New Theatre Royal New Theatre Royal The New Theatre Royal is a Victorian Grade II* listed theatre in the heart of Portsmouth, England, with a capacity of 667. The theatre building was constructed in 1854 as Landport Hall. It was converted to a theatre two years later. It was rebuilt in 1884 by Charles J. Phipps and again in 1900 by Frank Matcham. The Theatre reopened in October 2015 after a £4.7M refurbishment project. The present site was built to replace a theatre located in the High Street (now designated "old Portsmouth". The theatre features in Charles Dickens' novel "Nicholas Nickleby". A popular
Portsmouth (instrumental) Portsmouth (instrumental) "Portsmouth" is a traditional English folk dance tune, similar to an Irish or Scottish hornpipe melody. It is sometimes referred to as the "Portsmouth Hornpipe". "Portsmouth" appeared in the 11th edition of John Playford's "The Dancing Master" in 1701. It is also one of the three arrangements on which English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams based his "Sea Songs", originally arranged for military band in 1923 as the second movement of his "English Folk Song Suite", and subsequently re-arranged for full orchestra in 1942 by the composer. In the 1950s it was used as the signature tune for BBC