His Majesty's Theatre

His Majesty’s Theatre stands in the Haymarket, a short street in the West End of London. The present building, designed by Charles J. Phipps, dates from 1897 and replaced an earlier theatre on the same site. Herbert Beerbohm Tree, the actor-manager, commissioned the new theatre and founded the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art there. In the early 20th century the theatre became known for lavish Shakespeare productions and premieres by Bernard Shaw, J. M. Synge, Noël Coward and J. B. Priestley. After the First World War it turned to large-scale musicals and has housed long-running hits such as Chu Chin Chow and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera since 1986. The first theatre on the spot opened in 1705 as the Queen’s Theatre, built by John Vanbrugh for Thomas Betterton’s company. Because the law allowed only two patent theatres to stage straight drama, the Queen’s quickly became London’s leading opera house. Between 1711 and 1739 more than twenty-five operas by Handel premiered there, including Rinaldo with the castrato Valentino Urbani. The building burned down in 1789 and was rebuilt in 1791, later hosting Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito and Così fan tutte. In the 19th century it alternated between opera and ballet before becoming Her Majesty’s Theatre under Queen Victoria. Inside, the theatre seats 1,216 people and is Grade II* listed. The wide stage still suits spectacular musicals, while the auditorium retains its Victorian grandeur. The name changes with each monarch: it became His Majesty’s in 1901, reverted to Her Majesty’s in 1952, and returned to His Majesty’s in 2023. The land remains on a long lease from the Crown Estate, and the building is owned by LW Theatres. A visitor finds a grand West End house with a long history of music, drama and spectacle.