The Piccadilly Theatre

Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A. Stone for Edward Laurillard, its simple facade conceals a grandiose Art Deco interior designed by Marc-Henri Levy and Gaston Laverdet, with a 1232-seat auditorium decorated in shades of pink. Gold and green are the dominant colours in the bars and foyer, which retains the original light fittings. The opening production on 27th April 1928, was Jerome Kern's musical Blue Eyes, starred Evelyn Laye, one of the most acclaimed actresses of the period.

In its early days, the Piccadilly operated as a cinema and premièred the first talking picture to be shown in Great Britain, The Singing Fool with Al Jolson. After a conversion into a cabaret restaurant, the theatre reopened in April 1936 as The London Casino - noted for its lavish stage shows. The building was bombed during World War II. After renovations in the early 1950s, it returned to its original name and became a venue for plays, revues, and musicals.

In the 1960s and 1970s, it improved its reputation with a series of successful transfers from Broadway – Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and A Streetcar Named Desire made their London debuts here. The 1990s witnessed an expansion in ballet and dance, notably the most successful commercial ballet season ever to play in the West End, with Matthew Bourne's acclaimed production of Swan Lake.

In 1986, the venue was the setting for ITV's popular Sunday evening variety show, Live From the Piccadilly, hosted by Jimmy Tarbuck.

The Piccadilly has played host to such renowned stars as Henry Fonda, Ian McKellen, Judi Dench, Michael Pennington, Barbara Dickson, Lynn Redgrave, Julia McKenzie, Eric Sykes, and Dame Edna.