Theatre News

Clique Closing 14 Jun, Casino Plans Confirmed

| London's West End |

15 April 2009

The historic London Hippodrome, current home of Olivier award-winning burlesque show La Clique, has confirmed it will undergo a £15million refurbishment and reopen as a casino, including a 150-seat cabaret venue (See News, 20 Nov 2008). Work will begin immediately after the run finishes on 14 June, with the new-look venue due to open in 2011.

The company behind the development, United Leisure Gaming Limited, attained the lease after London’s three main theatre-owning groups, as well as several retail brands, withdrew interest due to the cost of restoration work.

Speaking to Whatsonstage.com, the venue’s current manager Nicholas Wright, who was last week given notice of the change in tenancy, said: “At the moment we have a provisional date to leave after the current run of La Clique on 14 June. Obviously we’d be happier if it was staying as a performance venue but that’s the way it is … La Clique has been successful both commercially and artistically and I can say with a degree of certainty that it would’ve extended … We’ve proved the Hippodrome works as a performance venue.”

Wright also indicated that his hopes of a “period of overlap”, during which time La Clique could continue in tandem with preliminary restoration work, will not be occurring.

The Save London Theatres Campaign has long fought to keep the Hippodrome as a performance venue, and members of La Clique made an impassioned plea for the venue to remain open in its current form at the launch of this year’s Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers’ Choice Awards, which was held at the Leicester Square venue back in December (See News, 8 Dec 2008).

La Clique producer Mark Rubinstein told Whatsonstage.com today: “The casino plans aren’t news to anyone, but obviously the fact they’re now officially announcing it is disappointing. We’re having a really good time there, continuing to do great business – nearly 100,000 people have now seen the show. Plenty of other producers have called me asking about the Hippodrome and it’s a sad loss.”

The new-look Hippodrome, which will include several bars, hospitality lounges and a restaurant helmed by a Michelin-starred chef, is due to open in 2011. As part of the interior restoration work (exterior work has been completed), many of the venue’s original features, such as mosaics and ornate balustrades, are being remade.

Simon Thomas, chairman of United Leisure Gaming Limited, told the Evening Standard: “Our ambition is to return the Hippodrome to its rightful place as one of the country’s leading leisure destinations and, not least, to secure its future as a venue offering live entertainment.”

– by Theo Bosanquet