Identity area
Reference code
RSP/4/4/COR/81
Title
Alterations to Leicester Square Theatre for Radio Keith Orpheum Ltd.
Date(s)
- 27 Feb 1931 (Creation)
Level of description
Item
Extent and medium
1 piece, Copy
Context area
Name of creator
(1898-1933)
Biographical history
Alister Gladstone MacDonald (1898-1933) studied at the Bartlett School of Architecture, becoming a member of RIBA in 1926. He worked for Frank Verity as clerk of works on the Plaza Cinema in London, before working in New York and Italy. MacDonald specicalised in news theatres during the boom years of cinema-building. Amount his designs were those at Victoria and Waterloo stations which used back projection and insulation against the noise of steam trains. He also designed the Peace Pavilion for the Glasgow Empire Exhibition in 1938. Post-war he was involved in the school building programme and also rebuilt RADA's Vanburgh Theatre and refurbished, with Cecil Masey, the Comedy Theatre. In his later years he travelled widely, doing work in Yemen, Mombasa, Jordan, Cyprus and Malta. Source: www.independent.co.uk 27/3/1993.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Ink drawing on drafting cloth. Alister G MacDonald, Chartered Architect, 13 Queen Anne's Gate, Westminster SW1.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Status: Open. Access is subject to signing the Regulations for Access form, unless the records are restricted under the Data Protection Act 2018 or under exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Physical description: Fragile and damaged - burns?
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
The Leicester Square Theatre opened on 19th December 1930, situated on the South-West corner of Leicester Square. It was purpose-built for both live shows and film presentations and was equipped with a Wurlitzer organ. RKO took over the Theatre in March 1931 with Gracie Fields appearing later that summer in a combined stage and screen presentation. County Cinemas took over the building the following year and altered the theatre by installing a new revolving stage and interior reconstructed by Edward Carrick as well as a new main entrance designed by Alister MacDonald. After September 1933 no further live productions took place in the theatre and it became part of the Rank cinema chain, then Odeon after the Second World War. The theatre was refurbished in 1968 and 1991. The cinema closed on 1st January 2015 to be demolished for a new hotel and 2-screen replacement cinema complex.