Gillian Lynne Theatre  

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Although this site has been an entertainment venue since at least the mid-19th century, the Gillian Lynne Theatre only opened its doors in 1973, making it one of the West End's newest theatres. Formerly known as the New London Theatre, it was renamed after the legendary choreographer in 2018 when it became the first West End venue to be named after a woman. The building is sleek and impressive, with a stunning mirrored facade. The amphitheatre was designed along the hyper-modern lines of post-war continental theatres. Stage, seats, lights, even the walls, can all be made to change their position. This allows directors to choose between conventional and in the round productions, as well as any number of different sizes and shapes for their stages. In practice, this wealth of choice rather bamboozled directors and it was nearly a decade before this revolutionary space had a major hit. When that hit arrived, however, it was to be the longest-running musical London has ever seen. Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats ran from 1981-2002 - an incredible 3,385 performances. The spectacular junkyard set, with aisles running through the audience, was only made possible by this uniquely versatile theatre.

Alternate names and popular misspellings for Gillian Lynne Theatre