"him on ""Close Every Door To Me"". Really Useful Records released the double-A side single to raise funds for the BBC's annual Children in Need charity appeal. LW Theatres owns and manages six West End theatres: The group also includes the Off West End venue The Other Palace, formerly known as the St. James Theatre. Lloyd Webber purchased the Palace Theatre in 1983, followed by the Gillian Lynne and the Adelphi. In 1999, Lloyd Webber and NatWest Equity Partners bought the Stoll Moss group, owners of 10 London theatres, including the London Palladium and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, for"
"from Broadway. The theatre has been owned since 1991 by Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group. The theatre building also contains an underground car park, a cabaret venue, a basement nightclub, shops and a residential tower. In 2014, Lloyd Webber reorganized the group; the entity that owns the theatre is Really Useful Theatres. Gillian Lynne Theatre The Gillian Lynne Theatre (formerly New London Theatre) is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden. The Winter Garden Theatre formerly occupied the site until 1965. On 14 March"
"production director of Really Useful Theatres. Lloyd Webber invested £10m of the proceeds from the sales in October 2005 to buy out his ownership partners Bridgepoint (formerly NatWest Equity Partners), and the group was renamed ""Really Useful Theatres Group"". The Palace was sold to Nimax in 2012. In 2014, the group split into two companies, and the owner of the theatres was named ""Really Useful Theatres"". In 2018, Really Useful Theatres changed their name to ""LW Theatres"" to avoid confusion with the other companies owned by Lloyd Webber. Really Useful Magazines Ltd was formed to distribute ""Theatregoer"" magazine, a monthly"
"""Cox and Box"" and ""Thespis"". In 1993, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group purchased the theatre and completely refurbished it prior to the opening of his adaptation of ""Sunset Boulevard"". The 1998 video of Lloyd Webber's musical ""Cats"" was filmed at the theatre. In November 1997, the London production of the popular American musical ""Chicago"" premiered at the Adelphi, becoming the venue's longest-ever production during its eight-and-a-half-year run (which also made it the longest running American musical in West End history). In April 2006, ""Chicago"" transferred to the Cambridge Theatre (and later to the Garrick Theatre, where it closed in"
"the theatre on 7 June 2016, Both parts opened officially on 30 July. Advance sales have been strong. The theatre was Grade II* listed by English Heritage in June 1960. It is one of the 40 theatres featured in the 2012 DVD documentary series ""Great West End Theatres"", presented by Donald Sinden. In April 2012, Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group sold the building to Nimax Theatres (Nica Burns and Max Weitzenhoffer). Nimax purchased the Apollo, Duchess, Garrick and Lyric Theatres from Really Useful in 2005. In the 1977 Doctor Who serial ""The Talons of Weng-Chiang"", the villain Li H'sen Chang"
"1932, with a private foyer and anteroom installed to the Royal Box. Prince Littler took control of the theatre in 1944. Stoll Moss Group purchased the theatre in 1975, selling it to Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group and Bridgepoint Capital in 2000. Nica Burns and Max Weitzenhoffer purchased the theatre and several others in 2005, creating Nimax Theatres, which still owns the theatre. On 19 December 2013, at about 20:15 GMT, of the auditorium's ornate plasterwork ceiling collapsed around 40 minutes into a performance of ""The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time"". It brought down a lighting"
"or comedy-dramas. More recent productions are listed below and include ""No Sex Please, We're British"" (1982), which played for four years at the theatre before transferring to the Duchess Theatre in 1986. In 1995, the Royal National Theatre's multi-award-winning production of J. B. Priestley's ""An Inspector Calls"" opened here, having played successful seasons at the Royal National Theatre's Lyttelton and Olivier theatres as well as the Aldwych Theatre and a season on Broadway. In 1986, the Garrick was acquired by the Stoll Moss Group, and in 2000 it became a ""Really Useful Theatre"" when Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group"
"Company and lease the Old Vic theatre. The Company remained at the Old Vic until 1976, when the new South Bank building was opened. A National Theatre of Scotland was set up in 2006. Today the West End of London has many theatres, particularly centred on Shaftesbury Avenue. A prolific composer of musical theatre in the 20th century, Andrew Lloyd Webber has been referred to as ""the most commercially successful composer in history"". His musicals, which include ""The Phantom of the Opera"", ""Cats"", ""Jesus Christ Superstar"" and ""Evita"", have dominated the West End for a number of years and have"
"by the H.L.M. and C. G. Twelves partnership. In 2014, Really Useful Theatres split-off from the Really Useful Group and owns the theatre. Her Majesty's Theatre Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre. In the early decades of the 20th century, Tree produced spectacular productions of Shakespeare and other classical works, and the theatre hosted premieres by major playwrights such"
"""Song and Dance"" played from 1982 to 1984. In 1983, Andrew Lloyd Webber purchased the theatre for £1.3 million and began a series of renovations to the auditorium, including uncovering the famous marble and onyx panels lurking below a layer of paint. He restored the theatre's facade, later commenting: ""I removed the huge neon sign that defaced the glorious terracotta exterior, much to the chagrin of West End producers who told me I had removed the greatest theatre advertising sight in London."" After ""Les Misérables"" left the theatre in 2004, Lloyd Webber refurbished and restored the auditorium and front of"
"Really Useful Group The Really Useful Group Ltd. (RUG) is an international company set up in 1977 by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is involved in theatre, film, television, video and concert productions, merchandising, magazine publishing, records and music publishing. The name is inspired by a phrase from the children's book series ""The Railway Series"" in which Thomas the Tank Engine and other locomotives are referred to as ""Really Useful Engines"". The company was set up in 1977 when Lloyd Webber, frustrated with the terms of his contract with the impresario Robert Stigwood, decided to take greater control over the management"
"travelling across the lake as if floating on a sea of mist and fire"", in a key scene from the musical. On 5 May 2008, for the first time in the run, the show closed for three days. This allowed the installation of an improved sound system at the theatre, consisting of over of cabling and the siting of 120 auditorium speakers. The theatre's capacity is 1,216 seats on four levels. Really Useful Theatres Group purchased it in January 2000 with nine other London theatres formerly owned by the Stoll-Moss Group. Between 1990 and 1993, renovation and improvements were made"
"The Other Palace The Other Palace is a theatre in London's West End which opened on 18 September 2012 as the St. James Theatre. It features a 312-seat main theatre and a 120-seat studio theatre. It was built on the site of the former Westminster Theatre, which was damaged by a fire in 2002 and subsequently demolished. It was acquired by Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Theatres Group in 2016, and given its new name. Described as ""the first newly built theatre complex in central London for 30 years"", the building was designed by Foster Wilson Architects. The theatre began"
"in Oxford – and so Apollo Leisure had lift off, and gradually over the following years Apollo became the biggest theatre owners/management team in the United Kingdom. Gregg built his empire by taking over struggling venues and turning them round. The Liverpool Empire Theatre, which was losing £750,000 a year under the Derek Hatton led council, was leased to become a home to big musicals. Gregg also reopened the Lyceum in London in the 1990s at a cost of £14 million, after the theatre had been closed for 10 years. Andrew Lloyd Webber's revival of ""Jesus Christ Superstar"" ran for"
"took over operational control of the Gielgud from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Theatres in 2006. Work on the facade of the theatre started in March 2007 and the interior restoration, including reinstating the boxes at the back of the dress circle, was completed in January 2008. The theatre is one of the 40 theatres featured in the 2012 DVD documentary series ""Great West End Theatres"", presented by Donald Sinden. Gielgud Theatre The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, London, at the corner of Rupert Street. The house currently has"
"– the money would, instead, go to Children in Need. Viewers of a BBC One television show, ""Any Dream Will Do!"" had voted 25-year-old West End ensemble player and understudy Lee Mead to take role of Joseph in the production. Children in Need had benefited by more than £500,000 in income from viewers' voting on premium-rate telephone lines, host Graham Norton said during the contest's 9 June 2007 final. Really Useful Group The Really Useful Group Ltd. (RUG) is an international company set up in 1977 by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is involved in theatre, film, television, video and concert"
"part of their Granada Studios Tour attraction, where visitors could see mock debates being performed on the set by actors. The set was also often used by other television productions wanting to set scenes in the Commons chamber, and in 2002 was purchased by the scriptwriter Paul Abbott so that it could be used in his BBC drama serial ""State of Play"". Abbott, himself a former Granada Television staff writer, bought it personally as the set would otherwise have been destroyed and he feared it would take too long to get the necessary money from the BBC. He currently keeps"
"in 1714 on the accession of George I. It was renamed Her Majesty's Theatre in 1837. Most recently, the theatre was known as His Majesty's Theatre from 1901 to 1952, and it became Her Majesty's on the accession of Elizabeth II. The theatre's capacity is 1,216 seats, and the building was Grade II* listed by English Heritage in 1970. LW Theatres has owned the building since 2000. The land beneath it is on a long-term lease from the Crown Estate. The end of the 17th century was a period of intense rivalry amongst London's actors, and in 1695 there was"
"terminated Hall's contract – again to much negative comment in the press – and put the Old Vic up for sale. In 1998, the building was bought by a new charitable trust, the ""Old Vic Theatre Trust 2000"". In 2000, the production company Criterion Productions was renamed ""Old Vic Productions plc"", though relatively few of its productions are at the Old Vic theatre. In 2003, actor Kevin Spacey was appointed as new artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre Company. Spacey said he wanted to inject new life into the British theatre industry, and bring British and American theatrical talent"
"of all the composer's works. The Really Useful Theatre Company produces and manages plays and musicals, mainly, but not limited to those written by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is also responsible for licensing its productions worldwide. In the 1990s, RUT mainly produced shows on its own, but more recently has again developed partnerships with other producers and production companies, notably Bill Kenwright, to produce its works, as it had done in the 1980s with Cameron Mackintosh. Among its productions and co-productions are: Really Useful Films is responsible for the production of film versions of Andrew Lloyd Webber's catalogue. Until recently,"
"in London. Producers in several parts of the UK have staged productions, including national tours, of the Lloyd Webber musicals under licence from the Really Useful Group. Lloyd Webber is also the president of the Arts Educational Schools London, a performing arts school located in Chiswick, West London. He is involved in a number of charitable activities, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Nordoff Robbins, Prostate Cancer UK and War Child. In 1992 he set up the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation which supports the arts, culture and heritage in the UK. Andrew Lloyd Webber was born in Kensington, London, the"
"The Old Vic The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, not-for-profit producing theatre, located just south-east of Waterloo station on the corner of the Cut and Waterloo Road in Lambeth, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre, in 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal Victoria Palace. It was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 and formally named the Royal Victoria Hall, although by that time it was already known as the ""Old Vic"". In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian Baylis, assumed management and began a"
"the backs of seats, enabling patrons to rent them for 6d (2p in today's money). Since the formation of the company, around 11 million patrons have used its opera glasses to view theatre productions such as Noël Coward's comic play ""Hay Fever"" in 1925 and ""The Phantom of the Opera"" musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber. In 2009, two major London theatres, the Comedy Theatre and the Savoy Theatre, installed £1 opera glasses from the company throughout their auditoriums. , around 1.8 million people have used the company's opera glasses at the Lyceum Theatre during performances of the ""Lion King"" since"
"£85m from Australian businesswoman Janet Holmes à Court, and formed Really Useful Theatres. In 2004, operational control of the Queen's Theatre reverted from Really Useful Theatres back to Cameron Mackintosh's Delfont Mackintosh Theatres. The transfer of operational control of the adjoining Gielgud Theatre from Really Useful Theatres to Delfont Mackintosh Theatres followed two years later. On 11 July 2005, the company sold four theatres (the Apollo, the Duchess, the Lyric, and the Garrick) to Nimax Theatres Ltd, a company owned by Broadway producer Max Weitzenhoffer, who previously had been a rival bidder for the Stoll Moss theatres, and Nica Burns,"
"Judi Dench, cast in the role of Grizabella, snapped her Achilles tendon during rehearsals prior to the London opening. She was replaced by Elaine Paige. The musical was produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group, directed by Trevor Nunn, with associate director and choreographer Gillian Lynne, design by John Napier, and lighting by David Hersey. The conductor was Harry Rabinowicz. It played a total of 8,949 performances in London. Its final performance in London's West End was on its 21st birthday, 11 May 2002, and broadcast on a large screen in Covent Garden to the delight of"
"started workshopping the project and finalising the plot and songs to be used. The musical, ""Closer to Heaven"", opened at the Arts Theatre in London, in 2001, with financial backing from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group. Reviews were mixed and although the run was initially extended, it closed earlier than expected, due to poor ticket sales, in October 2001. Around the time of the London closure, Tennant said that they were in talks to take the musical to various locations in Europe (particularly Germany, which is a big market for Pet Shop Boys) and to take it to New"
"these had consisted of lower budget straight-to-video versions of the shows (notably ""Cats"", ""Jesus Christ Superstar"" and ""Joseph""), but 2004 saw Really Useful Films complete the major motion picture ""The Phantom of the Opera"", directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum, which was nominated for three Academy Awards and three Golden Globes. The film was a commercial success. It has also released DVD and video versions of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 50th birthday concert at the Royal Albert Hall, the 2001 ""Masterpiece – Andrew Lloyd Webber in China"" concert, and a musical version of the Gruffalo, with"
"the theatre suitable for large-scale musical productions, and the theatre has specialised in hosting musicals. The theatre has been home to record-setting musical theatre runs, notably the First World War sensation ""Chu Chin Chow"" and the current production, Andrew Lloyd Webber's ""The Phantom of the Opera"", which has played continuously at Her Majesty's since 1986. The theatre was established by architect and playwright John Vanbrugh, in 1705, as the Queen's Theatre. Legitimate drama unaccompanied by music was prohibited by law in all but the two London patent theatres, and so this theatre quickly became an opera house. Between 1711 and"
"2017-18 season 2018-19 season The Old Vic The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, not-for-profit producing theatre, located just south-east of Waterloo station on the corner of the Cut and Waterloo Road in Lambeth, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre, in 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal Victoria Palace. It was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 and formally named the Royal Victoria Hall, although by that time it was already known as the ""Old Vic"". In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian Baylis, assumed"
"Manchester, the critical praise of Guardian reviewer Robin Thornber led to the Bush Theatre taking an interest and staging the production. In April 1983 the Hull Truck Company made the Spring Street Theatre its home. Originally converted from St Stephen's church hall (the church itself had been bombed in the Second World War), this tiny 150-seat theatre space was known as The Hull Arts centre where Hull playwright Alan Plater co-founded the Humberside Theatre in 1970. The theatre had closed in 1981. From 1983 it was known as the Hull Truck Theatre. John Godber became artistic director in 1984 although"
"set scenes in the Commons chamber, such as ""The New Statesman"", and in 2002 was purchased by the scriptwriter Paul Abbott so that it could be used in his BBC drama serial ""State of Play"". Abbott, himself a former Granada Television staff writer, bought it personally as the set would otherwise have been destroyed and he feared it would take too long to get the necessary money from the BBC. Abbott kept the set in storage in Oxford. Visitors could also enjoy a drink in a replica of the Rovers Return, the pub in ""Coronation Street"". In the adjacent cafeteria,"
"location of a branch of Boots and Bella Italia. Theatre Royal, Birmingham The Theatre Royal, originally the New Theatre, was a 2000-seat theatre located on New Street in Birmingham, England. It was erected in 1774 and demolished in 1956. The theatre was damaged by fire in 1792 and again in 1820, after which it was rebuilt. In 1897, W. S. Gilbert's ""The Fortune Hunter"" premiered at the theatre. The theatre was rebuilt again in 1902, designed by Ernest Runtz, reopening in 1904 with 2200 seats. This building lasted until 1956 when it was closed and demolished. The Woolworth Building was"
"uses water to operate its iron curtain. Water was originally pumped from the river Thames to West End theatres and hotels and used to hydraulically operate heavy machinery like lifts. Hydraulic pressure is now provided by electric pump, but it can also be operated manually by two people. The Lyric Theatre has been owned by Nimax Theatres since 2005 when Nica Burns and Max Weitzenhoffer purchased it from the Really Useful Group (establishing the new Nimax group with the Apollo Theatre, Garrick Theatre and Duchess Theatre). Lyric Theatre, London The Lyric Theatre is a West End theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue"