The Prince of Wales Theatre is a former theatre in central Cardiff. Built in 1878, seating 2,800, it later became a sex cinema. It is now a pub. [1] [2] [3]
The building is located near Cardiff Central railway station, near the corner of St Mary Street and Wood Street, with entrances and façades on both streets.
The theatre was built in 1878 to a Venetian Gothic design by the architects W. D. Blessley and T. Waring, [4] during a period when Cardiff, then a prosperous coal-exporting port, was rapidly expanding. The building was a prompt replacement of Cardiff's old Theatre Royal in Queen Street (built 1827, which had burnt down in December) doubling the audience capacity to almost 2000, and was opened on 7 October 1878. [5] [6] [7] The main stage was 56 feet wide and 46 feet deep, framed by a proscenium arch 30 feet high, topped with the royal coat of arms. Interior decoration was in gold and white and the building was illuminated after dark using 800 gas lamps. [6]
The theatre was later rebuilt in the Greek Revival style to a design by Willmott & Smith. An additional entrance on St Mary Street was added with two large fluted Doric columns flanking a neoclassical statue of a young woman holding a cup. The interior of the theatre was remodelled in 1920 in the same Greek style. The proscenium arch is flanked by massive Ionic columns carrying a large triangular pediment with an elaborate Grecian bas-relief frieze above. [1]
In 1988 the interior was divided into multiple spaces for a variety of uses, including an amusement arcade and a pub. This largely obscured the original interior. The interior was again altered in 1999, converting the entire space into a pub and partly restoring the 1920 interior. [1]
The building was designated a Grade II listed building in 1960. [8]
From 1881, the theatre was managed by Edward John Fletcher (1837-1896). [9]
In 1970 the Welsh Theatre Company was planning to move to the theatre, but this was abandoned. [3]
The opening production in 1878 was Pygmalion and Galatea by W. S. Gilbert.
The Welsh National Opera company's opening performance was at the theatre in 1946, when Cavalleria rusticana was performed. The Welsh tenor Robert Tear, then a schoolboy, started his career in this performance. [10]
Several stars appeared in person at the theatre, including:
Binkie Beaumont (1908–1973) was appointed assistant manager of the theatre at the age of 16. This led to his career as a producer in London's West End. [11]
51°28′39″N3°10′40″W / 51.47750°N 3.17790°W
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Hugh "Binkie" Beaumont was a British theatre manager and producer, sometimes referred to as the "éminence grise" of the West End theatre. Though he shunned the spotlight so that his name was not known widely among the general public, he was one of the most successful and influential manager-producers in the West End during the middle of the 20th century.
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John Stanley Coombe Beard FRIBA, known professionally as J. Stanley Beard, was an English architect known for designing many cinemas in and around London.
St Mary's Church was an Anglican church in Cardiff, Wales, which stood at the south end of the current St. Mary's Street, from 1107 until 1620. After severe flood damage it was abandoned in 1701 and later replaced at a different location in 1843.
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