Rupert Street

The Almost Free Theatre was an alternative and fringe theatre set up by American actor and social activist E. D. Berman in 1971 in Rupert Street, Soho, London.Audiences paid what they could afford, but at least one penny. It also pioneered the lunchtime performance, which bought in a whole new audience. The theatre staged seasons, including the first season of gay plays in Britain, the first women's season, a Jewish season, an anti-nuclear season and a season to mark the 1976 American Bicentennial. There were readings of John Arden and Margaretta D'Arcy's controversial The Non-Stop Connolly Show (1976) on Irish politics. Numerous individual new plays by writers Mike Stott, Henry Livings, Michael Stevens, Wolf Mankowitz and Edward Bond were performed. Tom Stoppard developed several of his key one-act plays here, including After Magritte and Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth. His highly successful Dirty Linen and New-Found-Land went on to transfer from the Almost Free to run for four-and-a-half years at the Arts Theatre.

SegaWorld London was an indoor theme park located inside the London Trocadero in London, England. The venue opened up in September 1996 and operated as a joint-venture between Chorion, the owners of the Trocadero, and Sega. At 110,000 square feet, it was claimed to be the largest indoor theme park in the world. It was Sega's flagship venue in Europe and the first Sega theme park outside of Japan. The venue struggled with attendance which led to an early exit from Sega in the joint-venture, leading to its owners renting the space to the owners of the nearby Funland arcade which merged together with its existing branch nearby, and remained as such until its permanent closure in 2011.

The London Trocadero was an entertainment complex on Coventry Street, with a rear entrance in Shaftesbury Avenue, London. It was originally built in 1896 as a restaurant, which closed in 1965. In 1984, the complex reopened as an exhibition and entertainment space. It became known for the video-game oriented SegaWorld attractions which were added in 1996, and later downscaled and renamed to "Funland" before its closure in 2011. Part of the building was opened as a hotel in 2020. The complex incorporates separate historic London buildings, including the old London Pavilion Theatre (a former venue for the Palace of Varieties), the New Private Subscription Theatre, the Royal Albion Theatre, the Argyll Subscription Rooms, the Eden Theatre and the Trocadero Restaurant. The name Trocadero indirectly derives from the Battle of Trocadero in 1823, through the Palais du Trocadéro in Paris, named after the French victory. Since at least 1919, the Trocadero has been abbreviated to the Troc or Chicarito, and under that name it appears in a poem by John Betjeman.

Wong Kei (Chinese: 旺記; pinyin: wàng jì; Jyutping: wong6 gei4) is a Chinese restaurant in London's Chinatown, once described as "the rudest restaurant in London". It is one of the largest Chinese restaurants in the UK with seating for around 500 diners.

The Café de Paris was a London nightclub, located in the West End, beside Leicester Square on Coventry Street, Piccadilly. Opened in 1924, it became one of the leading theatre clubs in London. After being hit by a German bomb in 1941, when at least 34 people were killed and around 80 injured, it was closed until 1948. In December 2020 the club closed down permanently due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.

Coventry Street is a short street in the West End of London, connecting Piccadilly Circus to Leicester Square. Part of the street is a section of the A4, a major road through London. It is named after the politician Henry Coventry, secretary of state to Charles II. The street was constructed in 1681 for entertainment and retail purposes, and acquired a shady character with numerous gambling houses and a reputation for prostitution. This changed during the late 19th century, with the establishment of several music hall outlets including the London Pavilion, the Prince of Wales Theatre and the Trocadero Music Hall. In the 20th century, it became known for its high-traffic restaurants, including the first J. Lyons and Co. and the first premises of the seafood restaurant Scott's. It was also popular for its nightclubs, and was the original location of the Flamingo Club.

The Flamingo Club was a jazz nightclub in Soho, London, between 1952 and 1969. It was located at 33–37 Wardour Street from 1957 onwards and played an important role in the development of British rhythm and blues and modern jazz. During the 1960s, the Flamingo was one of the first clubs to employ fully amplified stage sound and used sound systems provided by ska musicians from the Caribbean. The club had a wide social appeal and was a favourite haunt for musicians, including The Who.No 37 Wardour Street was previously the address of the Shim Sham Club, which opened in 1935 and was known as "London's miniature Harlem".

The Brain was a house and techno music venue in Soho, London. It was located on the former premises of the Apollo Club on 11 Wardour Street. The Brain was founded in 1989 by Sean McLusky and Mark 'Wigan' Williams. Several now famous DJs and producers played at the club, including Norman Cook, Orbital, Leftfield, Billy Nasty, Goldie, Moby, Graeme Park, The Shamen, Mixmaster Morris, Ariel, Andrew Weatherall, and A Guy Called Gerald. At the time there was little actual live performance on the techno scene (this would change later with the advent of raves). The Brain encouraged live sets and P.As at a time when only mainstream house music used vocals on tracks. The club is also famous for the eclectic crowd it attracted, including the likes of; Boy George, Gilles Peterson, Bobby Gillespie, Chemical Brothers, Rankin (photographer) and Jefferson Hack founders of Dazed & Confused (magazine), Paul Oakenfold, John Galliano, Rifat Ozbek, Gavin Rossdale from Bush (British band), sommelier Jamie Drummond, artists Olly and Suzi, Trip City (novel) author Trevor Miller, Tim Simenon, Neneh Cherry, Mark Moore, George Michael, The Farm, Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses, Robert Elms, editor of The Face Sheryl Garrett, founder of Loaded (magazine) James Brown, Jonathan Pocock, Michael Sale, Simon Woodruff and Ozwald Boateng. Global celebrities like Christy Turlington, Brigitte Nielsen, and Matt Dillon were also spotted inside the venue.Sean McLusky went on to set up (the now defunct) Brainiak Records with Tim Fielding releasing music by such early UK electronic heroes as Ultramarine and Pete Lazonby, as well as legendary compilation albums Live at the Brain - Volumes One and Two, B-Sides and The Best of Brainiak. In the early and mid-1990s Sean McLusky masterminded various seminal London clubs and venues including; Love Ranch at Maximus with Mark Wigan, Club UK, The Scala (club) in King's Cross, and the multi-faceted Sonic Mook Experiment. In 1994 Tim Fielding co-founded Mr C's London nightclub The End.

The Prince of Wales Theatre is a West End theatre in Coventry Street, near Leicester Square in London. It was established in 1884 and rebuilt in 1937, and extensively refurbished in 2004 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, its current owner. The theatre should not be confused with the former Scala Theatre in London that was known as the Prince of Wales Royal Theatre or Prince of Wales's Theatre from 1865 until its demolition in 1903.

Pinoli's Italian Restaurant was an Italian restaurant owned by Carlo Pinoli at 17 Wardour Street in what was then the Little Italy area of London's Soho district, with another frontage on Rupert Street. It was founded in the 1890s.Pinoli's was known for good food at low prices, and was popular with celebrities, journalists and politicians.The Magic Circle was founded in Pinoli's in 1905. There is now a blue plaque to celebrate the occasion.Pinoli became a British citizen in 1906, and died in 1927. He is buried in Brompton Cemetery. Pinoli's closed in 1949.The location of Pinoli's restaurant is now part of London's Chinatown. The name 'Pinoli' is still visible at the top of the building frontage in Wardour Street.

Tiger Tiger is a chain of British nightclubs which is owned by Novus Leisure. The chain has five branches located in Cardiff, Portsmouth, Manchester, Newcastle and two venues in London. Each branch has several bars, a restaurant and several dance floors, and its own unique décor.The chain had another branch in Leeds, but on 22 September 2018, Tiger Tiger announced on their official Facebook page that the branch would close the following day. The chain’s flagship branch, and the first to open (in December 1998), is on Haymarket in Central London. It is also the largest branch, with four floors covering some 18,000 sq ft (1,700 m2) of floor space. Tiger Tiger London has one restaurant, four large dance floors and five bars. Each dance floor plays different types of music. It was outside this club on 29 June 2007 that the first of two unsuccessful car bombs was discovered and made safe.

The Comedy Store is a comedy club located in Soho, London, England, opened in 1979 by Don Ward and Peter Rosengard.