Inspiring Women : November 2020

The Victoria Palace Theatre occupies the site of a popular
music hall built in the 1830s. It opened in November of 1911
and hosted all the famous music-hall names of the time and
later became the location at which Elizabeth Taylor made her
theatrical debut.
Designed by well known theater architect W. G. R.
Sprague, St. Martin's Theatre is in the center of London’s
West End. The first production to take place there was the
Edwardian musical comedy Houp La! which opened in
November 1916. Following this, the Theatre staged many
premiers covering controversial issues such as A Bill of
Divorcement in 1920, which looked at divorce due to
insanity. Today it is known for being the home of the
longest running play in London’s theatrical history, The
Mousetrap by Agatha Christie.
Opened in 1900 by theater architect Frank Matcham as a
circus variety theater, the Hippodrome featured a 100,000-
gallon tank in which polar bears and sea lions would swim.
Changes in 1909 allowed the venue to shift to revue-style
performances hosting performers such as Harry Houdini and
the country’s first staged performance of Swan Lake. In the
1950s the theater transformed once again to become the
legendary Talk of the Town, featuring major starts such as Judy
Garland and Sammy Davis Jr.
The Cambridge Theatre is considered a rare, complete and
early example of a London theater adopting the modern,
expressionist style found in Germany during the 1920s. It was
a clear departure from the grand excess of music halls and
cinemas. The Cambridge Theatre was considered the epitome
of sophistication with simple forms, shiny steelwork and
touches of bright colors.
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