London
The West End theatre is the third oldest London playhouse
Theatre Royal Haymarket will be put on sale next week.
The 68-year lease on the West End playhouse has been put up for sale by the current owners Louis I Michaels Limited.
The Grade I listed building on Haymarket in London is the third oldest playhouse after the Theatre Royal Drury Lane and Sadler's Wells on Rosebery Avenue. It sits opposite Her Majesty's Theatre, currently home to The Phantom of the Opera, and has been owned and run by three generations of a single family since the 1970s.
Recent productions include The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? starring Damian Lewis and Sophie Okonedo, The Elephant Man with Bradley Cooper, and Venus in Fur with Natalie Dormer and David Oakes.
Arnold Crook, chairman of Louis I Michaels Limited, said: "In my role as chairman of Louis I. Michaels Ltd and as custodian of the Theatre Royal Haymarket since 1981, it has been my life’s pride. The Theatre Royal Haymarket is historically and architecturally one of the most beautiful theatres in the world, and although it is very sad for me to say goodbye, it is now time to hand over the reins to the next generation of dream-makers."
The lease for the building is currently held by LIM’s subsidiary, Theatre Royal Haymarket Limited, with the freehold of the theatre owned by the Crown Estate.