We make riding on public transit to Old Compton Street easy, which is why over 865 million users, including users in Soho trust Moovit as the best app for public transport. Old Compton Street, Soho Old Compton Street is a road that runs east–west through Soho in the West End of London. (Redirected from London Casino) For the cinema in Sydney, Australia, see Prince Edward Theatre (Sydney). The Prince Edward Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Old Compton Street, just north of Leicester Square.

Old Compton Street is a road that runs east–west through Soho in the West End of London.

History[edit]

The street was named after Henry Compton who raised funds for a local parish church, eventually dedicated as St Anne's Church in 1686.^{[citation needed]} The area in general and this street in particular became the home of Huguenots, FrenchProtestant refugees who were given asylum in England by Charles II in 1681.

By the end of the 18th century, fewer than ten of the houses were without shop fronts.^{[citation needed]} In the middle of the 19th century, while there were some workshops too, as well as restaurants and public houses, the ground floors of most of the houses were still used as shops. The number of people of overseas descent continued to grow and the street became a meeting place for exiles, particularly those from France: after the suppression of the Paris Commune, the poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine often frequented drinking haunts here.

Old Compton Street had its resident curiosity in the form of Wombwell's Menagerie.^{[citation needed]}George Wombwell kept a boot and shoe shop on the street between 1804 and 1810 and, by all accounts, was quite an entrepreneur. Of short stature and an alcoholic, he nonetheless built up three hugely successful menageries from a starting point of two snakes bought at a bargain price. The menageries travelled around England and made him a wealthy man before his death in 1850.^{[citation needed]}

Between 1956 and 1970 the 2 I's Coffee Bar was located here. Many well-known 1960s pop musicians played in its cramped surroundings.^{[citation needed]}

London Casino Old Compton Street Blues

Current[edit]

Today, the street is the main focal point for London's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.^{[citation needed]} In Soho, central London, it features several gay bars, restaurants and cafés, as well as a popular theatre. Whilst a pedestrianisation project proved unpopular with local traders and was reversed, the street is closed to vehicular traffic for the Soho Pride festival one weekend each year, in late summer.

The Prince Edward Theatre is located on the east end of the street. Until 2004 the long-running production of Mamma Mia!, a musical based upon the songs of ABBA, was showing at the theatre. When Mamma Mia! moved to larger premises in another part of the West End, a production of Mary Poppins moved in, but closed in 2008. It subsequently became home to Aladdin. London producer and director Adam Spreadbury-Maher lives at the northern end of Old Compton Street.^[1]

In 1999, the Admiral Duncan pub was the site of a nail bomb attack which killed three people and injured over a dozen.^[2] A neo-nazi, David Copeland, was subsequently found guilty of the bombing (intended specifically to injure members of the gay community). Previously decorated in neutral colours, the Admiral Duncan was re-opened with a flamboyant pink and purple exterior with a large rainbow flag flying outside as a symbol of gay pride. The flag has remained there ever since, in defiance of Westminster City Council's planning permission laws.

Along the street are numerous other gay bars including Comptons of SOHO and G-A-Y. Also on the street are a variety of cafés, tea rooms (including the original branch of the Patisserie Valerie chain) and restaurants (including Bincho, a yakitori restaurant and Balans, which unusually for much of England is open 24 hours a day), and sex shops.

In the middle of Charing Cross Road, at its junction with Old Compton Street, beneath the grill in the traffic island in the middle of the road, can be seen the old road signs^[3] for the now-vanished Little Compton Street, which once joined Old Compton Street with New Compton Street.^{[citation needed]}

Additional adjoining streets[edit]

• Little Compton Street (now defunct)

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Adam Spreadbury-Maher'. Gaydarnation.com. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
2. ^'Dozens injured in Soho nail bomb'. BBC News. UK: BBC. 30 April 1999.
3. ^Way, Steve. 'Photo'. Flickr. Archived from the original on 18 December 2013.

External links[edit]

• Panoramic view at the junction with Dean Street

Coordinates: 51°30′48″N0°07′53″W / 51.51326°N 0.13128°W

London, W1D 4HS

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Related Websites

Delfont Mackintosh Theatres(Official)

Additional Info

Operated by:Delfont Mackintosh Theatres

Architects:Edward Albert Stone

London Casino Old Compton Street Map

Functions:Live Theatre

Styles:Art Deco, Italian Renaissance

Previous Names: London Casino, Casino Theatre, Casino-Cinerama Theatre, Casino Cinema

Phone Numbers: Box Office: 440844.482.5151

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News About This Theater

• Jun 23, 2012 — REMEMBERING CINERAMA (Part 54: Omaha)

Located in London’s West End in the centre of the Soho district. Opened on April 3, 1930 as the Prince Edward Theatre with the musical comedy “Rio Rita”. Seating was provided for 1,800 in orchestra stalls, dress circle and balcony levels and stage boxes. Designed by noted cinema architect Edward A. Stone, with the exterior in red and yellow brick in the style of an Italian palace. The Art Deco style interior decorations were by Marc-Henri Levy and Gaston Laverdet. Although built as a live theatre, it was equipped for film presentations from the start, and screened its first film “Song O' My Heart” starring John McCormack in May 1930. During the early-1930’s it was often used during the day for film trade shows.

The Prince Edward Theatre was closed in 1935, when new owners took over and converted it into cabaret/restaurant known as the London Casino. The owners also operated the French Casino in New York and the Casino in Miami, Florida. Conversion entailed the construction of stairways from the orchestra stalls to the dress circle, and a semi-circular dance floor on the stage. The London Casino opened on 2nd April 1936 with “Folies Parisiennes”, and the shows were interchanged with New York and Miami. The French Casino in New York went bankrupt, but the London Casino was quite successful, and continued until 1940, when the German blitz on London caused it to close.

In July 1942, it was converted into the Queensbury All Services Club, used to entertain the troops. This continued until the end of World War II in 1945. The London Casino re-opened was re-converted back to a live theatre re-named Casino Theatre, opening on 14th October 1946 with “Pick-Up-Girl”, and was now under the control of Tom Arnold and Emile Littler. A revival of “The Dancing Years” was staged in March 1947, and this was followed by seasons of variety with international stars topping the bill, ballet seasons and annual pantomimes also features in the programming. In 1949 Robert Nesbitt’s “Latin Quarter” revue was staged and this ran for several years. In 1953 Cicely Courtneidge starred in the Vivian Ellis revue “Over the Moon”, which was followed by the holiday-camp musical “Wish You Were Here”.

In 1954, the London Casino was altered by architects Frank Baessler and TPH & E Braddock to house London’s first Cinerama cinema with a massive 64-foot-wide curved screen and three projection boxes built in the orchestra stalls. “This Is Cinerama” opened on 1st October 1954 at the Casino-Cinerama Theatre. This was followed by other films made in the Cinerama process “Cinerama Holiday”, “Seven Wonders of the World”, “Search for Paradise”, “South Seas Adventure, 'The Best of Cinerama”, “How the West was Won” and “The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grim”. On 17th December 1965 a simultaneous European Premiere of “Battle of the Bulge” was held here and at the Theatre Royal Cinerama in Manchester. The Royal World Premiere of “Khartoum” was held on 9th June 1966. A World Premiere of “Custer of the West” was held on November 9th 1967. On 3rd February 1972 the re-release of “Zulu” starring Stanley Baker was presented in 70mm. On 18th October 1973 “This Is Cinerama” returned to theatre - “to be experienced by a new generation”. The Cinerama screen was eventually removed in 1974, with a more conventional screen replacing it until 8th April 1978 when it closed as the Casino Cinema with a double-bill of Diana Ross films “Lady Sings the Blues” and “Mahogany”.

On return to live shows in June 1978, it reverted back to its original name, Prince Edward Theatre, opening with the world premiere production of “Evita”. The musical ran for over eight successful years.

A further major alteration and renovations by the architectural firm RHWL in 1993, has modernized the auditorium and made it more attractive than at any time in its history.

It is now a major theatre in London’s West End and has played long runs of “Chess”, “Anything Goes”, “Crazy for You”, “Show Boat”, “West Side Story”, “Martin Guerre”, “Miss Saigon”. “Mama Mia”, “Aladdin”, “Mary Poppins” and “Jersey Boys”.