Dominion Theatre
The Dominion Theatre is a West End theatre and former cinema on Tottenham Court Road, close to St Giles Circus and Centre Point, in the London Borough of Camden. Planned as primarily a musical theatre, it opened in 1929, but the following year became a cinema—it hosted the London premiere of Charlie Chaplin's City Lights with Chaplin in attendance—and in 1933 after liquidation of the controlling company was sold to Gaumont cinema chain, which later became part of the Rank Organisation. It was a major premiere cinema until the 1970s, when it began to host live concerts.
Address
268–269 Tottenham Court Road
London,
United Kingdom
2,163 on 2 levels
2,074 (for WWRY)
3 October 1929
W & TR Milburn
In January 1981 it once more became primarily a live performance venue, and has since hosted many musicals, notably We Will Rock You which ran from 2002 to 2014. It also hosted the Royal Variety Performance seven times in the 1990s and early 2000s. It became a listed building in 1988 and after being saved from redevelopment, was sold to Apollo Leisure Group and subsequently to the Nederlander Organization. In the 21st century it has been extensively refurbished and renovated, including reclaiming spaces that had been turned into offices.
On Sundays Hillsong Church London holds services in the theatre.
Building[edit]
Construction of the Dominion Theatre began in March 1928 with a design by W and TR Milburn and a budget of £460,000. The site was the location of the 1911 Court Cinema and the former Horse Shoe Brewery, which was the site of the 1814 London Beer Flood. The first performance was on 3 October 1929.[1] The theatre is Renaissance revival in style;[2] the Tottenham Court Road façade features a ground level entry sheltered by a broad marquee with the second through fourth levels framed by large pilasters. The central portion is concave and faced with Portland stone.[3] A three-bay bow window extends the height of the second and third storeys and is surmounted by a sculpture of two gryphons, behind which are three square openings with decorative iron grates.
The theatre was intended primarily for musical comedies and secondarily as a cinema.[1] It originally had a seating capacity of 2,835: 1,340 in the stalls, 818 in the dress circle and 677 in the balcony (upper circle).[4] The balcony was closed in the 1950s; as of 2021, capacity is 2,069 in two tiers of galleries. The theatre retains its 1920s light fittings and art deco plasterwork.[5] A café was originally above the entrance.[2]
Hillsong Church London[edit]
Since January 2005, Hillsong Church London have held their Sunday services at the Dominion Theatre.[4][28]