Alhambra Theatre

About

The Alhambra Theatre was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End of London. It was built as the Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts, opening on 18 March 1854. It was closed after two years for a circus ring to be added, and reopened in April 1858 as the Alhambra. The name was also adopted by many other British music hall theatres located elsewhere: the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, the Alhambra Theatre Glasgow, etc. The name comes from association with the Moorish splendour of the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain. The building was demolished in 1936.

Origins: The Alhambra was originally known as the Royal Panopticon and was a landmark building at 23–27 Leicester Square, completed in 1854 by T. Hayter Lewis as a venue for showcasing the finest in the arts and for scientific demonstrations and popular education. This lasted for two years, and then the decision to add a circus ring was taken. When it reopened on 3 April 1858 it was renamed the Alhambra. The 1858 conversion to the Alhambra Circus, was also by T. Hayter Lewis. It had a 104-foot (31.7 m) frontage and was very tall for the time. It was built in a Moorish...