known as the Waldorf Theatre opened on 22 May 1905 with an eight-week season of opera and drama.

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  • The History of the Prince Edward Theatre

    The Emporium draper's shop was demolished and work began on a new theatre, designed by Edward Stone and built by Griggs and Son, with an art deco auditorium by Marc Henri and Laverdet decorated in warm shades of fuchsia and gold.

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  • The History of the Prince of Wales Theatre

    The first hit production at the original Prince of Wales Theatre, initially known as Prince's Theatre, designed by architect C J Phipps was a comic opera called Dorothy that starred the redoubtable Marie Tempest.

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  • The History of the Sondheim Theatre

    The theatre opened on 8 October with The Sugar Bowl, a comedy by Madeleine Lucette Ryley. The architect was W G R Sprague who designed the theatre as a pair with the Gielgud Theatre on the adjoining corner of Shaftesbury Avenue.

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  • The History of the Victoria Palace Theatre

    Theatre owner, manager and impresario Alfred Butt purchases the Royal Standard Music Hall on this site and demolishes it to build the Victoria Palace designed by renowned theatre architect Frank Matcham.

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  • The History of the Wyndham's Theatre

    Wyndham's opened on 16 November with a revival of David Garrick by T W Robertson in which the theatre's owner Charles Wyndham and his future wife, Mary Moore, both appeared.

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