Dominion Theatre
Address
Dominion Theatre
268-269 Tottenham Court Road
London WC2H 0JP
The Dominion Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Tottenham Court Road close to St Giles’ Circus and Centre Point Tower, in the London Borough of Camden. The building was built for Moss Empires by Bovis in 1928-29, designed by William and T. R. Milburn with a steel-framed construction and a concave Portland stone facade. The auditorium was built on three levels, Stalls, Dress, and Upper Circle, with a capacity of 2835. However the upper circle is no longer used and the current capacity is a more reserved 2007. Although smaller this is still not a small theatre. The Theatre Royal Drury Lane only holds a couple of hundred more people.
The Dominion Theatre opened on the 3rd of October 1929 with a musical comedy called ‘Follow Through’ by Laurance Schwab which ran for a disappointing 148 performances. The second production, the musical ‘Silver Wings’ faired little better. This was followed by two weeks of Variety with Maurice Chevalier. The Dominion’s early days as a live theatre were a failure and as such in 1930, just a year after opening, the theatre was converted to a cinema and in 1933 it was sold to Gaumont British.
The Theatre has had many alterations over the years and gradually various parts of it were converted to offices. In 1958 a huge screen was installed and a new projection box to service it. The theatre retains its 1920s light fittings.
The Dominion did play host to some live entertainment in the 1950s and 1960s but this was for concerts and not theatre productions and was only an occasional slot in to the regular cinema use.
The Dominion was converted back to Theatre use in 1981 and has been staging large scale musicals ever since. Tangerine Dream’s album Logos was also recorded there in 1982, and contains a tune called ‘Dominion’ as a tribute. In the mid 1980s the Dominion hosted Dave Clark’s musical Time, which required gutting and reconstructing the theatre to accommodate the show’s groundbreaking effects. In 1989 a musical adaptation of the TV show Prisoner Cell Block H played at the venue.
Since the early 1990s the venue has played host to a unique version of Jesus Christ Superstar, David Ian and Paul Nicholas’ new production of Grease, Scrooge The Musical, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, a return of Grease, and Notre Dame de Paris among others. Bernadette The Musical, written by Maureen and Gwyn Hughes, also enjoyed a short run in 1990.
In 2002, the hit stage musical We Will Rock You, based on the songs of Queen, created by Queen guitarist Brian May and British comedian Ben Elton opened. The show was due to close in October 2006 before embarking on a UK tour, but due to popular demand has been extended, currently scheduled to end in October 2008.
Nearest Underground
Tottenham Court Road
Directions: Take the Central or Northern Line to Tottenham Court Road station. Exit onto Tottenham Court Road. The theatre is located directly outside the station.
Train
Charing Cross
Air-Conditioned: Yes
