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| Address | South King Street Dublin Ireland |
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| Coordinates | 53°20′25″N6°15′42″W / 53.340312°N 6.261601°W |
| Capacity | 1,145 (on three levels) [1] |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 27 November 1871 |
| Architect | Charles J. Phipps |
| Website | |
| GaietyTheatre.ie | |
The Gaiety Theatre is a theatre on South King Street in Dublin, Ireland, off Grafton Street and close to St. Stephen's Green. It specialises in operatic and musical productions, with occasional dramatic shows.
In April 1871, the brothers John and Michael Gunn obtained a 21-year licence to establish "a well-regulated theatre and therein at all times publicly to act, represent or perform any interlude, tragedy, comedy, prelude, opera, burletta, play, farce or pantomime". In favour of the Gunn's licence application was that, unlike the existing theatres, they were not proposing to promote local drama which had acquired something of a reputation with the Dublin Castle administration for stirring up nationalist sentiments. [2]
The city centre site in King Street was 17 metres wide on King Street and 42 metres deep towards Tangier Lane. [3] The Gunns employed the experienced theatre architect Mr C.J. Phipps, [4] One of the theatres Philips had recently completed in 1868 in London was The Gaiety and its name and auditorium layout were adopted for the new theatre in Dublin. [5] The audience capacity was 2000 spread over four floors: the 'parterre' or ground floor pit with 21 rows of seats; the dress circle and upper circle comprising: balcony stalls with 7 rows of seats, the first circle with 6 rows of seats, the amphitheater with 2 rows of seats; and the top floor gallery with 9 rows of seats; [3] plus 14 private boxes. [5] Each class of seats was accessed via its own entrance and stairway. There was a smoking balcony, bars on each floor and a tea-room. The design included tip-up seats (an innovative way of increasing the audience capacity) and fire-safety features such as a 4” water main (for firefighting) and stone (not wooden) staircases. [5] Back stage: the theatre was radically different from others in Ireland. From the outset the Gunns decided that their new theatre would be a ‘receiving house’: that is, it would receive touring companies and would not have its own company of actors or a repertory programme: [6] As a receiving house, there was no need for extensive rehearsal spaces, workshops or storage areas.
The theatre was built for £26,000, [4] and construction was completed in just 28 weeks. [7] The Gaiety was opened on 27 November 1871, [8] with the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland as guest of honour for a double bill which included the comedy She Stoops to Conquer and a burlesque version of La Belle Sauvage . [8]
The Gaiety was extended by theatre architect Frank Matcham in 1883, [9] and, despite several improvements to public spaces and stage changes, it retains several Victorian era features and remains Dublin's longest-established, continuously producing theatre. [10]
Patrick Wall and Louis Elliman bought the theatre in 1936 and ran it for several decades with local actors and actresses. They sold it in 1965, and in the 1960s and the 1970s the theatre was run by Fred O'Donovan and the Eamonn Andrews Studios, until - in the 1980s - Joe Dowling (former artistic director of the Abbey Theatre) became director of the Gaiety. [10] In the 1990s, Groundwork Productions took on the lease and the theatre was eventually bought by the Break for the Border Group. The Gaiety was purchased by music promoters MCD (in turn owned by Denis Desmond and his wife Caroline) in the late 1990s. [11] [12] The new owners undertook a refit of the theatre, [8] with the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism contributing to the restoration fund.[ citation needed ]
Performers and playwrights associated with the theatre have been celebrated with hand-prints cast in bronze and set in the pavement beneath the theatre canopy. [13] These handprints include those of Luciano Pavarotti, Brendan Grace, Maureen Potter, Twink, John B Keane, Anna Manahan, Niall Toibin and Brian Friel. [8]
The theatre played host to the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest, the first to be staged in Ireland, during the Gaiety's centenary year. [14] Clodagh Rodgers (a contestant in that particular contest) later presented her RTÉ TV series The Clodagh Rodgers Show from the theatre in the late 1970s.
The Gaiety is known for its annual Christmas pantomime and has hosted a pantomime every year since 1874, [15] though no production was possible in 2020 due to the COVID-19 crisis, with the scheduled panto, The Little Mermaid postponed until 2021. [16] Actor and director Alan Stanford directed both Gaiety productions of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty . Irish entertainer June Rodgers starred in the Gaiety pantomime for years, until she began to headline the equally established Olympia Theatre panto. The Gaiety's pantomimes have included Irish performers that appeal to homegrown audiences, including a number of Fair City actors.[ citation needed ]
The Eurovision Song Contest 1971 was the 16th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the 1970 contest with the song "All Kinds of Everything" by Dana. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), the contest was held at the Gaiety Theatre on 3 April 1971, and was hosted by Irish television presenter Bernadette Ní Ghallchóir.
Maria Philomena Potter, known as Maureen Potter, was an Irish singer, actress, comedienne and performer.
Over the centuries, there have been five theatres in Dublin called the Theatre Royal.
The Theatre Royal is a historic theatre, a Grade I listed building situated on Grey Street in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Francis Matcham was an English architect who specialised in the design of theatres and music halls. He worked extensively in London, predominantly under Moss Empires, for whom he designed the Hippodrome in 1900, Hackney Empire (1901), Coliseum (1903) and Palladium (1910). His last major commission before retirement was the Victoria Palace (1911) for the variety magnate Alfred Butt. During his 40-year career, Matcham was responsible for the design and construction of over 90 theatres and the redesign and refurbishment of a further 80 throughout the United Kingdom.
Niall Tóibín was an Irish comedian and actor. Born in Cork into an Irish speaking family, Tóibín grew up on the north-side of the city in Bishop's Field.
Buttons is a traditional character in Cinderella pantomimes, and is commonly portrayed in Cinderella pantomimes throughout the UK and Australia. He is typically a male servant of the household who helps Cinderella and loves her, and who is liked and trusted but not loved by her. The character has sometimes been called Pedro.
Adèle King is an Irish entertainer better known as Twink. She is the mother of singer Chloë Agnew from the group Celtic Woman.
Charles John Phipps was an English architect known for more than 50 theatres he designed in the latter half of the 19th century, including several important ones in London. He is noted for his design of the Theatre Royal, Exeter, which caught fire in 1887, killing 186 visitors.
The King's Theatre is located in Glasgow, Scotland. It was built for Howard & Wyndham Ltd under its chairman Baillie Michael Simons as a sister theatre of their Theatre Royal in the city and was designed by Frank Matcham, opening in 1904. The theatre is primarily a receiving house for touring musicals, dance, comedy and circus-type performances. The theatre also provides a prominent stage for local amateur productions. The King's Theatre also stages an annual pantomime, produced by First Family Entertainment. The theatre is currently operated by the Ambassador Theatre Group, under a lease from Glasgow City Council who own the building.
MCD Productions is an Irish concert promotion company. Established in 1980, and headquartered in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin.
Keith McErlean is an Irish actor from Carndonagh in Inishowen, County Donegal, in Ireland. His career began when he graduated from the Gaiety School of Acting in 1998. McErlean has appeared in a number of plays for the Abbey Theatre and Peacock Theatre, including Making History, Lovers at Versailles and Tartuffe.
The Olympia Theatre, branded since 2021 for sponsorship purposes as the 3Olympia Theatre, is a concert hall and theatre venue in Dublin, Ireland, located on Dame Street.
Cecil Sheridan was an Irish comedian and actor who performed in variety shows and pantomimes in Ireland and Great Britain during a versatile career spanning over forty years.
Alan Hughes is an Irish television personality, pantomime actor and producer. He works for Virgin Media and appears on Ireland AM. He also hosted Family Fortunes from 2012 to 2014.
Ryan Andrews is an Irish actor from Donaghmede, Dublin. He is best known for his role as Sean Cassidy in the Irish soap opera, Fair City, for which he has starred in since 2008.
The Prince's Theatre was a theatre on Park Row in Bristol in England which was built in 1867 and was destroyed by bombing in 1940 in the Bristol Blitz during World War II. Owned by members of the Chute family for most of its existence, at one time the theatre was the Bristol venue for many of the country's leading touring actors and theatrical companies in addition to being one of the most renowned pantomime houses in the country before briefly becoming a music hall and latterly a cinema. The actors Henry Irving and Ellen Terry made their last appearance together under Irving's management at the Prince's Theatre in The Merchant of Venice in 1902.
Bessie Sudlow was the stage name of Barbara Eliza (Bessie) Johnstone, active in the United States as a burlesque performer from 1867 to 1874, then in Britain as an opera bouffe soprano from 1874 to 1880.
Michael Ralph Thomas Gunn was an Irish businessman and theater manager who built and ran the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin. For several years he was closely involved with Richard D'Oyly Carte, and the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. He invested in some of Carte's ventures and helped manage Carte's theater and touring productions in England while Carte was in the United States.
Stephanie Adrienne McKeon is an Irish actress. She began her career as a teenager in the RTÉ soap opera Fair City (2004–2007). She was nominated for Laurence Olivier and WhatsOnStage Awards for her role as Anna in the West End production of Frozen.
[A] 1,145 seat auditorium including 16 boxes in the Dress Circle and six boxes in the Grand Circle
Denis Desmond (64) and Caroline Downey (56) own MCD, one of the largest music promoters in Ireland [..] Their interests include the Gaiety and Olympia theatres in Dublin
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