Mark Price was asked to provide a Recording Report for the Lyric Theatre in London’s West End.
The Lyric Theatre opened in 1888. It is a Grade II Listed Building within the Soho Conservation Area in the City of Westminster.
A Recording Report as well as a Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) was needed in order to secure a listed building condition before works could start on refurbishment of the foyer bar. Theatre and Heritage was able to source original plans and photographs to assist an understanding of the original design and finishes for the record.
The theatre was designed by C J Phipps. The façade was of the Renaissance style in red brick and Portland stone. Curiously, it also retained an existing 1776 façade block to Great Windmill Street which was converted to dressing rooms. The auditorium was in the French Renaissance style. The foyers and bars were similarly decorated in the French Renaissance and early Dutch styles, later fitted out to designs by the architect, Michael Rosenauer (1933), in the Art Deco style.
The Lyric Theatre stands upon ground which had been acquired by the Metropolitan Board of Works for the formation of Shaftesbury Avenue. The producer, Henry J. Leslie, acquired the site from the Board with the profits that he had made from staging the Benjamin Charles Stephenson and Alfred Cellier comic opera Dorothy. The Lyric Theatre initially staged mostly light operettas when it first opened before subsequently staging light comedies and straight drama.
The Lyric Theatre stands upon ground which had been acquired by the Metropolitan Board of Works for the formation of Shaftesbury Avenue. The producer, Henry J. Leslie, acquired the site from the Board with the profits that he had made from staging the Benjamin Charles Stephenson and Alfred Cellier comic opera Dorothy. The Lyric Theatre initially staged mostly light operettas when it first opened before subsequently staging light comedies and straight drama.
Mark Price was able to provide a fully compliant WSI and submit a comprehensive record to satisfy the listed building condition for works to the theatre bar.
