It’s a newly-reimagined venue in the heart of Soho and its first show is going to be a musical. The Boulevard Theatre opens its doors to the public for the first time in October 2019 with the London premiere of Tony Award-nominated Dave Malloy’s celebrated song cycle Ghost Quartet. What’s not to like?
Running from 24 October 2019 to 4 January 2020 (press night is 31 October), Ghost Quartet has music, lyrics and text by Dave Malloy, the three-time Tony Award-nominated writer of Broadway hit Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812. Bill Buckhurst directs and reunites the creative team behind his sell-out production of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, which transferred from a pie shop in Tooting, to the West End, and eventually to a sell-out New York run becoming the longest running production of Sweeney Todd in history.
Ghost Quartet is an intoxicating musical of love, loss and spirits – of both the spectral and alcoholic kind. Wildly inventive, Malloy’s piece draws inspiration from a rich tapestry of work from Arabian Nights and Edgar Allan Poe to Grimms’ fairy tales and Stephen Sondheim, woven together by gospel, honky-tonk, folk ballads, electro-pop and jazz.
54 events. 165 seats. 1 unique venue in the heart of Soho.
— Boulevard Theatre (@BoulevardSoho) June 19, 2019
We're so excited to announce our opening programme, running October to December, with tickets from £12 for every performance. Public booking opens 10.30am tomorrow - what will you be booking? https://t.co/vmUaMvEvuU pic.twitter.com/198ZSCHtuW
The premiere production will run alongside a packed roster of late-night and Sunday performances of cabaret, improv, jazz, comedy, classical music and poetry.
Every week on Thursday nights (from 7 November to 2 January) after the curtains have fallen in theatres across the West End, the Boulevard Theatre’s Finale will be just beginning. Curated in collaboration with Nadim Naaman, each week a different star of the stage will take to the mic to share their favourite songs and stories.
Confirmed artists for the Boulevard Theatre’s intimate cabaret space include Fra Fee, Nathaniel Morrison, Sabrina Aloueche and Claudia Kariuki.
Elsewhere other themed nights/events include:
- The Yes Queens: On Friday nights (alternate weeks from 1 November 2019 to 3 January 2020) a female-led comedy improv night will be curated by Julie Clare (whose work as a producer includes In the Heights, King’s Cross Theatre; Sideshow, Southwark Playhouse). Special guests confirmed so far include comic Pippa Evans, a core member of the award-winning improv team behind Showstopper! The Improvised Musical.
- After Dark: On Saturday nights (2 November 2019 to 4 January 2019). The Black Cat Cabaret and Boulevard Theatre present a moonlit cocktail of late-night entertainment: musical incantations, comedy and dazzling circus spectacle. Visiting luminaries from across the international scene will be assembled by resident compere Dusty Limits.
- Sunday Service Podcasts (3 November 2019 to 5 January 2020): The Boulevard Theatre hosts a different established podcast each week, recorded in front of a live audience. Taking the most interesting and fresh new voices out of headphones and into an auditorium.
London’s newest theatre is located in the heart of Soho in Walker’s Court. The venue is situated in the exact location where Fawn James’ grandfather Paul Raymond opened the original Boulevard Theatre which famously became home to Peter Richardson’s Comic Strip. Architects SODA studio, in collaboration with theatre specialists Charcoalblue, have designed an innovative new flexible space which features Europe’s most advanced revolving theatre and a two-floor glass bridge leading to a restaurant and bar area.
