"Wicked"'s international tour opened on July 13, 2016 at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford, England. Jacqueline Hughes starred as Elphaba, with Carly Anderson as Glinda and Bradley Jaden as Fiyero. Alongside them are Steven Pinder as the Wizard and Dillamond, Kim Ismay as Madame Morrible, and Emily Shaw as Nessarose. After its stop in Bradford, the tour moved to Asia, first playing at the Grand Theater in Singapore. It then moved to the Lyric Theatre in Hong Kong, and then The Theatre Solaire, Manila. The tour ended on July 2, 2017.
International tour
Wicked (musical)
Wicked (musical) | International tour
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who has played fiyero in wicked on broadway
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Norbert Leo Butz
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who composed the lyrics for this musical?
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Stephen Schwartz
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is this musical adapted from a story?
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Yes, it is based on a novel by Gregory Maguire, which is a retelling of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum.
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what is this story about?
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It chronicles the adventures of a young farm girl named Dorothy in the magical Land of Oz, after she and her pet dog Toto are swept away from their Kansas home by a cyclone.
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what is the genre of this musical?
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where was it recorded?
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who produced this musical?
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Universal Stage Productions in coalition with Marc Platt, Jon B. Platt and David Stone.
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where was it first premier?
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October 2003
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did this musical go on an international tour?
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Yes, the tour opened at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford, England.
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who founded this theatre?
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"Wicked"'s international tour opened on July 13, 2016 at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford, England. Jacqueline Hughes starred as Elphaba, with Carly Anderson as Glinda and Bradley Jaden as Fiyero. Alongside them are Steven Pinder as the Wizard and Dillamond, Kim Ismay as Madame Morrible, and Emily Shaw as Nessarose. After its stop in Bradford, the tour moved to Asia, first playing at the Grand Theater in Singapore. It then moved to the Lyric Theatre in Hong Kong, and then The Theatre Solaire, Manila. The tour ended on July 2, 2017.
Wicked (musical) | International tour
Hamblin gave the project up. Col. Alvah Mann, a well-known circus proprietor, then commenced the erection of it. After spending $14,000, he was obliged to call in the aid of James R. Raymond, a wealthy touring-menagerie owner, in order to complete the building. George Barrett was the initial acting and stage manager, and assembled the stock company of actors. On January 24, 1848, a few months after the theatre opened, Mann took a partner, E. A. Marshall, manager of the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, with "[t]he sole management of the Theatre, so far as its dramatic and theatrical arrangements are concerned, ...
Old Broadway Theatre | The founding
Dillingham was also the owner of the Hippodrome, which in its time was the largest theatrical venue in the world. There he produced ice skating spectacles and competitions, dance stars such as Anna Pavlova, and it is where 'Poor Butterfly' was first heard. On January 10,1910 he opened the Globe Theatre (now known as the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre) at Broadway and 46th Street which was the first ever theater venue with a retractable roof.
Charles Dillingham | Biography
The 1,400 capacity main house is a major touring venue and hosts a wide range of stage shows from ballet and opera to variety and comedy, musicals, drama and, of course, the annual pantomime. Regular visits are made from prestigious companies such as Opera North, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet Theatre, Matthew Bourne's New Adventures and the Royal National Theatre to complement spectacular West End musicals such as "Grease", "Miss Saigon", "Whistle Down the Wind" and "The Phantom of the Opera". "Wicked" started its world tour at the Alhambra Theatre in 2016
Bradford Alhambra | Main house
In 2005, the first national tour of "Wicked" (called the "Emerald City Tour" by the producers) started in Toronto, Ontario, and went on to visit numerous cities throughout the United States and Canada. Previews began on March 8, and officially opened on March 31. The original touring cast included Kendra Kassebaum as Glinda, Stephanie J. Block as Elphaba, Derrick Williams as Fiyero, Jenna Leigh Green as Nessarose, Carol Kane as Madame Morrible, Timothy Britten Parker as Doctor Dillamond, Logan Lipton as Boq, and David Garrison as the Wizard. The tour concluded at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles on March 15, 2015.
Wicked (musical) | North American productions
The original owners started it in 1903; but it was not completed owing to litigation. At some point during the litigation, the Orpheum Amusement Company, of which Percy G. Williams (1857–1923) was president, acquired the property. When Williams opened the theater on May 15, 1905, the seating capacity was 1,650. By 1910, Williams managed the largest number of vaudeville theaters in New York City — two in Manhattan, one in the Bronx, and one each in Brooklyn and Queens.
The Harlem Alhambra | Initial opening
The show began its first UK/Ireland tour on September 12, 2013 at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, where it is played to November 16. It then toured the UK and Ireland before concluding in Salford on July 25, 2015. The original cast consisted of Nikki Davis-Jones as Elphaba, with Emily Tierney as Glinda. Alongside them were Liam Doyle as Fiyero, Marilyn Cutts as Madame Morrible, Carina Gillespie as Nessarose, George Ure as Boq, and Dale Rapley as the Wizard and Doctor Dillamond. This marks the first time that the last two roles were both played by a single actor. A second UK/Ireland tour began in December 2017 and ended in January 2019.
Wicked (musical) | UK/Ireland tours
Following a limited engagement of the first national tour from April 29 to June 12, 2005, a sit-down production opened at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago immediately following the tour. The cast included Ana Gasteyer as Elphaba, Kate Reinders as Glinda, Rondi Reed as Madame Morrible, Kristoffer Cusick as Fiyero, Telly Leung as Boq, Heidi Kettenring as Nessarose and Gene Weygandt as the Wizard. The production closed on January 25, 2009. Twice again, the tour returned to Chicago in 2010 and 2013 An open-ended production also appeared in Los Angeles, California at the Pantages Theatre. Performances began on February 10, 2007, with an official opening on February 21.
Wicked (musical) | North American productions
Spreadbury-Maher founded the Hope Theatre in October 2013 on the first floor of the historic Hope and Anchor in Islington, a short distance from the King's Head Theatre. The 50-seat theatre was set up as an experiment to demonstrate that actors could be paid in smaller fringe spaces, and was the first off-West End venue to open with an Equity agreement. During his time as Artistic Director, Spreadbury programmed the first production of Ushers the Front of House Musical which later transferred to the Arts Theatre. His last production as Artistic Director was the world premiere of Joe Orton's first play Fred & Madge, directed by his former assistant and protege Mary Franklin.
Adam Spreadbury-Maher | Hope Theatre
The original projector of the Old Broadway Theatre was Thomas S. Hamblin, in an agreement with James R. Whiting. But on April 25, 1845, just as Hamblin was about to begin construction, his Bowery Theatre burned to the ground, involving him in a loss of $100,000. At first he announced he was carrying on with his plan. Then he was publicly opposed by David Hale, editor of "The Journal of Commerce" and prominent member of the Broadway Tabernacle, across Anthony Street, which was used as a venue for concerts and other events. The "New York Herald" thought Hale objected to the prospect of competition so close by.
Old Broadway Theatre | The founding
The music was composed by American Edward Stillman Kelly and remained popular for some years. A bubonic plague outbreak temporarily closed the theatre soon afterwards, and it was burnt down with huge losses. But Williamson organized a Shakespeare company at the Theatre Royal and rebuilt the theatre in 1903. The next year he entered partnership with George Tallis, his Melbourne manager, and with Gustave Ramaciotti as legal adviser. Visually sensational shows were now 'the Firm's' speciality, and the organisation had grown to employ 650 people.
J. C. Williamson | The beginning of the J. C. Williamson Ltd. theatrical empire
It was founded in 1806 as the Sans Pareil ("Without Compare"), by merchant John Scott, and his daughter Jane (1770–1839). Jane was a British theatre manager, performer, and playwright. Together, they gathered a theatrical company and by 1809 the theatre was licensed for musical entertainments, pantomime, and burletta. She wrote more than fifty stage pieces in an array of genres: melodramas, pantomimes, farces, comic operettas, historical dramas, and adaptations, as well as translations. Jane Scott retired to Surrey in 1819, marrying John Davies Middleton (1790–1867). On 18 October 1819, the theatre reopened under its present name, which was adopted from the Adelphi Buildings opposite.
Adelphi Theatre | 19th century
He left the Alhambra to manage the newly redesigned Gaiety Theatre. In addition, Hollingshead managed shows at the Opera Comique from time to time. He produced a revival of Gilbert's "Princess Toto" there in 1881, paired with Rutland Barrington's short play, "Quid Pro Quo".
John Hollingshead | The Alhambra Theatre and theatrical innovations
in the hands of Mr. Marshall. ... " Barrett left and was replaced by William Rufus Blake on February 21. The partnership was dissolved on October 25, 1848, Mann relinquished the building to Raymond, who held a mortgage on it, and Marshall became sole lessee and manager. He remained with the theater nearly ten more years.
Old Broadway Theatre | The founding
There was a sufficient air of success to ensure that a number of these early members opted to continue working together when the war ended and they were demobbed and returned to England. There Nossek and Coxhead founded in the North London suburb of Crouch End the Mountview Theatre Club, an amateur repertory company, whose theatre opened officially in November 1947 with a production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. This was followed by a regular play each month until 1949, after which Coxhead bought the building outright from the leaseholders. Thereafter, for the next 25 years one new production after another was staged every two to three weeks.
Ralph Nossek | Early years
As Horniman did not usually reside in Ireland, the royal letters patent required were granted in the name of Lady Gregory, although paid for by Horniman. The founders appointed William Fay theatre manager, responsible for training the actors in the newly established repertory company. They commissioned Yeats' brother Jack to paint portraits of all the leading figures in the society for the foyer, and hired Sarah Purser to design stained glass for the same space. On 27 December, the curtains went up on opening night. The bill consisted of three one-act plays, "On Baile's Strand" and "Cathleen Ní Houlihan" by Yeats, and "Spreading the News" by Lady Gregory.
Abbey Theatre | Foundation
A condensed thirty-minute version of the musical played at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, Japan. Australian Jemma Rix was part of the original cast, alternating the role of Elphaba with Jillian Giaachi and Taylor Jordan. The show, which opened on July 12, 2006, featured the preliminary storyline of Act 1 but Fiyero, Madame Morrible, Boq, Nessarose and Doctor Dillamond were absent and there were considerable changes in sets and costumes. The final performance took place on January 11, 2011. A Japanese production by the Shiki Theatre Company opened in Tokyo, Japan, on June 17, 2007, and subsequently moved to Osaka, Fukoka and Nagoya, before closing in Sapporo on November 6, 2016.
Wicked (musical) | Subsequent international productions
He was a co-founder of the Circle in the Square Theatre company in New York's Greenwich Village, and he appeared for the first time on Broadway in two 1954 plays: "The Girl on the Via Flaminia" and "Fragile Fox".
Jason Wingreen | Early years
David Prince Miller (1809–1873) was a British showman and magician who founded several Adelphi Theatres: in at least Glasgow, Coatbridge and Dumbarton. Conceptual he created the idea of reduced Shakespeare plays, creating plays which lasted 20 minutes, an idea later followed by the Reduced Shakespeare Company.
David Prince Miller | Introduction
The success of the Broadway production has led to the development of an auxiliary show, "Behind the Emerald Curtain", created by Sean McCourt—an original Broadway production cast member who played the Witch's Father, among other roles, in addition to understudying the Wizard and Doctor Dillamond, before taking over the latter principal role—and Anthony Galde, who was a long-running swing in the Broadway company from 2004 to 2012. The tour features a ninety-minute behind-the-scenes look at the props, masks, costumes and sets used in the show, and includes a question-and-answer session with the cast members. The Broadway tour is currently led by McCourt and long-running ensemble member, Lindsay K.
Wicked (musical) | "Behind the Emerald Curtain"
Francis Laidler, who already owned two music halls in Bradford, opened the new Alhambra Theatre in 1914. The architects were Chadwick and Watson, who described it as "English renaissance of the Georgian period".
Bradford Alhambra | History
This starred James Fox but ran for only two months. The Broadway musical "Wicked" received its London première at the venue on 27 September 2006 with a cast featuring Idina Menzel as Elphaba, Helen Dallimore as Glinda, Nigel Planer as The Wizard, Adam Garcia as Fiyero and Miriam Margolyes as Madame Morrible. On 27 September 2016, "Wicked" celebrated its tenth anniversary in the West End, with a curtain call reunion of former cast members.
Apollo Victoria Theatre | Musical theatre
It was founded by actors Allan Hawco and Philip Riccio in 2004.
The Company Theatre | History
Produced by Universal Stage Productions in coalition with Marc Platt, Jon B. Platt and David Stone, with direction by Joe Mantello and choreography by Wayne Cilento, the original production of "Wicked" premiered on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre in October 2003, after completing pre-Broadway tryouts at San Francisco's Curran Theatre in May/June of that same year. Its original stars included Idina Menzel as Elphaba, Kristin Chenoweth as Galinda, and Joel Grey as the Wizard. The original Broadway production won three Tony Awards and seven Drama Desk Awards, while its original cast album received a Grammy Award.
Wicked (musical) | Introduction
In 1765, a building was erected on an adjacent site by the architect James Payne for the exhibitions of The Society of Artists, which disbanded three years later when the Royal Academy of Arts succeeded it. The building was then leased out for dances and other entertainments, including musical entertainments by Charles Dibdin. Famed actor David Garrick also performed there. In 1794, the composer Samuel Arnold Sr rebuilt the interior of the building, making it into a proper theatre, but through the opposition of the existing patent theatres, he was not granted a patent. Therefore, he leased it to other entertainments again, including Philip Astley, who brought his circus there when his amphitheatre was burned down at Westminster.
Lyceum Theatre, London | Early years
His London West End shows include e.g. Sir John Gielgud’s production of The Gay Lord Quex with Judi Dench, and Me And My Girl at the Apollo Theatre. In London too, he performed his cabaret act featuring the songs of Noël Coward, Cole Porter, George Gershwin and many others of that period, at The Ritz, The Dorchester and Claridges Hotel. His overseas work includes the recital programme Remembrance for Shakespeare in the US with Princess Grace of Monaco, which was also presented in London six months later in the presence of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and a year in Paris with Roland Petit and his wife Zizi Jeanmaire in their revue Zizi, Je T’Aime! at Le Casino de Paris.
British Theatre Playhouse | Founding history
Wickham "et al" interpret these documents to mean that Hicks constructed a 'house or tenement' that someone (presumably the actor Savage) converted into a playhouse. It was clearly established by Lady Day 1577 and like the Theatre may have been in use before the winter of 1576/77, or even in 1575. Savage may have built the theatre under the patronage of the Earl of Warwick whose company of actors first performed at court on 14 February 1575. Warwick had been appointed to the Privy Council in the autumn of 1573, and the more powerful privy councillors – the earls of Sussex, Lincoln, Arundel and his younger brother Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester – were all patrons of playing companies.
Newington Butts Theatre | Establishment
Rose Fenton and Lucy Neal founded LIFT as young graduates from Warwick University. The first international festival of theatre in England, they quickly developed support in the face of much adversity, gaining several trustees and high-profile patrons such as Peter Ustinov and Lady Molly Daubeny, (the widow of Sir Peter Daubeny founder of World Theatre Seasons). Sue Arnold, a regular columnist at "The Observer", impressed by the hard work of Fenton and Neal, wrote: "if the Festival is not a phenomenal success I shall eat an entire millinery collection without demur". The first festival in 1981 saw artists from Brazil, Poland, Malaysia, Japan and Holland perform in venues across London, alongside British artists.
London International Festival of Theatre | History
Renamed "Wicked: Die Hexen von Oz" ("Wicked: The Witches of Oz"), the German production of "Wicked" began previews on November 1, 2007 and opened on November 15, at the Palladium Theater in Stuttgart. Willemijn Verkaik played Elphaba, Lucy Scherer played Glinda. The production was produced by Stage Entertainment and closed on January 29, 2010, and transferred to Oberhausen where previews began at the Metronom Theater am CentrO on March 5, 2010, with an opening night of March 8. The Oberhausen production closed on September 2, 2011. Another production, which was notable for not being a replica of the original Broadway staging, opened at the City Theatre in Helsinki, Finland on August 26, 2010 after a preview performance took place on August 24 of that year.
Wicked (musical) | Subsequent international productions
The Harlem Alhambra was a theater in Harlem, New York, built in 1905, that began as a vaudeville venue. The building still stands. The architect was John Bailey McElfatrick (1829–1906) who, based in Manhattan, founded the architectural firm John B. McElfatrick & Son – builder of 100 theaters. Construction on the structure commenced late 1902 by its original owner, Harlem Auditorium Amusement Company.
The Harlem Alhambra | Introduction
In the 1860s, John Hollingshead took over the management and made it famous for its corps de ballet. Early films were also a part of the entertainment, with Robert W. Paul, a former collaborator of Birt Acres, presenting his first theatrical programme on 25 March 1896.
Alhambra Theatre of Variety | Music hall
Trestle Theatre Company was founded in 1981 by Sally Cook, Alan Riley and Toby Wilsher, three graduates from the BA Performance Arts course of Middlesex Polytechnic, and the support of John Wright, their course leader. Their initial plan was to tour the country with a pop-up trestle stage at markets and local fairs, following the blueprints of many internationally renowned "Commedia Dell'Arte" groups (hence the name trestle). However, this mode of performance proved impractical, but the name stuck to symbolize the group's original ambitions. Joined later by Joff Chafer, the company continued to tour nationally, and eventually internationally, and develop its distinctive story telling style: combining mask, physical theatre and puppetry.
Trestle Theatre | Beginnings
Selwyn's Theatre (1867–1870) of Boston, Massachusetts, was established by British-born actor John H. Selwyn. Architect B.F. Dwight designed the building. Personnel included Dexter H. Follet, Arthur Cheney, H.A. M'Glenen, Charles R. Thorne Jr., and Charles Koppitz. In 1871 Selwyn's was renamed the "Globe Theatre."
Selwyn's Theatre | Introduction
The company was formed in 1625, at the start of the reign of King Charles I, by theatrical impresario Christopher Beeston under royal patronage of the new queen, Henrietta Maria of France. They were sometimes called the Queen's Majesty's Comedians or other variations on their name. The company was founded after an eight-month closure of the London theatres due to bubonic plague (March to October, 1625). The Lady Elizabeth's Men, then called the Queen of Bohemia's Men, had been resident at Beeston's Cockpit Theatre up to the plague closing, and provided the foundation of the new organization.
Queen Henrietta's Men | Beginnings
Thomas Wall was the founder of the first permanent theatrical company in Baltimore, Maryland, the Maryland Company of Comedians, active from 1781 to 1785. It was founded, with Adam Lindsay, in spite of a 1774 ban by the Continental Congress on theatrical entertainment. Wall also built the New Theatre, the first theatre in Baltimore.
Thomas Wall (theatre founder) | Introduction
The tryout closed on June 29, 2003, and after extensive retooling, the musical began previews on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre on October 8, 2003, and made its official premiere on October 30. Most of the original production team and cast members remained with the show. Principal casting changes included Joel Grey as the Wizard, William Youmans as Doctor Dillamond and Christopher Fitzgerald as Boq. As of March 12, 2020, the show suspended production due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The show's production will be suspended until June 1, 2021 at the earliest.
Wicked (musical) | Original Broadway production
An astonishing event occurred midway through the run of the theatre's next major work, a musical titled "The Dashing Little Duke" (1909), which was produced by Hicks. Hicks' wife, Ellaline Terriss, played the title role (a woman playing a man). When she missed several performances due to illness, Hicks stepped into the role – possibly the only case in the history of musical theatre where a husband succeeded to his wife's role. In 1909, the American impresario Charles Frohman became sole manager of the theatre and renamed the house Globe Theatre (the "Globe Theatre" on Newcastle Street had been demolished in 1902, making the name available).
Gielgud Theatre | Early years
James Anthony Bailey, a circus manager and owner (the "Bailey" in Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus) started building the theatre in 1887 on the site of what had been the "Metropolitan Concert Hall" built in 1880. Bailey pulled out, and the project was completed by Frank Sanger, T.H. French, and E. Zborowski, with seating for about 1,800 and standing room for 500 more. The American premiere of "La Tosca" was performed on the theatre's opening night, March 3, 1888, featuring Fanny Davenport. It was not a great success, due in part to the Great Blizzard of 1888 hitting New York ten days later, and it closed on April 28.
Broadway Theatre (41st Street) | History
The hall was rebuilt as a concert hall, opening in 1862. The First International was founded in St Martin's Hall in 1864. The final musical entertainment was given in 1867.
Queen's Theatre, Long Acre | St Martin's Hall
Theatre in New York moved from downtown gradually to midtown Manhattan beginning around 1850, seeking less expensive real estate. In the beginning of the 19th century, the area that now comprises the Theater District was owned by a handful of families and comprised a few farms. In 1836, Mayor Cornelius Lawrence opened 42nd Street and invited Manhattanites to "enjoy the pure clean air." Close to 60 years later, theatrical entrepreneur Oscar Hammerstein I built the iconic Victoria Theater on West 42nd Street. Broadway's first "long-run" musical was a 50-performance hit called "The Elves" in 1857. In 1870, the heart of Broadway was in Union Square, and by the end of the century, many theatres were near Madison Square.
Broadway theatre | Birth of the musical and post-Civil War
Feeling that his long-cherished project of an English lyric theatre could never be accomplished, he decided to turn his back on the stage altogether. Instead, in 1872-1873, he set out on a concert tour of in the United States and Canada.
Charles Santley | Attempt to found an English lyric theatre
The 1500-seat theatre was designed by the architectural firm of J. B. McElfatrick & Co. It opened as Abbey's Theatre, named after Broadway theatre manager and producer Henry Eugene Abbey, on November 8, 1893 with a production of the melodrama "The Countess Valeska". In the mid-1890s, Lillian Russell starred at the theatre, including in "The Queen of Brilliants", a flop. Following Abbey's death in 1896, Al Hayman and the Theatrical Syndicate group took control of the theatre and rechristened it the Knickerbocker. In its early years, the theatre hosted productions of Shakespeare's plays and Edwardian musical comedy. Several of Victor Herbert's operettas premièred there.
Knickerbocker Theatre (Broadway) | History
Thomas Brend (c. 1516 – 21 September 1598) of West Molesey, Surrey, was a London scrivener, and the owner of the land on which the Globe Theatre was built.
Thomas Brend | Introduction
The first national tour began at the Spreckels Theatre in San Diego, California on June 30, 2007. Broadway director and choreographer Jason Moore and Ken Roberson returned in those roles, as did most other Broadway creative team members. The tour played a total of 721 performances in 22 cities, and closed at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in Appleton, Wisconsin on May 10, 2009. A second national tour opened in Clemson, South Carolina in September 2009 under direction of the same creative team, and closed in Huntsville, Alabama on April 23, 2011. The first UK tour began at the Theatre Royal Bath in February, 2011 and closed at Northampton's Derngate in July.
Avenue Q | Touring Productions
Designed by the architect firm of Carrere and Hastings, it was built by producer Charles Dillingham and opened as the Globe Theatre (in honor of London's Shakespearean playhouse) on January 10, 1910 with a musical entitled "The Old Town". Although it was situated on 46th street with a grand Beaux-Arts facade, it also had a on Broadway between 46th and 47th Streets. Most of the Globe's early shows were dramatic plays, including two revivals of "La Dame aux Camélias". In the late teens and 1920s, the focus shifted to musicals. The original design and construction called for the ceiling and the roof 20 feet above it to roll back to reveal starlight and keep the theatre cooler in summer.
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre | History
Hall founded the Theatre Historical Society of America by circulating the following letter:
Ben M. Hall | Founding letter
who in turn passed it on to the newly formed Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center Foundation.
Keith-Albee Theatre | Early history
Papp also founded Shakespeare in the Park, helped to develop other off-Broadway theatres and worked to preserve the historic Broadway Theatre District.
Joseph Papp | Introduction
Barrasford noticed that fellow impresario Frank MacNaughten in Bradford had countered the opening of the Stoll Bradford Empire in January 1899, by using an idea pioneered by George "Champagne Charlie" Laybourne in 1870 in his Wear music hall, offering a "twice nightly" performance schedule. The formula proved so successful at not only countering the drop in attendance figures normally experienced in existing theatres facing competition from a new Stoll theatre, but actually increased revenues. Barrasford borrowed MacNaughten's Bradford theatre manager to replicate the system in Leeds, with the choice proving so successful and lucrative, that Barrasford moved his home and the operational headquarters of his business to Leeds.
Thomas Barrasford | Early career
Hebel originated and helped create the role of Concertmaster for the hit Broadway show "Wicked" in 2003. Hebel held the role of Concertmaster for over 12 years on Broadway where they won 3 Tony Awards and received a Grammy Award. On July 12, 2018, with its 6,138th performance, it surpassed "A Chorus Line" to become Broadway's sixth-longest running show. In March 2016, Wicked surpassed $1 billion in total Broadway revenue, joining both "The Phantom of the Opera" and "The Lion King" as the only Broadway shows to do so. In July 2017, Wicked surpassed "The Phantom of the Opera" as Broadway's second-highest grossing show, trailing only "The Lion King".
Christian Hebel | Wicked
In 1948, he founded the Arena Theatre Company, which was a small, professional touring company which aimed to explore and develop how to introduce theatre to young people. Additionally they strived to provide theatre to areas in both the city and across the country where theatre was less prominent, thus bringing it to the masses. As well as experimenting with new, different forms of theatre and presentation, they would perform "under canvas" (a circus tent) in the summer and with the help of the Arts Council they was able to take performing arts to places that were without a theatre.
John English (theatre director) | Arena Theatre Company
David was introduced into the company later that year. Much of their work began as devised pieces, but unlike many devising companies of the time, they were keen to turn this into a strict performance script, normally written by Tim. Their work was often very physical, but the physicality of the words was always given equal weight. After 15 years of national and international touring the company fell foul of the 2005 Arts Council cuts, and created its final production in that year. The company's archive was preserved at the Museum of Liverpool Life.
Rejects Revenge Theatre Company | History
It was developed by the Atterbury Group.
Atterbury Theatre | Introduction
(Christopher Beeston, manager of the public Red Bull Theatre, built the private Cockpit in 1616–17.) Along with their new theatre, Gunnell and Blagrave intended to start their own new acting company, called the Children of the Revels. Their plan was to organize a troupe of boy players, comparable to the boys' companies of the previous generation, the Children of the Chapel and the Children of Paul's. (Christopher Beeston would make the same effort, though more fortunately, when he started Beeston's Boys in 1637.) The Blagrave/Gunnell troupe was not a success, since an outbreak of bubonic plague forced the London theatres to close in 1630 – though Stephen Hammerton, the popular young actor who found fame with the King's Men, emerged from it.
Richard Gunnell | Salisbury Court
English Touring Theatre was founded in 1993 by Stephen Unwin. In 2008, the directorship of the company was taken over by Rachel Tackley, making ETT the first producer-led touring theatre company in the UK. Richard Twyman succeeded Tackley to become the company's Artistic Director in November 2016.
English Touring Theatre | History
The Araca Group next co-produced "Wicked", a musical based on the novel by Gregory Maguire that retells the story of The Wizard of Oz. Premiering at The Gershwin Theatre on 30 October 2003, "Wicked" received three Tony Awards and is currently among the top grossing shows on Broadway. "Wicked" would go on to have subsequent productions all over the world including London, Germany, Australia, Japan, and an upcoming debut in the Netherlands. "Wicked" has also had great success in North America with two tours and long running performances in Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
The Araca Group | "Wicked"
An architectural competition was arranged to elicit designs for a new theatre, with the winner, English architect Elisabeth Scott, creating the Royal Shakespeare Theatre we see on the riverside today. The new theatre, adjoining what was left of the old theatre, was opened by the then Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII, in 1932. The new theatre had many illustrious artistic directors, including the actor Anthony Quayle. Sir Peter Hall was appointed artistic director (designate) in 1959, and formed the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 1961.
Stratford-upon-Avon | Theatre
The controversial show "" had a run from 14 October 2003 – 19 February 2005. This was followed by a month run of illusionist Derren Brown's "Something Wicked This Way Comes" tour, before the London première of Flying Music's "Dancing in the Streets", which opened on 7 July 2005. This finished its run on 22 April 2006 and "Chicago" moved across Theatreland from the Adelphi Theatre to continue its London run into its tenth year at the theatre that originally hosted the show in the 1970s. It opened at the Cambridge on Friday 28 April. Chicago cancelled all performances post 27 August 2011, when it closed at the theatre.
Cambridge Theatre | Productions
He produced and acted in Noël Coward’s Cowardy Custard in a national tour of Sweden in conjunction with the Swedish National Theatre. In Singapore, he co-founded the LaSalle School of Drama at LaSalle College of the Arts, and he was also the director of the Musical Theatre School, which offered recreational classes in song and dance for musical theatre to adults. He is currently the Artistic Director of the BTP.
British Theatre Playhouse | Founding history
But Pax Amicus Theatre actually began seven years earlier. In 1970 Stan Barber and Bob Findlay (both are still residents of Mt. Olive), tenured teachers at West Morris Regional High School in Chester, left their jobs to found PAX AMICUS, a community art center which they originally housed in a historic, (built in the 1850s) former Presbyterian church in Flanders, which they purchased with personal loans and mortgages. Within a year of remodeling and rebuilding, assisted by teens, their parents and many good Samaritans, they were up and running, opening its doors with a musical tribute to Jacques Brel, the French and Belgian troubadour who set the tone for the musical and social revolutions of the 1960s and 1970s.
Pax Amicus Theatre | The Founding of Pax Amicus
The Shubert brothers decided to expand to the huge market in New York City and at the end of March 1900, Sam Shubert leased the Herald Square Theatre at the corner of Broadway and 35th Street in Manhattan. Leaving younger brother Jacob at home to manage their existing theatres, he and older brother Lee moved to New York City, where they laid the foundation for what was to become the largest theatre empire in the 20th century. Sam Shubert had the idea for his first original production, "Fantana", which premiered at the "Lyric Theatre" on January 14, 1905. "The show was Sam's idea, and he more or less cowrote the libretto.
Sam S. Shubert | Theatre empire
In February 1910, Mrs. Yerburgh granted a lease (at an annual rent of £12 2s and 6d) on 970 square yards of land she owned at the corner of Aqueduct Road and Bolton Road, Blackburn (at ) to Ferdinand Caton and Christopher Hope who founded the Empire Electric Theatre. Over the years, the theatre changed its identity several times until it was closed in the 1970s. A charitable trust was then formed to acquire the theatre and it eventually re-opened as the Thwaites Empire Theatre in October 2002.
Elma Yerburgh | The Empire Theatre
New York did not have a significant theatre presence until about 1750, when actor-managers Walter Murray and Thomas Kean established a resident theatre company at the Theatre on Nassau Street, which held about 280 people. They presented Shakespeare plays and ballad operas such as "The Beggar's Opera". In 1752, William Hallam sent a company of twelve actors from Britain to the colonies with his brother Lewis as their manager. They established a theatre in Williamsburg, Virginia and opened with "The Merchant of Venice" and "The Anatomist". The company moved to New York in 1753, performing ballad operas and ballad-farces like "Damon and Phillida".
Broadway theatre | Early theatre in New York
The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, at the corner of Rupert Street, in the City of Westminster, London. The house currently has 986 seats on three levels. The theatre was designed by W. G. R. Sprague and opened on 27 December 1906 as the Hicks Theatre, named after Seymour Hicks, for whom it was built. The first play at the theatre was a hit musical called "The Beauty of Bath" co-written by Hicks. Another big success was "A Waltz Dream" in 1908. In 1909, the American impresario Charles Frohman became manager of the theatre and renamed the house the Globe Theatre – a name that it retained for 85 years.
Gielgud Theatre | Introduction
The LOST Theatre was founded by Cecil Hayter in 1979 at the London Oratory School as an after-school theatre club, taking its name from the school's initials. In 1982 LOST was relocated to a new venue on Fulham Broadway. At this 100-seat black box, LOST was host to over 100 plays and festivals for the next 17 years until re-development of the area forced the company to look for a new home. During the next 10 years LOST was an itinerant company, hiring other theatre spaces in order to continue its work whilst branching out into Europe taking shows to Spain and Russia.
Stockwell Playhouse | History
"Wicked" officially opened on June 10, 2003 at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco, after previews began on May 28, in a pre-Broadway tryout presented by SHN. The cast included Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda, Idina Menzel as Elphaba, Robert Morse as the Wizard, Norbert Leo Butz as Fiyero, Michelle Federer as Nessarose, Carole Shelley as Madame Morrible, John Horton as Doctor Dillamond, and Kirk McDonald as Boq. Stephanie J. Block, who originally read the role of Elphaba in workshop development, was Menzel's standby during tryouts, but left before the show moved to Broadway to take a role in "The Boy from Oz".
Wicked (musical) | Original Broadway production
The reopening production was "His Borrowed Plumes", written by Lady Randolph Churchill, Winston Churchill's mother. During the First World War, the musical "Peg O' My Heart" was a success at the theatre. Noël Coward debuted his "Fallen Angels" here in 1925. "Call It a Day" by Dodie Smith opened in 1935 and ran for 509 performances, an unusually long run for the slow inter-war years. Shakespeare and classic plays, as well as musicals, were seen at the theatre in the decades that followed. In 1938, actor John Gielgud directed and starred in a revival of "The Importance of Being Earnest" that was "regarded at the time as the definitive production of the 20th century."
Gielgud Theatre | Early years
It was founded in 1862 by Samuel Thomas Collins Vagg and by 1897 had become a 1,800-seat theatre with 10 bars. The theatre suffered damage in a fire in 1958 and has not reopened. Between 92 and 162 acts were put on each evening and performers who started there included Marie Lloyd, George Robey, Harry Lauder, Harry Tate, George Formby, Vesta Tilley, Tommy Trinder, Gracie Fields, Tommy Handley and Norman Wisdom. The Islington Literary and Scientific Society was established in 1833 and first met in Mr. Edgeworth's Academy on Upper Street. Its goal was to spread knowledge through lectures, discussions, and experiments, politics and theology being forbidden.
Islington | Market gardens and entertainments
Work began in 1950 to construct a new theatre in the ruins of the old. Designed by Edward Foresaw and George Greaves. it could hold 1,800 people over three levels. The opening performance was on 14 August 1951, with the national tour of Annie Get Your Gun. The rise of television meant audiences dwindled, and owners Mecca converted the theatre to bingo in 1961 although local amateur dramatics still hired the venue. In 1966 a casino was opened on the stage, ending this practice.
Theatre Royal, Hanley | 1951-1961
Niblo's Garden was a theater on Broadway, near Prince Street, in SoHo, Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 1823 as "Columbia Garden" which in 1828 gained the name of the "Sans Souci" and was later the property of the coffeehouse proprietor and caterer William Niblo. The large theater that evolved in several stages, occupying more and more of the pleasure ground, was twice burned and rebuilt. On September 12, 1866, Niblo's saw the premiere of "The Black Crook", considered to be the first piece of musical theater that conforms to the modern notion of a "book musical".
Niblo's Garden | Introduction
"The Belle of New York" (1898) became the first American musical to run for over a year in London. The British musical comedy "Florodora" (1899) was a popular success on both sides of the Atlantic, as was "A Chinese Honeymoon" (1901), which ran for a record-setting 1,074 performances in London and 376 in New York. After the turn of the 20th century, Seymour Hicks joined forces with Edwardes and American producer Charles Frohman to create another decade of popular shows. Other enduring Edwardian musical comedy hits included "The Arcadians" (1909) and "The Quaker Girl" (1910).
Musical theatre | 1890s to the new century
In 1728, John Rich, actor-manager of the Duke's Company at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, commissioned "The Beggar's Opera" from John Gay. The success of this venture provided him with the capital to build the Theatre Royal (designed by Edward Shepherd) at the site of an ancient convent garden. Inigo Jones had developed part of this property in the 1630s with a piazza and church. In addition, a Royal Charter had created a fruit and vegetable market in the area, a market which survived in that location until 1974. At the opening of the theatre on 7 December 1732, Rich was carried by his actors in procession into the building for its opening production of William Congreve's "The Way of the World".
Royal Opera House | First theatre
This still left the capital without a national theatre. A London Shakespeare League was founded in 1902 to develop a Shakespeare National Theatre and – with the impending tri-centenary in 1916 of his death – in 1913 purchased land for a theatre in Bloomsbury. This work was interrupted by World War I. In 1910, George Bernard Shaw wrote a short comedy, "The Dark Lady of the Sonnets", in which Shakespeare himself attempts to persuade Elizabeth I of the necessity of building a National Theatre to stage his plays. The play was part of the long-term campaign to build a National Theatre.
Royal National Theatre | Origins
The show began previews in New York City on March 25, 2006 and officially opened at the Palace Theatre on April 25, 2006. The musical was the first Broadway adaptation by Warner Bros., based on The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice and featured a book by Linda Woolverton, music by Elton John, and lyrics by Bernie Taupin. The musical closed on May 28, 2006 after 33 previews and 39 performances, and overall bad reviews.
Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures | "Lestat"
Best New Musical: "Monty Python’s Spamalot" Best Play: "Twelve Angry Men" Author: Reginald Rose Best Production Design: "My Fair Lady" Scenic and Costume Design: Anthony Ward Lighting Design: David Hersey Best Musical Score: "Wicked" Music and Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz
Touring Broadway Awards | 2008
The West End production began previews at the Apollo Victoria Theatre from September 7, and officially opened on September 27, 2006. The production celebrated its fifth anniversary in 2011 with a special curtain call featuring former West End cast members. The London production was tailored slightly for a British audience, including minor creative changes to dialogue, choreography and special effects. A majority of these changes were later incorporated into all productions of "Wicked". The changes include Elphaba meeting Fiyero when he first arrives at Shiz University. In addition, the waltz between Elphaba and the Wizard during "Wonderful" was removed. The West End production reunited the show's original creative team with Idina Menzel, who had originated the role of Elphaba in the Broadway production.
Wicked (musical) | London
Best New Musical: "Wicked" Best Play: "Golda's Balcony" Author: William Gibson Best Production Design: "Wicked" Scenic Design: Eugene Lee Costume Design: Susan Hilferty Lighting Design: Kenneth Posner Best Musical Score: "Wicked" Music and Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz
Touring Broadway Awards | 2006
The man behind the new construction was none other than Christopher Rich, who after 16 years of management, had been pushed out of Drury lane. Rich died in 1714, but his son John Rich led a company at the theatre until 1728. On 29 January 1728, Rich's theatre hosted the first, very successful, production of John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera" (making "Rich gay and Gay rich"). The theatre was abandoned in December 1732, when the company moved to the new Covent Garden Theatre, built by Rich using the capital generated by "The Beggar's Opera". A few years later Henry Giffard moved his company from Goodman's Fields at a time when he was trying to establish a third major theatre company in London.
Lisle's Tennis Court | Betterton and Rich
The cast included Megan Hilty as Glinda, Eden Espinosa as Elphaba, Carol Kane as Madame Morrible, Timothy Britten Parker as Doctor Dillamond, Jenna Leigh Green as Nessarose, Adam Wylie as Boq, Kristoffer Cusick as Fiyero, and John Rubinstein as the Wizard. The production closed on January 11, 2009, after 791 performances and 12 previews. A San Francisco production of "Wicked" officially opened February 6, 2009, at SHN's Orpheum Theatre, following previews from January 27. The cast included Teal Wicks as Elphaba, Kendra Kassebaum as Glinda, Nicolas Dromard as Fiyero, Carol Kane as Madame Morrible, David Garrison as the Wizard, Deedee Magno Hall as Nessarose, Tom Flynn as Doctor Dillamond, and Eddy Rioseco as Boq.
Wicked (musical) | North American productions
Musical Youth Theatre Company was an English youth theatre company founded in 1987 in Bath, Somerset in the South West of England. Founded by Greg Vere, it existed for fifteen years until 2002 and produced a number of shows and notable members. Musical Youth Theatre Company's final production was a version of Mike Leigh's play, "Abigail's Party" in July 2002.
Musical Youth Theatre Company | Introduction
Guber went into the nightclub business, and joined his childhood friend Shelly Gross and Frank Ford in creating a musical theater in Devon, Pennsylvania in 1955 called the Valley Forge Music Fair. The original tent was replaced by a permanent structure, which was subsequently razed and replaced by a supermarket. The group was advised to open a second theater in Westbury, New York, a suburb of New York City, but Guber asked "Where's Long Island?" when told the proposed location. The original Westbury Music Fair was housed in a tent that was constructed on what had been the site of a lime pit, with a $1 million building constructed several years later that included 3,000 seats in a theater in the round format.
Lee Guber | Entertainment
The two companies merged and the combined "United Company" continued under Thomas Betterton at Drury Lane. After some disagreements, Betterton obtained a licence from William III to form a new company at the old theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1695, which moved to the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, in 1720 (now the Royal Opera House). The two patent theatres closed in the summer months. To fill the gap, Samuel Foote's Theatre Royal, Haymarket became a third patent theatre in London in 1766.
Patent theatre | Introduction
The aviator Samuel Franklin Cody was in a box in the theatre in 1912 when, being observed by the audience he was invited to step to the front of the box to talk about the aeroplanes he was developing. The English Opera Company appeared here in March 1914 in "The Bohemian Girl", "Il Trovatore", "Don Giovanni" and "Cavalleria Rusticana", among other works. In 1917 the curtain raiser "Ida Collaborates" by Noël Coward and Esmé Wynne-Tyson was performed at the theatre.
Theatre Royal, Aldershot | Early years
Gregg built his empire by taking over struggling venues and turning them round. The Liverpool Empire Theatre, which was losing £750,000 a year under the Derek Hatton led council, was leased to become a home to big musicals. Gregg also reopened the Lyceum in London in the 1990s at a cost of £14 million, after the theatre had been closed for 10 years. Andrew Lloyd Webber's revival of "Jesus Christ Superstar" ran for two years, followed by Disney's "The Lion King". On 28 September 1982 in association with friend Bill Kenwright, Gregg co-produced a production of "The Mikado" at the Cambridge Theatre, London.
Paul Gregg | Apollo Leisure Group
The letters patent were reissued in 1662 with revisions allowing actresses to perform for the first time (Fisk 73). Killigrew established his company, the King's Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1663; Davenant established his company, the Duke's Company, in Lisle's Tennis Court in Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1661, later moving to Dorset Garden in 1671. In Dublin, the Theatre Royal opened on Smock Alley in 1662; this building survives and was reopened as a theatre in 2012. After problems under the direction of Charles Killigrew, Thomas' son, the King's Company was taken over by its rival, the Duke's Company in 1682.
Patent theatre | Introduction
The cast included Amy Ross as Elphaba, Helen Woolf as Glinda, and Aaron Sidwell as Fiyero.
Wicked (musical) | UK/Ireland tours
The interior was reconstructed by Robert Cromie, and the number of seats was reduced to under 500. The theatre re-opened in 1952. George Devine was appointed artistic director at the suggestion of Oscar Lewenstein, one of the founders of the English Stage Company. Greville Poke, another co-founder was appointed Honorary Secretary of the ESC in October 1954. The ESC opened at the Royal Court in 1956 as a subsidised theatre producing new British and foreign plays, together with some classical revivals. Devine aimed to create a writers' theatre, seeking to discover new writers and produce serious contemporary works. Devine produced the new company's third production in 1956, John Osborne's "Look Back in Anger", a play by one of the angry young men.
Royal Court Theatre | The English Stage Company
George's Fields in rural Surrey. The Theatre was constructed in Shoreditch in 1576 by James Burbage with his brother-in-law John Brayne (the owner of the unsuccessful Red Lion playhouse of 1567) and the Newington Butts playhouse was set up, probably by Jerome Savage, some time between 1575 and 1577. The Theatre was rapidly followed by the nearby Curtain Theatre (1577), the Rose (1587), the Swan (1595), the Globe (1599), the Fortune (1600), and the Red Bull (1604).
English Renaissance theatre | Establishment of playhouses
The theatre was founded by an amateur group, the Bradford Playhouse Company, in 1929, renting Jowett Hall – an ex-Temperance Hall previously used as a cinema – as its premises. The Bradford company was an offshoot of the Leeds Civic Playhouse Company, and became independent of its parent in 1932.
Bradford Playhouse | Foundation
On December 23, 1850, Irish actor-manager John Brougham opened his Lyceum at 485 Broadway near Broome Street. The next day, the "New York Herald" reported: This new temple of Thespis was opened last evening, before a brilliant and crowded audience, with an "éclat" which prognosticates its future career to be triumphant. ... [It] is capable of containing about 1,800 or 2,000 persons. ... The whole presents a very pretty little theatre. ... Mr. Trimble, the well-known builder, has added another 'story' to his architectural fame. ... The opening entertainments commenced with a humorous and appropriate address, entitled 'Brougham and Co.,' in which the whole company were introduced.
Wallack's Theatre | 485 Broadway
Wingreen helped to found the Circle in the Square Theatre in Greenwich Village. On Broadway, he played in "The Girl on the Via Flaminia" and "Fragile Fox", both in 1954.
Jason Wingreen | Stage
The company was founded in 1965 by Gene Feist, Michael Fried and Elizabeth Owens and now operates five theatres, all in Manhattan: the American Airlines Theatre (for classic Broadway plays and musicals); Studio 54 (for Broadway musicals and special events); the Stephen Sondheim Theatre (a new theater that incorporates the original facade of the historical Henry Miller Theatre); the Off-Broadway Laura Pels Theatre (for new works by established playwrights); and the Roundabout Underground Black Box Theatre (for new work of emerging writers and directors). The latter two theatres are located in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre (the former American Place Theatre).
Roundabout Theatre Company | History
Beginning December 1, 2010, "Wicked" played a limited return engagement on its first national tour, playing through January 23, 2011.
Cadillac Palace Theatre | Notable productions
Mr. Bancroft, in the character of Sir Frederick Blount, vainly endeavoured to pacify them, until he bluntly asked whether the play should proceed and thus obtained silence. The Bancrofts gave up management of the theatre in 1885. The next season opened in September 1985. Herbert Beerbohm Tree became manager of the theatre and, in 1887, transferred "The Red Lamp" there from the Comedy Theatre; by then he had installed electric light in the theatre. Under Tree's management, Oscar Wilde premiered his comedy "A Woman of No Importance" in April 1893. In January 1895 Wilde's "An Ideal Husband" was first performed at the theatre.
Theatre Royal Haymarket | The latter half of the 19th century
Dunlop founded and directed his own young theatre company, The Piccolo Theatre in Manchester (1954), and directed "The Enchanted" at the Bristol Old Vic in 1955 where, a year later, he became its resident director, writing and staging "Les Frere Jacques". He made his West End debut at the Adelphi Theatre in 1960 with a production of "The Bishop's Bonfire". He took over the helm at the Nottingham Playhouse from 1961–1964, including the inaugural season of the newly built theatre in 1963, and then directed several plays in London, Oklahoma and Edinburgh. In 1966 he founded The Pop Theatre Company at the Edinburgh Festival, with productions of "The Winter's Tale" (also seen in Venice and London) and "The Trojan Women".
Frank Dunlop (director) | Career
In 1754, John Potter, who had been rated (i.e. paid property tax) for the theatre since its opening, was succeeded by John Whitehead. In 1758 Theophilus Cibber obtained from William Howard, then the Lord Chamberlain, a general licence under which Foote tried to establish the Haymarket as a regular theatre. With the aid of the Duke of York he procured a royal licence to exhibit plays during four months in each year from May to September during his lifetime. He also bought the lease of the theatre from Potter's executors and, having added to the site by purchasing adjoining property, he enlarged and improved the building which he opened on 14 May 1767, as the Theatre Royal, the third patent theatre in London.
Theatre Royal Haymarket | London's third patent theatre
Harry George Musgrove (c. 1883 – 27 April 1951) who, with E. J. Carroll and Dan Carroll, founded the magnificent Prince Edward Theatre on Castlereagh Street, Sydney, later bankrupt.
George Musgrove | Personality and family
White Rose Theatre was founded by playwright and director Chris Bush while at the University of York in 2005. Started as a new writing company, they currently specialise in new musical theatre, and are best known for their 2007 production TONY! The Blair Musical.
White Rose Theatre | Introduction
The first of several national tours began in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1944. A 1953 article in "The New York Times" reported that the show was "believed to be the only musical to have enjoyed a consecutive run of ten years. It ran on Broadway for five years and two months, grossing $7,000,000. The tour of the national company, which started late in 1943, has grossed $15,000,000." John Raitt played Curly in the original production in Chicago. The United Service Organizations sponsored a tour to U.S. military bases in 1945 that lasted for several years. "The New York Times" reported in 1953:
Oklahoma! | Early U.S. tours
The Alhambra Theatre of Variety was a popular music hall located at Leicester Square, in the West End of London, England. It was built originally as the Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts, an institution for ‘scientific exhibitions and for promoting discoveries in arts and manufactures’ opening on 18 March 1854. This venture went bankrupt inside two years and the was sold to E.T. Smith. It was renamed as the Alhambra Palace and in 1858 a circus ring was installed. Though the circus was successful, Smith converted the building to a dance hall and reopened as the Alhambra Palace Music Hall in December 1860.
Alhambra Theatre of Variety | Introduction