The Vaudeville Theatre

The Vaudeville Theatre is a theatre built between 1869 and 1870 by C. J. Phipps, with the front and foyer block rebuilt by Phipps in 1890. The auditorium was gutted and redesigned in 1925-26 by Robert Atkinson for the Gatti Brothers. The theatre features a Portland stone front and a slate roof, showcasing an eclectic classical design influenced by Phipps' Shaftesbury Theatre. It has four storeys and is five windows wide. The ground floor has arcaded grouped doorways, which have mid-20th century alterations, beneath a canopy from 1927. The first floor features a pilastered arcaded loggia, which is glazed in with sashes added around 1980, rising from a pseudo-pedestal pierced by balustrades. The second and third floors have windows in moulded architraves, with three central second-floor windows topped by panels with small pediments. A crowning dentil cornice and blocking course are flanked by urn finialed dies. The foyer retains Phipps' 1890 design with stucco walls articulated by pilasters. The auditorium has a fan-shaped panelled ceiling from Phipps' original decoration and the cornice from his 1890 redecoration, but the rest of the auditorium dates from Atkinson's remodelling and is oblong, with seats arranged almost parallel to the stage, decorated in the neo-Adam style. For Atkinson's dressing room, stage, and administrative block, see Nos 9 and 10 Maiden Lane.