Dominion Theatre

Dominion Theatre London

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The Dominion Theatre is a West End theatre on Tottenham Court Road close to St Giles Circus and Centre Point Tower, in the London Borough of Camden. The Dominion was built in 1928–29, designed by W and TR Milburn with a steel-framed construction and a concave Portland stone façade.

Address – 268-269 Tottenham Court Rd London W1T 7AQ UK.

Box Office – 10am to 7pm – Phone – 20 7927 0900

Transport Tottenham Court Road –Bus – 1, 7, 8, 10, 14, 24, 25, 29, 55, 73, 98, 134, 176, 242 and 390

Theatre Facilities

The theatre foyer is fully accessible to wheelchairs.

The Nederlander Box can accomodate 3 wheelchairs and companions. It has level access from the street and a dedicated accessible toilet. Due to the limited availability of these spaces, we highly recommend booking well in advance.

There is a wheelchair lift providing access from the foyer to the stalls for those who prefer to transfer from a wheelchair to their theatre seat. An accessible toilet is located on the stalls level and an attendant will return your wheelchair to you at the interval if required. Unfortunately due to weight restrictions, the lift is unable to carry electric wheelchairs.*

As there are only 9 steps down to the stalls level, we recommend stalls seating for any patrons with restricted mobility. Please note that we do not have a lift up to the Circle level.

For events in the Studio, access is available via a lift from the stalls. The Studio is also equipped with an accessible toilet.

*Due to unforeseen circumstances, the wheelchair lift is currently out of order, therefore our wheelchair access is currently limited. We are hoping to rectify this situation as soon as possible, we appreciate your understanding in this matter

Hearing Impaired Patrons

An infra-red hearing system is installed in the auditorium allowing the show to be accessible for the hearing impaired. The system operates on infra-red beams transmitted to a receiver which is on either a headset or a neck loop which the patron wears. We have both the headsets and neck loops available.

The headsets are worn like a stethoscope, with ear pieces that sit comfortably inside the ear.

The neck loop goes over the head like a necklace and creates a loop with the patron’s hearing aid, which must be set to the “T” or “loop” setting.

Patrons who would like to make use of this facility should contact the House Manager upon arrival at the theatre.

Information for Visually Impaired Patrons

Guide dogs are most welcome everywhere in the theatre, and may be taken into the auditorium if required. However due to the sound levels it is recommended the dog is looked after by theatre staff.

If you would like to bring a guide dog, please contact the theatre in advance on 020 7927 0900 and select the option to speak to the Front of House team

Unfortunately We Will Rock You do not currently offer an audio described performance.

CURRENT 2014 –

The Dominion is currently home to the musical We Will Rock You which has been running at the theatre since 2002. The theatre itself has undergone a rolling programme of refurbishment which has included reclaiming the area above the main foyer as a studio for rehearsals or events (2008), and reclaiming the offices in Nederlander House, which were originally part of the theatre but had been rented out as commercial office space. Within this area, originally listed on the theatre plans as a ‘Boardroom’, a new Boardroom space has been created (2011). In 2012 the Dominion produced West End Heroes, a charity one night concert in aid of Help for Heroes. The event was the brainchild of current General Manager David Pearson and a second event for 2014 is already planned. The Dominion is also currently home to Hillsong Church every Sunday, and has hosted MADTrust’s West End Eurovision for 2012 and 2013.

HISTORY

The Dominion was built in 1928–29, designed by W and TR Milburn with a steel-framed construction and a concave Portland stone facade. It was built as a theatre for live shows, but after faltering business in the early 1930s, the building was converted to also allow it to show films. The theatre was built on the location of the former Horse Shoe Brewery, which was the site of the 1814 London Beer Flood.

Its first major live show was The Judy Garland Show which ran for a month in 1957 and it has been a popular venue for musical theatre ever since.

During the 1980s it became a popular venue for music concerts. Tangerine Dream’s album Logos was recorded there in 1982, and contains a tune called “Dominion” in tribute, and Dolly Parton’s 1983 concert at the Dominion was filmed and released as a television special, Dolly in London. in 1985, country music star Ricky Skaggs recorded a video and a live CD over the course of two nights. In the mid-1980s the Dominion hosted the musical Time, and the interior was extensively reconstructed to accommodate the shows effects. .

Since the early 1990s the venue has played host to David Ian and Paul Nicholas’ new production of Grease, Scrooge: The Musical, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, a return of Grease, and Notre Dame de Paris among others. Bernadette The Musical, written by Maureen and Gwyn Hughes, also enjoyed a short run in 1990.

In the 1990s the Dominion also hosted the Royal Variety Performance on a number of occasions.

Comedian Bill Hicks filmed his legendary comedy special, Revelations

It now has a seating capacity of 2,069 in two tiers of galleries, following the closure many decades ago of the former upper circle. The theatre retains its 1920s light fittings and art deco plasterwork.

There has been a lot of renovation of the theatre over the past couple of years. The large dressing room block at the rear of the theatre has its stone work cleaned and new exact replica windows fitted. Inside the building has also seen many changes with the reinstatement of the once derelict area originally occupied by the theatre’s restaurant/tea rooms and which was utilised by Rank in its time at the Dominion as office space. This large space above the main foyer is now a state of the art rehearsal studio and events space. The entrance way to the Studio has had its original plasterwork carefully restored (a project which is soon to move on to the impressive main foyer). This new space is called ‘The Studio’ and has already housed the auditions or rehearsals of a number of the West End’s top shows including We Will Rock You, Matthew Bourne’s Edward Scissorhands, Les Misérables, Cats, Hairspray and Zorro, making it the best located rehearsal studio in London.

In 2002, the hit stage musical We Will Rock You, based on the songs of Queen, created by Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor together with British comedian Ben Elton opened. The show was due to close in October 2006 before embarking on a UK tour, but due to popular demand has been extended indefinitely. The show is currently in its 10th year and as such is the longest running musical ever to play at the Dominion Theatre. The recently refurbished ‘Freddie Mercury Suite’ displays pictures from the Queen singer’s lifetime. This area was previously dedicated to Judy Garland.

On Sundays, Hillsong London holds four church services throughout the day there.

When the Dominion was built in 1929 it was linked to the building on Great Russell Street now known as Nederlander House. This building had been separated from the theatre and rented out as office space for many decades. In 2011 the Dominion spent £200K reinstating the connection between the theatre and this building returning its use to that the original theatre builders intended. It is therefore now home to the theatre management offices plus a refurbished Boardroom space on the top floor. This Boardroom is marked as such on the original 1929 plans and it is now being hired out by the theatre’s Dominion Events department for meeting, training and conference bookings

OWNERSHIP

The Dominion has had a variety of owners during its history. It has been operated by The Rank Organisation and Apollo Leisure from 1988 to 1999. In 1999 Apollo Leisure was taken over by SFX Entertainment and in 2001 SFX Entertainment was bought by Clear Channel Entertainment, part of the US based multinational. It was run by Live Nation UK – ClearChannel’s entertainments spin-off organisation, on behalf of the Nederlander Organization. on Friday 23 October 2009 the Nederlander Organization took full control of the venue, buying out Live Nation UK’s third ownership taking the venue into a new era.

RECENT AND PRESENT PRODUCTIONS

Jackie Mason: Brand New! (22 March 1993 – 24 March 1993) by Jackie Mason
Grease (15 July 1993 – 19 October 1996) by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey
Scrooge (12 November 1996 – 1 February 1997) by Leslie Bricusse
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (13 May 1997 – 11 December 1999) by Howard Ashman, Alan Menken, Tim Rice and Linda Woolverton
Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake (7 February 2000 – 11 March 2000) by Matthew Bourne
Tango Passion (21 March 2000 – 23 March 2000) by Hector Zaraspe
Notre-Dame de Paris (23 May 2000 – 6 October 2001) by Richard Cocciante and Luc Plamondon
Grease (22 October 2001 – 3 November 2001) by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey
We Will Rock You (14 May 2002 – present) by Queen and Ben Elton