Hippodrome 2197
Hippodrome Casino, Leicester Square, London. The Cabaret Theatre seats 180, but in 2018 will be reconfigured to transform it into a 325 seat auditorium to stage Magic Mike, the run of which has already been extended months before the first performance. Opened in 1900 and designed as a spectacular circus and theatre by Frank Matcham. He returned in 1909 to convert the building into a more conventional theatre by enlarging the stage area. In 1958 it was converted into a cabaret theatre - The Talk of the Town, trashing the auditorium in the process, including the destruction of the plaster ceiling. In 1983 it became Stringfellows Disco before returing once more to a circus in 2005 - albeit in rather less glamourous surroundings than in 1900. In 2009 it was surprisingly largely restored, including recreating much of the plasterwork, as the Hippodrome Casino - the work took 3 years.
An album about the restoration here:-
www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/albums/72157629043373601
Photos taken by kind permission of Simon Thomas.
London - City of Westminster - England, Hippodrome Casino, Leicester Square
June 2018
Hippodrome 2197
Hippodrome Casino, Leicester Square, London. The Cabaret Theatre seats 180, but in 2018 will be reconfigured to transform it into a 325 seat auditorium to stage Magic Mike, the run of which has already been extended months before the first performance. Opened in 1900 and designed as a spectacular circus and theatre by Frank Matcham. He returned in 1909 to convert the building into a more conventional theatre by enlarging the stage area. In 1958 it was converted into a cabaret theatre - The Talk of the Town, trashing the auditorium in the process, including the destruction of the plaster ceiling. In 1983 it became Stringfellows Disco before returing once more to a circus in 2005 - albeit in rather less glamourous surroundings than in 1900. In 2009 it was surprisingly largely restored, including recreating much of the plasterwork, as the Hippodrome Casino - the work took 3 years.
An album about the restoration here:-
www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/albums/72157629043373601
Photos taken by kind permission of Simon Thomas.
London - City of Westminster - England, Hippodrome Casino, Leicester Square
June 2018