Adelphi Theater

Ground

The theater was founded in 1806 by an entrepreneur named John Scott with the active participation of his daughter Jane (1770-1839). Jane Scott served as the theater manager, actress and playwright . Together with his father, they quietly assembled a theater troupe and, by 1809 , the theater was allowed by the authorities to perform musical numbers, pantomime and comic opera . Jane Scott herself wrote over fifty theatrical works in the genres of melodrama, pantomime, farce , comic operetta , historical drama , and also translated plays from other languages.

XIX century

In 1819, Jane Scott retires, marries a certain John Davis Middleton (1790-1867) and leaves for Surrey . The theater closes, but only a few months later, on October 18, 1819 it reopens under a new name - the Adelphi Theater, given the name of the architectural ensemble of the Adelphi Buildings , a complex of buildings in the "Adam style" located opposite the theater. The architectural complex, in turn, got its name from the architectural firm Adelphi (from the Greek ἀδελφοί - brothers ), owned by the Adam brothers ^[1] .

In the early years of its existence, the theater was known for its melodramas , and was called Adelphi Screamers ( Russian screamers of Adelphi, Adelphi's gorlopans ). On the stage of the Thear, many of Charles Dickens’s early works were staged, including his famous Death Notes of the Pickwick Club .

In the years 1821-23, the play of the playwright Pierce Egan Tom and Jerry, or Life in London , some of which were played by real beggars, in particular Billy Waters

In 1844, Madame Celeste and actor and playwright Benjamin Webster took control of the theater. Drama performances continue to be staged at the theater; plays based on the works of Charles Dickens continue.

After some time, the old Teara building was demolished and on December 28, 1858, the new Adelphi Theater was inaugurated. Contemporaries noted that the new theater looks much more spacious than the old one, since now it contained 1,500 seats and an additional 500 standing ones, and the interior of the theater was lit by ultramodern, for that time, gas lanterns placed in crystal chandeliers .

In the mid-nineteenth century, comic actor and theater producer John Lawrence Tuli finally secured the status of comic theater for Adelphi. At the same time, a number of the most famous French operettas were staged at the theater, however, the Adelphi Theater is also paying attention to British authors. For example, the British composer Arthur Sullivan gained his fame among the general public only thanks to the staging of an operetta to his music, which took place precisely in the Adelphi Theater. The theater also staged plays by John Baldwin Buxton , who, among other things, himself was directly involved in the performances.

O. Wilde's First Play

December 17, 1881 at the Adelphi Theater, the first and little-known play by the novice writer Oscar Wilde , entitled “ Faith, or the Nihilists, ” is canceled. The play is canceled for political reasons, since the prototype of the main character was the Russian terrorist and revolutionary Vera Zasulich .

The plot of the play is extremely naive: the beautiful terrorist who vowed to take revenge on tyrants and bloodsuckers unexpectedly falls in love with the heir to the Russian throne, Tsarevich Alexei, secretly collaborating with revolutionaries. However, the heroine curses herself for her love of the "tyrant" and considers herself a traitor to the cause of the revolution. Unable to endure such suffering, the heroine stabs herself with a poisoned dagger , while answering the prince’s question: “Faith! What have you done? ”He answers:“ I saved Russia ... ” ^[2] .

The Legend of the Ghost

Adelphi is known for the ghost of the main actor of the theater of the time, William Terris. Terris, being a famous and popular actor, envied the failed artist Richard Archer Prince. In 1897, Prince stabbed Terris on the steps at the entrance to the theater. Since then, among the actors of the theater there are legends about the ghost of Terris, who supposedly comes to his dressing room, from where a quiet knock is heard and light is visible. There is also a legend that the ghost of Terris periodically descends to the platform of the nearest Charing Cross metro station. ^[3] .

Subsequently, the daughter of Terris, the equally well-known actress Ellaline Terris ( Eng. Ellaline Terriss ) and her husband-actor Seymour Hicks for some time led the Adelphi Theater.

XX century

On September 11, 1901, the theater was opened after renovation under the new big name Century Theater ( Rus. Century Theater, Theater of the Century ). However, the new name did not last long and, in 1904 , the theater returned to its former name, familiar to London theatergoers.

The current Adelphi Theater opened after the fourth, in its history, reconstruction - December 3, 1930 . The new building ( see illustration for the article ) was designed in the Art Deco style by architector Ernest Staufenberg. The theater received a prefix in its name and became known as the “Royal Adelphi Theater” ( Russian Royal Adelphi Theater )

In 1968, the theater was threatened with demolition, as the London authorities intended to carry out a massive reconstruction of the Covent Garden area . However, under the fierce pressure of the public, these plans were never implemented.

In 1993, the theater was acquired by the world famous British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber . After this follows a complete restoration of the theater.

In 1998, the Adelphi Theater first filmed a video version of the musical Lloyd Webber's "Cats" , which conveyed the atmosphere of the show with amazing accuracy.

21st Century

From 1997 to 2006, the Adelphi Theater's repertoire included the British version of the musical Chicago . In November 2008, the theater chooses Brian Wilson for its final concert closing the UK tour.

• Adelphi Theater // Theater website
• The Adelphi Theater 1806-1900: A Calendar of Performances , from an Eastern Michigan University website
• Adelphi theater history
• Information about Ever Green and the 1930 re-opening of the theater