musical.today Norwich, United Kingdom
Norwich Theatre Royal
1,308 seats
Founded in 1758 by the Norwich architect Thomas Ivory on the model of Drury Lane, which makes it one of the oldest established theatres in the country. It has been rebuilt three times, burned down once and bombed once, and it is still on the same street.
The building
The original house held about a thousand people. Parliament granted it Theatre Royal status in 1768, with the right to perform all drama, and the title drew the stars of the day: Sarah Siddons played Hamlet, Juliet and Lady Macbeth here, and Ira Aldridge appeared in January 1848.
William Wilkins rebuilt it in 1800 and again in 1826; gas replaced candles in 1836; Frank Matcham redesigned the interior in 1894. It burned down in 1934 and the theatre standing today opened just over a year later, in 1935.
Opening dates, capacities and architects on this page come from the theatre's own history pages and from Wikipedia.