Historical Timeline

Tweet

May 5th this year sees the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Theatre Royal.  To celebrate this milestone in the theatre's history we have put together a timeline of some of the highlights from these three decades which we hope you'll enjoy remembering. 

If you have a special memory of the theatre you'd like to share with us - perhaps it was seeing a favourite star on the stage, being involved in one of the community productions or memories of your very first visit the theatre - we'd love to hear from you.  Click here to let us know.

1980s

1990s

2000s

2012

1980s

1982

• HRH Princess Margaret opens the Theatre Royal.  Royal Charity Gala held with Leonard Rossiter, Dickie Henderson & Gene Pitney performing

• Jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald performs

1983

• Eric Sykes performs alongside Matthew Kelly in Alan Ayckbourn's Time and Time Again
• Warren Mitchell performs as Alf Garnett in The Thoughts Of Chairman Alf
• The Three Degrees & Eartha Kitt perform
• Terry Scott performs in Babes in the Wood

1984

• Andrew Lloyd Webber's Song & Dance performed at the Theatre Royal.  This is the first Cameron Mackintosh production to come to the Theatre Royal.  Stars Wayne Sleep & Marti Webb

• Roger Redfarn appointed as Artistic Director
• Danny la Rue appears in Mother Goose

1985

• Lauren Bacall stars in Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth

 1986

• Michael Bogdanov and Michael Pennington found the English Shakespeare Company, the inaugral production premieres here.  The company go on to tour across the UK and worldwide

1989

• Buddy co-produced with Paul Elliott premieres at the Theatre Royal

 

1990s

1990

• Adrian Vinken OBE appointed General Manager
• Des O'Connor stars in Cinderella as Buttons

1991

• Barbara Windsor stars in Guys & Dolls

• High Heels in the Rubble, about the Plymouth Blitz and performed by the people of Plymouth, opened with a guest appearance from Dame Vera Lynn
• Sir Ian McKellen appears in Richard III

1992

• Theatre Royal takes over operation of Plymouth Pavilions
• Les Dawson stars in Dick Whittington
• Edward Woodward appears in A Dead Secret

1993

• Act Now campaign - Arts Council funding cut threat.  Over 57,000 letters of support for the theatre stuck to the theatre's windows, convoy of 20 coaches taken from Plymouth to Arts Council Head Office where opponents of the cuts sing a song from Les Miserables and hold a torchlight procession.  Campaign was a success
• Brian Blessed performs his one-man show
• Bill Nighy appears in Arcadia
• Rolf Harris stars alongside Bonnie Langford and Dougie Mounce in Jack and the Beanstalk. Rolf Harris paints a mural on the wall of Dressing Room 1 during the pantomime run

1994

• World premiere of Copacabana with Barry Manilow in attendance.  Gary Wilmot plays the lead role

• Adam Faith performs in Alfie

1995

• Out of the Rubble performed with over 500 people from the local community to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of VE Day
• World premiere of Jolson starring Brian Conley

1996

• Theatre Royal's Young Company and People's Company formed
• Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake performed.  The first of many Matthew Bourne productions to be performed at the Theatre Royal

1997

• Cameron Mackintosh's Les Miserables tour opens at the Theatre Royal
• First year of a 3 year residency for the Royal Shakespeare Company in the South West - Shakespeare performed in the Theatre Royal, Drum and Pavilions
• Russ Abbot starred as Captain Hook in Peter Pan

1998

• Cameron Mackintosh's The Phantom of the Opera starts its UK tour at the Theatre Royal
• Simon Stokes joins the Theatre Royal as Artistic Director

1999

• Jason Donovan stars in The Rocky Horror Show as Frank 'n' Furter

 

2000

• TMA voted the Theatre Royal Plymouth the Most Welcoming Theatre
• Simon Callow stars in The Mystery of Charles Dickens
• Hundreds of local people involved in Union Street, a story about Plymouth's most famous street created with local volunteer researchers, performers and backstage teams with the help of a professional creative team

2002

• Richard Briers performs in The Tempest

• The Green Man performed in the Drum Theatre with Phil Daniels and Danny Webb

 

2003

• TR2 opens - Europe's first purpose built production and education centre opened by the Earl of Wessex on his own, contrary to the plaque in reception!

• Cameron Mackintosh's UK tour of Cats begins life at TR2 with the workshops undertaking their first major set build while the company are the first to use rehearsal rooms

• Theatre Royal's 21st birthday

• Ross Kemp appears in The Taming of the Shrew

2004

• Launch of the new touring production of Miss Saigon
• Refurbishment of Theatre Royal auditorium - yellow seating replaced with blue seating
• Theatre Royal voted whatsonstage.com Best Regional Theatre

2005

• Philip Ridley's controversial play Mercury Fur, a Drum co-production with Paines Plough, opens starring Ben Wishaw

• The History Boys with James Corden and Dominic Cooper in the cast
• World premiere of Matthew Bourne's Edward Scissorhands

2006

• The controversial Jerry Springer - The Opera tour opens at the Theatre Royal

• Yukio Ninagawa's Titus Andronicus performed in Japanese on the Theatre Royal stage
• First UK performance of White Christmas on the Theatre Royal stage with Ken Kercheval and Lorna Luft starring alongside Craig McLachlan

2007

• Drum Theatre wins The Empty Space Peter Brooke Award

2008

• World premieres of the international tour of Cameron Mackintosh's Mary Poppins, Flashdance the Musical and Matthew Bourne's Dorian Gray

• Frantic Assembly present Othello, a co-production with the Theatre Royal and their first production to be performed on the Theatre Royal stage
• Lesley Garrett appears in Carousel

2009

• Major new touring version of Pete Townshend's rock opera Quadrophenia opens

• Alistair McGowan stars in Measure for Measure

2010

• Alison Steadman stars in Alan Bennett's Enjoy

• World premiere of Lend Me A Tenor, a Theatre Royal co-production which goes on to play in the West End

• Complicite's A Disappearing Number broadcast live across the world from the Theatre Royal

2011

• Lovesong, a co-production with Frantic Assembly, premieres in the Drum and stars Sian Phillips

• Complicite opens The Master and Margarita

 

2012 and beyond

2012

• Cameron Mackintosh tour of The Phantom of the Opera opens at the Theatre Royal