Her Majesty's Theatre provided the first alternative to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, built in 1663 and the Lincoln's Inn, founded in 1660 (forerunner of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, built in 1728). The theatre's site is the second oldest such site in London that remains in use. These three post-interregnum theatres defined the shape and use of modern theatres. The land for the theatre was held on a lease renewable in 1740 and was ultimately owned, as it is today, by the Crown Estate. Building was delayed by the necessity of acquiring the street frontage, and a three bay entrance led to
Theatre in the Victorian era “Between 1860 to 1870 the Royalty, The Gaiety, The Charing Cross, The Globe, The Holborn, The Queen’s were remodeled. Later in the following decade of 1870 to 1880 The Court, The Opera Comique and The Imperial were built.”(The Theatre 27). This brief list is proof of steadily increasing interest of the common public in the theatre. According to Allardyce Nicoll, “there were nineteen theatres in London during the summer of 1851. Nearly half a century later, in 1899, London boasts sixty one theatres, thirty eight in the west end twenty three in the nearby suburban districts.”(The Theatre 28). Their significance