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Paris Theatre

BBC offices, studios and buildingsHistory of broadcastingHistory of radioLocal mass media in LondonRecording studios in London
Theatres in LondonUse British English from February 2020

The Paris Theatre (also known as the Paris Studios) was originally a cinema located at 12 Lower Regent Street in central London which was converted into a studio by the BBC for radio broadcasts requiring an audience. It was used for several decades by the BBC as the main venue for comedy programmes broadcast on BBC Radios 2 and 4.The venue had a capacity of under 400 and a stage roughly twelve inches from the floor, giving it an intimate feeling helpful for radio comedy with an audience. Shows recorded there included panel game shows such as I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, comedy such as Hi Gang!, Dad's Army, The Goon Show, Don't Stop Now - It's Fundation and non-audience shows such as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.In addition to comedy, the BBC recorded many of the dramatical broadcasts by Raymond Raikes as well as by musical artists including acts such as T. Rex, David Bowie, AC/DC, Badfinger, the Beatles, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen 1968, Shakin' Stevens, Family, Streetwalkers, Jeff Beck, Deep Purple, Slade, Hawkwind, Status Quo, Sad Café, Dr. Feelgood, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Fleetwood Mac, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Queen, Pink Floyd, Nazareth, Barclay James Harvest, Rod Stewart, Simple Minds, the Screaming Blue Messiahs, Ultravox, the Pretenders and the Wailers. Some of these performances were recorded in front of live studio audiences as part of the In Concert and Sounds of the Seventies series, and several of these acts have subsequently released tapes of sessions recorded at the studio, such as Led Zeppelin's BBC Sessions album. It was also the London home of the BBC's Radio 1 Club in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Paris Theatre closed in 1995, being replaced by the BBC Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House. The closure was marked with a commemorative concert and broadcast of the last show ever to be recorded at the theatre, namely the final show in series two of The Skivers.David Bowie recorded one of his final live recordings there in 2000 deemed to be one of his finest performances.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Paris Theatre (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Paris Theatre
Carlton Street, City of Westminster Covent Garden

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N 51.5084 ° E -0.1334 °
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Carlton Street
SW1Y 4RG City of Westminster, Covent Garden
England, United Kingdom
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Royal Gallery of Illustration
Royal Gallery of Illustration

The Royal Gallery of Illustration was a 19th-century performance venue located at 14 Regent Street in London. It was in use between 1850 and 1873. The gallery was built in the 1820s by the architect John Nash as part of his own house, to display his considerable collection of paintings. In 1850 the building was named the Gallery of Illustration, and between then and 1855 it housed a diorama created and run by the theatrical scene-painters Thomas Grieve and William Telbin. From 1856 to 1873 the gallery was in the hands of the singer and actress Priscilla Horton and her husband German Reed. Their entertainments developed from songs and comedy with piano accompaniment to programmes of short plays and operettas. In deference to respectable mid-Victorian doubts about the propriety of theatres, the Reeds called their productions "entertainments", and avoided the use of the words "theatre", "play" and other theatrical terms. Under the Reeds the gallery played an important part in the development of a new generation of authors, composers and performers. Among the writers whose works the Reeds staged were W. S. Gilbert and F. C. Burnand, and their composers included Arthur Sullivan, Frederic Clay and Alfred Cellier. The performers Arthur Cecil, Corney Grain and Fanny Holland made their names at the gallery early in their careers. The lease of the building expired in 1873, and it ceased to be used as a performance venue. The Reeds moved to another theatre, and the gallery became a banqueting hall.

Carlton Theatre
Carlton Theatre

The Carlton Theatre was a London West End dual-purpose theatre-cum-cinema built in 1927 for Adolph Zukor's Paramount Pictures. It continues in use as a cinema and is now called Empire Haymarket.It was designed by Frank Verity and Sam Beverley in Italian and Spanish Renaissance architectural style with a total seating capacity is 1,150 and a dual theatre or cinema capability. It is located at 63-65 Haymarket, London, SW1 and was built on the site of Anglesea Yard, a former coaching inn.It opened on 27 April 1927 with the successful musical play Lady Luck by Firth Shephard and starring Laddie Cliff. In 1933 it staged another stage success, a run of Bitter Sweet by Noël Coward.The Carlton Theatre was wired for sound in 1929 and increasingly went over to being used as a full-time cinema. It was originally built and owned by Paramount Pictures and was operated by them until 1954 when it was leased to Twentieth Century Fox as their West End showcase for CinemaScope films. Fox continued to operate the Carlton until 1977 when they withdrew from cinema operations in London (they had also run the Rialto, Coventry Street). The cinema was taken over by Classic and the former stage area was sold for demolition and redevelopment. The auditorium was divided into three screens and reopened on 11 January 1979 as the Classic Haymarket. Various changes in ownership resulted in name changes to Cannon, MGM, Virgin, UGC and Cineworld Haymarket. The Cinema is currently operated by Empire cinemas who took over ownership in 2017. It was listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England in October 2018.