Novello Theatre

The Novello Theatre is a theatre built in 1905 by W.G.R. Sprague. It features a Portland stone facade and a concealed roof, showcasing a lively Free Classicism style with influences from the Beaux Arts. The theatre is part of the Aldwych-Kingsway development and was designed as a reverse pair to the Aldwych Theatre, creating a symmetrical composition alongside the Waldorf Hotel.

The building has four storeys plus an attic. The elevations facing Catherine Street and Aldwych are identical, each three windows wide, and are connected by a two-window wide corner entrance pavilion that is slightly bowed. The ground and first floors are treated as a rusticated podium, with the entrance located at the corner under a canopy that extends to both fronts. The first floor features arcaded windows, and above it, a giant engaged Ionic order wraps around the second and third floors, with the second floor windows designed as steep pedimented Venetian windows. The tall attic storey is adorned with applied pediments, an attic cornice, and a blocking course topped with ball finials. The design includes a generous amount of high and low relief statuary groups, swags, and pendants. The facade on Catherine Street continues as a lower, giant pilastered wing.

Inside, the theatre has a semi-elliptical vestibule and an elegant foyer with marble dressings, including a Corinthian pilaster order. There is a marble staircase with wrought iron and brass balustrades, and the ceilings are compartmented in a 17th-century style. The dress circle bar is designed in an elliptical "Dixhuitieme" style. The auditorium is notable for its three cantilevered balconies, a domed frescoed ceiling, and high-quality stucco decoration in the "Dixhuitieme" taste, especially the tiers of boxes that are topped with groups of putti.