Royalty / Lyric Theatre
Opened in 1879, the exterior of
the building was by James Thomson, and housed offices, shops and a
hotel. Inside, there was a 2,000 seat theatre designed by Frank
Matcham, who would later design the Empire across the road. In 1884,
ownership passed to the ubiquitous Howard and Wyndham, then by the
First World War, it was sold again to the Scottish Playgoers Company,
who renamed it the Lyric, and used it for rep. The whole building
passed to the YMCA in 1914, with the hotel used to house soldiers, and
the theatre became a cinema for them, returning to amateur dramatics
after the war. Full-time theatre use did not return until 1936, and
despite a pause for WWII, it continued in use as a theatre and lecture
hall until 1953, when a fire on stage demonstrated the importance of
putting the safety curtain down - it wasn't, and the auditorium was
gutted. Surprisingly, the theatre was rebuilt, but the costs were huge,
and the building was sold in 1959, eventually being demolished for St.
Andrew's House.
