Empire Theatre

Theatre in Leicester Square, London, opened in 1884. It was originally designed by Scottish architect Thomas Verity (1937–1891), known for his designs of the Criterion Theatre and pavilion at Lords Cricket Ground. In 1887 the Empire Theatre became a music hall, noted for its promenade and for the excellence of its ballets and revues. After it was demolished in 1927, a second Empire Theatre, primarily a cinema, occupied the space 1928–61.

The theatre opened with a production of the musical Chilpéric by French composer Hervé (born Florimond Ronger, 1825–1892). In its music hall days it was known as The Empire Theatre of Varieties (1887–89). The theatre reopened in 1928 with a showing of Cecil B Hepworth's (1873–1953) silent film Trelawny of the Wells (1916), though it also had ballet and other live dance performances from 1949. The interior of the second Empire Theatre was completely rebuilt in 1962, when became the Empire Cinema, one of Leicester Square's main cinemas.