Sir Cameron Mackintosh will add two more West End theatres to the portfolio of Delfont Mackintosh, making nine in total, the Victoria Palace, where Billy Elliot is booking up to May 2015 and the Ambassadors, where Stomp is currently running, with the latter being renamed The Sondheim Theatre.
Mackintosh said, "I am delighted to have the opportunity to take over stewardship of the Victoria Palace Theatre from Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen." The Frank Matcham-designed theatre has, he said, "a remarkable fusion of intimacy and scale, a gloriously rich décor and perfect sight lines from every seat" but the stage is too shallow for many big shows.
However planning consent has been obtained to extend both the stage and the front of house area. The work will commence in late 2016, closing the theatre for about a year.
Planning has yet to be obtained for the work he wishes to carry out at the Ambassadors Theatre, and so the purchase will go ahead early next year subject to this being in place. His plans for the development this theatre will complement the design of the original architect, William Sprague, but will involve a change in the nature of the work that is seen there.
Mackintosh explained, "my plan is to completely rebuild the auditorium in order to fulfil a long-standing dream for the West End to have a transfer house primarily for seasons of exciting productions from theatres in the subsidised sector seeking a non-proscenium environment that mirrors their own stages.
"I am hoping these will come both from London and the Regions and to this end we will be providing a glamorous 450-seat studio environment that will be appropriate whilst removing the need for a costly restaging to suit a proscenium theatre."
The theatre is to be renamed after American musical theatre composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, whose works Mackintosh has produced.
Sondheim said, "I am flattered and thrilled that Cameron Mackintosh has chosen to rename The Ambassadors Theatre after me.
"What I’ve always loved about London theatre is its diversity, much of which is the result of work developed in so-called 'fringe theatre' and in non-traditional spaces.
"Most of those shows, for financial and practical reasons, have limited runs as well as limited audiences. What Cameron is supplying is a transfer house for seasons of those productions, a way of prolonging their lives and allowing them to be seen by an expansive variety of audiences—something, I should add, as much needed in New York as in London.
"To have my name attached to such a vivifying contribution to British theatre is an honour as well as a thrill."