The Phoenix was designed by Giles Gilbert Scott and Bertie Crewe. It opened in 1930 with the premiere of Noël Coward’s Private Lives starring the author, Gertrude Lawrence and Laurence Olivier.
Many star actors have appeared at the theatre including Maggie Smith, Diana Rigg, John Gielgud, Dustin Hoffman, Derek Jacobi, Kenneth Branagh and Stephen Fry.
More recently the theatre has presented a number of successful musicals including, between 1991 and 2012, Willy Russell’s Blood Brotherswhich became the theatre’s longest-running show and was seen by over 5 million people.
The theatre is now the London home to the multi-Olivier Award winning Come From Away. The show tells the story of what happened to a small town called Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador during the events of September 11, 2001, when 38 planes had to unexpectedly land. The small community had to rally together throughout the struggle and accommodate nearly 7,000 passengers following the tragedy of 9/11. Many of the characters are based upon real-life passengers, including Nick and Diane Marson, a Brit and an American who fell in love in real life following the disaster.