Theatre Royal (Hope Street)
From Glasgow
| Telephone | 0141 240 1133 (bookings) 0141 240 1122(schools and groups) |
| Fax | |
| Address | 282 Hope Street
G2 3QA |
The theatre first opened its doors as Bayliss's Royal Colosseum Theatre and Opera House in 1867, to the designs of architects Charles Clark and George Bell. This was not a success, and it was sold only two years later, with the name being changed to the Theatre Royal at this time.
The interior of the building was destroyed by fire in 1879. A new auditorium was built within the surviving walls within a year, this time to the designs of famous English theatre architect Charles John Phipps.
History repeated itself in 1895, with the interior being gutted once more by fire, and the new auditorium was again built within the original walls to a similar design by Phipps.
It's title was transferred from it's earlier incarnation — Theatre Royal (Dunlop Street).
The theatre became part of the Howard & Wyndham chain, under whose management it continued until 1957, when it was sold to Scottish Television (STV). It was converted by them into the first commercial television studio in Scotland.
The conversion retained most of the old auditorium, and this was to prove its saviour when STV moved to custom-built studios next door in 1974. The building was sold to Scottish Opera, who embarked upon a refurbishment which saw it reopen as a lyric theatre in 1975.
The 1970s brown and gold colour scheme and decoration were replaced in 1997 by a lottery-funded decorative scheme closer to the Victorian original, with cherry red, cream, turquoise and gold leaf being utilised.
Although still owned by Scottish Opera, day-to-day management passed to the Ambassadors Theatre Group (who also manage the King's Theatre) in March 2005.
Official website at http://www.theatreroyalglasgow.com.
