Queen's Theatre in a modern style. The reconstructed theatre opened 8 July 1959 with John Gielgud's solo performance in "Shakespeare speeches and sonnets, Ages of Man". Since April 2004, the theatre has played host to Cameron Mackintosh's production of "Les Misérables" which transferred after 18 years at the nearby Palace Theatre. The musical celebrated its 20th anniversary at the venue on 8 October 2005 and overtook "Cats" as the longest running musical of all time a year later on 8 October 2006. The theatre was Grade II listed by English Heritage in June 1972. An extensive refurbishment was undertaken in the latter
Palace Theatre, London at the theatre from 2006 until January 2009, and "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" opened at the Palace in March 2009 and closed in December 2011. Between February 2012 and June 2013, it hosted a production of "Singin' in the Rain". In June 2016, the play "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" opened at the theatre. Commissioned by impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte in the late 1880s, it was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt. Carte intended it to be the home of English grand opera, much as his Savoy Theatre had been built as a home for English light opera, beginning