Learn more about West End venues named for theatre icons

With theatres announced to be renamed for Tom Stoppard and Judi Dench, get to know venues like the Garrick, Gielgud and Sondheim Theatres.

Summary

• Two West End theatre are to be renamed for Judi Dench and Tom Stoppard
• There are many other London venues that honour industry greats
• They include the Garrick Theatre and Gielgud Theatre
• Recent renamings include the Sondheim Theatre and Gillian Lynne Theatre

It’s a new era in the West End, with two significant venues changing their names to honour theatre greats. The Duke of York’s Theatre will become the Tom Stoppard Theatre – aptly enough, it’s hosting a remarkable revival of the playwright’s Arcadia – while the Shaftesbury Theatre, currently home to musical Avenue Q, will be renamed the Judi Dench Theatre after the acclaimed actress.

Of course, those aren’t the only West End theatres to be named for industry titans. Learn more about London venues that honour our theatre heritage, as well as their production history and the fantastic shows you can see there now.

Discover London's theatres on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Garrick Theatre

This handsome venue in the heart of the West End is named for the great 18th-century actor David Garrick. He was a renowned Shakespearean and a pioneer of the more realistic acting style, and he also played a crucial role in shaping theatre through his work as a director and a producer – including staging the first Shakespeare Jubilee festival in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The Garrick Theatre opened in 1889, and after weathering some difficult periods, became firmly established as a West End staple. Recent inhabitants include the long-running drama An Inspector Calls, Rupert Everett and Kara Tointon starring in Pygmalion, the drag queen murder mystery Death Drop, the stage adaptation of Hamnet, and its current smash-hit musical comedy, Mel Brooks’s The Producers.

Book The Producers tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Gillian Lynne Theatre

The only West End venue to be named for a choreographer – and the first to be named after a non-royal woman – this resplendent venue was previously known as the New London Theatre. It was home to the iconic Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats, which Gillian Lynne famously choreographed. Her other work included The Phantom of the Opera, Aspects of Love, and the Barbra Streisand movie Yentl.

The theatre originally opened in 1911 as the Winter Garden Theatre, hosting shows such as Fred and Adele Astaire’s Funny Face, was redeveloped and opened as the New London in 1973, and was renamed for Lynne in 2018. Productions there have included School of Rock, Cinderella, Crazy for You, Standing at the Sky’s Edge, and its current occupant, the gorgeous family show My Neighbour Totoro.

Book My Neighbour Totoro tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Noël Coward Theatre

This venue, originally the New Theatre, has been renamed twice in honour of someone. It became the Albery Theatre in 1973, in tribute to its manager Bronson Albery, and then the Noël Coward Theatre in 2006 for the legendary playwright, actor and composer. Coward’s beloved comedies include Private Lives, Present Laugther, Blithe Spirit, and Hay Fever – the latter of which is getting a starry revival this autumn with Christine Baranski and Richard E. Grant.

The theatre opened in 1903 and hosted Coward’s first staged play, I’ll Leave It to You, in 1920. It also boasted the London premiere of George Bernard Shaw’s St. Joan, a great Shakespearean season under the management of John Gielgud, musicals Oliver!, Avenue Q and Dear Evan Hansen, Cynthia Erivo’s one-woman Dracula, and is currently home to the five-star Cyrano de Bergerac, with the acclaimed Into The Woods transferring there in the autumn.

Book Cyrano de Bergerac tickets and Into The Woods tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Harold Pinter Theatre

One of the most important British playwrights in the canon, Pinter is most certainly worthy of his own theatre. The West End’s Comedy Theatre duly became the Harold Pinter in 2011, honouring the man who gave us modern classics like The Homecoming, Betrayal, The Birthday Party, Old Times, and No Man’s Land, as well as numerous screenplays for movies like Lolita and The French Lieutenant’s Woman.

The venue opened in 1881, and in 1956 it established the New Watergate Club to get around the censors, so it could host the UK premieres of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge and Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. More recent productions include Merrily We Roll Along, Prima Facie, A Little Life, the Sadie Sink-led Romeo and Juliet, current show Allegra, starring Maureen Lipman, and, coming up, Mike Leigh’s Abigail’s Party, and The Cherry Orchard, starring Kristin Scott Thomas.

Book Allegra tickets, Abigail’s Party tickets and The Cherry Orchard tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Wyndham’s Theatre

The Wyndham’s takes its name from the prolific actor/manager Charles Wyndham, who actually founded the theatre (along with the Criterion Theatre). Wyndham originally rose to fame in light comedies and farces: Oscar Wilde even modelled The Importance of Being Earnest’s John Worthing on him. Latterly Wyndham moved into costume dramas as well.

Wyndham opened his theatre in 1899 with the play David Garrick, and its numerous subsequent productions included The Boy Friend, Godspell, Art, Sunday in the Park with George, The History Boys, Leopoldstadt, Life of Pi, and Oedipus. It’s currently hosting Aaron Sorkin’s blockbuster adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, and, coming up, Hay Fever and Christmas Carol Goes Wrong.

Book To Kill a Mockingbird tickets, Hay Fever tickets, and Christmas Carol Goes Wrong tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Gielgud Theatre

The extraordinary actor John Gielgud lends his name to this West End venue. It originally opened in 1906 as the Hicks Theatre, then became the Globe, and finally the Gielgud in 1994. His distinguished career spanned acclaimed stage productions, especially Shakespeare, a highly respected run as a director, and a parallel film career: he landed an Oscar in 1981 for Arthur and was an EGOT winner.

The Gielgud Theatre has likewise enjoyed a stellar run since it began in 1906 with a popular musical, The Beauty of Bath. Gielgud directed and starred in The Importance of Being Earnest there, and other notable productions include the Daniel Radcliffe-starring Equus, God of Carnage, The Ferryman, the gender-swapped Company, and its current hit revival of beloved British musical Oliver!.

Book Oliver! tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Novello Theatre

This West End house began as the Waldorf Theatre, then became the Strand and the Whitney before being named for the great Welsh composer and entertainer Ivor Novello in 2005. Novello, who had lived in a flat above the theatre, enjoyed popular hits like the wartime “Keep the Home Fires Burning”, starred in Hitchcock films, and wrote lavish musicals like Glamorous Night, King’s Rhapsody, and The Dancing Years.

The Novello Theatre opened its doors in 1905 and was the home of black comedy Arsenic and Old Lace in the 1940s. Other big productions here include Sondheim’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, comedy No Sex Please, We’re British, several acclaimed RSC seasons, and its current, long-running ABBA musical, the fabulously feel-good Mamma Mia!.

Book Mamma Mia! tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Sondheim Theatre

The extraordinary American composer and lyricist was honoured in 2019 with a theatre named after him: the West End venue previously known as the Queen’s Theatre. Sondheim’s work, which redefined the genre, includes shows like Sweeney Todd, Into The Woods, Merrily We Roll Along, Sunday in the Park with George, Assassins, and A Little Night Music, as well as lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy.

The Sondheim Theatre opened in 1907 with a poorly received comedy, The Sugar Bowl, but has rallied since, staging shows like Rebecca (starring Celia Johnson), The Hobbit, The Rocky Horror Show, and The Taming of the Shrew. In 2004 it became the home of the revolutionary musical Les Misérables, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year and is still a stirring audience favourite.

Book Les Misérables tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Main photo credit: the soon-to-be Tom Stoppard Theatre (courtesy of the venue). Inset: the Garrick Theatre, the Noel Coward Theatre (courtesy of the venues)