Friday 21st October 2011 by Will Langdale
A quick pick of what’s hot in the TicketTree.com office
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| The London Astoria just after it closed by Vince Millett on flickr |
Phoenix... er… Astoria from the ashes
Since its closure in 2009 to make room for Crossrail’s redevelopment of Tottenham Court Road, The London Astoria has been a theatre tragically consigned to the history of London’s West End. Built in 1893 as a warehouse for a pickle factory, it was converted to a cinema and ballroom in 1927. After screening films for many years it was closed in 1976, and reopened in 1978 after being refurbished as a theatre. Its opening production was Elvis the Musical. Some notable shows of this period were Jukebox in 1983 (quite literally a jukebox musical of 70s music), and the Andrew Lloyd Webber-produced The Hired Man in 1984.
In the late 80s the theatre was converted into a live music venue and nightclub, and has been notorious over the last few decades as a venue for big, live acts, and for the nightclub G-A-Y. Many notable artists have performed at the venue, with Wikipedia supplying a list of live recordings performed there, including Radiohead, Feeder, Dio, Eels and Steve Vai. G-A-Y in particular was regarded extremely seriously on the live pop circuit as the one venue that really mattered to stars.
But there’s a chance now that the Astoria’s glory days are not all in the past. This week Crossrail submitted its plans for the redevelopment of the area, which includes a replacement theatre. At 350-seats, the company has struck a deal with Nimax Theatres to manage the new property should it come to fruition, which if given the go-ahead, will start construction after the works on Tottenham Court Road are complete in 2017. Nimax already runs a smorgasbord of theatres, including the Apollo, Garrick, Duchess, Lyric and Vaudeville.
Nica Burns, Nimax’s chief executive, told The Stage that they’re hoping that the new Astoria will be “London’s first small, purpose build, in-the-round theatre”. For those not in the know, theatre in the round is a particularly intimate form of performance that presents unique and often difficult challenges to the performers and directors. The seating will surround the performance space completely, meaning those in the centre are scrutinised from all sides.
If it comes to pass, this is extremely exciting news, and a new chapter in the life of the Astoria. Not only is this one of London’s historic venues back from the grave, but a theatre whose layout will offer a vibrant opportunity to engage with audiences in really cool ways.
Arthur Lloyd's put together a more detailed history of the London Astoria.
Horsing around
War Horse could be coming to a town near you! The immensely popular show has announced a tour of the UK in autumn 2013, with plans to tour Japan, Australia and South Africa, where the horse puppets were designed, to be announced at some point in the future. Dates and venues for the UK tour will be available in the coming months.
Competition winners
Last week’s Backbeat competition had many of your stumped, with just four people correctly identifying the sixteen Beatles references in last week’s article. We decided to give a little something to all four, but the 10% went to Lesley Wooton of Taunton, Somerset! Congratulations!
Deal of the week
Great news this week as the upcoming Chicago at the Garrick Theatre has finally announced discounts! Take a look on the show’s page to find top-priced tickets discounted by £43 on every performance except for Friday and Saturday nights. Chicago opens on Friday November 11th, so now is the perfect time to get your hands on a lovely discount.