Phoenix Theatre
110 Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H OJP

Nearest underground:
Leicester Square (Northen Line, Piccadilly Line), Tottenham Court Road (Central Line, Northern Line)

Nearest rail:
Charing Cross

Concealed within a characterless corner block, next to an unexciting block of apartments hides the stunning interior of the Phoenix Theatre. It boasts art deco style sweeping mirrored panels, ornate mirrored ceilings and rich gilt decoration, designed by Theodore Komisarjevsky. Plush corridors are lined with photos and posters representing its productions over the years. And its foyer bar, renamed the Noel Coward Bar in 1969 gives a clue as to some of the Phoenix’s history.

The Phoenix opened in 1930 with a premier of Noel Coward’s Private Lives, a glamorous triumph. Starring Noel Coward, Gertrude Lawrence, Laurence Olivier and Jill Esmond, it relocated to Broadway after just three months. Coward returned throughout the years and was honoured with a special midnight matinee for his seventieth birthday in 1969, where the guests, including Princess Margaret rose to sing Happy Birthday. Later, the Canterbury Tales and Tom Stoppard’s Day And Night were memorable productions. The Phoneix’s longest run to date is Willy Russell’s musical Blood Brothers, which transferred here from the Albery in 1991 is still playing today. But it will remain Noel Coward with whom the theatre is especially associated.

What's on at Phoenix Theatre

< back