There was a spate of theatre building in London in the 1930’s and the Phoenix is one of the products of that time. The previous building to stand on the site was a rough and ready place for gambling and “posing models”. The Phoenix Theatre was a much more upmarket affair, opening with the premiere of Noel Coward’s Private Lives, starring a young Laurence Olivier. Some of its other successful productions were Canterbury Tales (1968) and Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim (1990). Its longest running show is Blood Brothers, which moved there in 1991.
Disabled access to the building is through the entrance on Flitcroft Street. There’s space for one wheelchair user in Box C and an adapted toilet behind it. The auditorium has an infra-red sound amplification system for the hard of hearing.
The theatre has 3 licensed bars and is air conditioned. It has a capacity of 1,012 which is arranged on 3 levels. Unfortunately the stage is quite high and narrow, which makes for some uncomfortable viewing angles. This affects the front row of the Stalls, the end seats in Stalls A-K, the whole of the Dress Circle and row A of the Upper Circle. The back row of the Dress Circle is also affected slightly by the overhang from the tier above, but the rest of the seats in the Upper Circle have great views.
The closest tube stations are Tottenham Court Road (100m) and Leicester Square (130m). There is a Westminster City Council car park at China Town and an NCP at Great Russell Street.
In our travels around the web, we found these Phoenix Theatre web pages useful. Contact us at team@tubehotels.com to list your favourite Phoenix Theatre website here.
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