Theatre Royal, Birmingham

The Theatre Royal, until 1807 the New Street Theatre,^[1] or, colloquially, New Theatre,^[2] was a 2,000-seat theatre located on New Street in Birmingham, England. It was erected in 1774 and demolished in 1956.^[3]

Theatre Royal
The Theatre Royal in 1780
Former names	New Street Theatre
General information
Type	Theatre
Address	New Street
Town or city	Birmingham
Country	England
Opened	1774 (1774)
Demolished	1956 (1956)

The theatre, c. 1774–1779, in a watercolour painting attributed to Hubert Cornish

Playbill from December 1844 advertising events in January 1845

The theatre was damaged by fire in 1792 (as a result of arson^[4]) and again in 1820, after which it was rebuilt.^[3] In 1897, W. S. Gilbert's The Fortune Hunter premiered at the theatre.^[5] The theatre was rebuilt again in 1902, designed by Ernest Runtz, reopening in 1904 with 2200 seats.^[3] This building lasted until 1956 when it was closed and demolished.^[6] The Woolworth Building was then constructed on the site, seen today as the location of a branch of Boots and Bella Italia.^{[citation needed]}

Two large coade stone medallions, from the front of the theatre, depicting David Garrick (on the viewer's left) and William Shakespeare, survive and are now displayed in the Library of Birmingham.

In June 1848, Charles Dickens' Amateur Theatrical Company performed at the theatre as part of Dickens' efforts to raise funds for the curatorship of William Shakespeare's house in Stratford-upon-Avon.^[7]

Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham records that on 16 February 1873 a boy fell from the gallery and died.^[8]

References

1. Symons 2006, p. 318
2. Symons 2006, p. 314
3. Price 1988, p. 2
4. Symons 2006, p. 319
5. Ainger, p. 369
6. Symons 2006, p. 320
7. "UoB Calmview5: Search results". calmview.bham.ac.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
8. Harman 1885, p. 5.

Bibliography and further reading

• Ainger, Michael (2002). Gilbert and Sullivan–A Dual Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-514769-3.
• Harman, Thomas T. (1885). Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham. Cornish Brothers.
• Price, Victor J. (1988), Birmingham Theatres, Concert and Music Halls, Studley: Brewin Books, ISBN 0-947731-35-0
• Rhodes, Raymond Crompton (1924), The Theatre Royal, Birmingham, 1774-1924: a short history, Birmingham: Moody Brothers, OCLC 10940797
• Symons, David (2006). "A Pass for the Birmingham Theatre, 1774" (PDF). British Numismatic Journal. 76. British Numismatic Society: 312–322. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
• Symons, David (2010). "The 1774 'Birmingham Theatre Pass' revisted" (PDF). British Numismatic Journal. 80. British Numismatic Society: 154–158, 162–163.

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