Page 39 - MISER

MUSICAL REVUES
Under the Gatti’s management, the theatre became known for
a series of popular musical comedies including, at the turn of the 19th century, several starring the highly successful husband and wife team of Seymour Hicks and Ellaline Terriss. From 1915, the theatre was the home of French impresario Andre Charlot’s famous
Revue which featured songs, dances and sketches and was popular between the two world wars. Charlot presented a whole series at the Vaudeville from 1915 until 1924 with titles such as Samples, Buzz-Buzz, Pot Luck and Puss! Puss! Ivor Novello found early success providing material for Charlot in several of these productions.
GREAT COMEDY AND DRAMA
The theatre has also presented many great comedies and dramas over its 140-year history.
In 1891, the Vaudeville hosted the first London performances of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler and Rosmersholm in matinee performances. A young Peggy Ashcroft and Jack Hawkins starred in one of Somerset Maugham’s last plays, The Breadwinner, in 1930. Dame Thora Hird made
her West End debut, playing a Cockney charlady, in the long- running No Medals (1944),
a wartime drama by Esther McCracken. During his tenure as theatre owner, Michael Codron produced many outstanding plays here, including Michael Frayn’s Benefactors which ran for 18 months (1984); Alan Ayckbourn’s Woman in Mind (1986) with an award-winning performance from Julia Mackenzie; the revue Re:Joyce (1988) starring Maureen Lipman as Joyce Grenfell; Simon Gray’s Hidden Laughter (1990); and the transfer of Patrick Marber’s award-winning Dealer’s Choice (1995) from the National. In the new century, productions have included Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin making his West End debut in Madame Melville (2000); The Importance of Being Earnest (2007) with Penelope Keith as Lady Bracknell; Private Lives (2010) directed by Richard Eyre, starring Matthew Macfadyen as Elyot and Kim Cattrall as Amanda; and Orton’s What the Butler Saw (2012) with Omid Djalili and Samantha Bond. The theatre continues to keep up its tradition of presenting a variety
of new plays, revivals, comedy and musicals.
‘The Vaudeville presented the first London performance of Hedda Gabler’