London - Leicester Square & Empire Theatre - Stengel postcard 1904 pmk to Paris

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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The Empire, Leicester Square is a cinema currently operated by Cineworld^[1] on the north side of Leicester Square, London.

The Empire was originally built in 1884 as a variety theatre and was rebuilt for films in the 1920s. It is one of several cinemas in and adjoining Leicester Square which are regularly used for film premières and first runs.

Today, it has 9 modern auditoria, including an IMAX (IMAX with Laser projection), a Superscreen^[2](Dolby Atmos), and a 4DX screen.

The Empire Theatre opened on 17 April 1884 under the ownership of Daniel Nicols as a West End variety theatre on Leicester Square, as well as a ballet venue, with a capacity of about 2,000 seats.

The first performance was Chilpéric, with music by Hervé, adapted by H. Hersee and H.B. Farnie and described as a Grand Musical Spectacular, in three acts and seven tableaux. The corps de ballet for the performance was 50 strong.^[3] Edward Solomon and Sydney Grundy premièred their comic opera, Pocahontas or The Great White Pearl, another Solomon opera, Polly or The Pet of the Regiment transferred here, and his Billee Taylor was revived here, all in 1884. Kate Vaughan starred in Around the World in 80 Days at the theatre in 1886. Hervé premièred his Diana (1888) and Cleopatra (1889) at the theatre.

In 1887, the theatre reopened as a popular music hall named the Empire Theatre of Varieties. From 1887 to 1915, the designer C. Wilhelm created both scenery and costumes for (and sometimes produced) numerous ballets at the theatre, which established a fashion for stage design and were much imitated.^[4] George Edwardesmanaged the theatre around the start of the 20th century. The dancer Adeline Genée and the theatre's ballet company, working under composer-director Leopold Wenzel, did much to revive the moribund art of ballet in Britain, which had declined in the 19th century.^[5]

An extension providing secondary access from Leicester Street via a new foyer was added in 1893, with Frank Verity as the architect.^[6]

In March 1896, the Empire Theatre played host to the first commercial theatrical performances of a projected film to a UK audience by Auguste and Louis Lumière.^[7] The film programme ran for 18 months. Over the next few years, the theatre began to offer a programme of live performances with short film shows.