The '''Queen's Theatre''' is a theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue in the West End of London, next to the Gielgud Theatre, as whose twin it was designed by W. G. R. Sprague at the beginning of the 20th century. The theatre opened in 1906. The theatre has a modern shell but an Edwardian interior following a hit on the facade by a German bomb in September 1940. The Queen's Theatre has seen such talents as Edith Evans, George Bernard Shaw, John Gielgud, Noel Coward, Kenneth Branagh, Marlene Dietrich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Hawthorne, Jane Lapotaire, Alec Guinness, Fiona Shaw and Maggie Smith. 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 8th October 2005 and will overtake "Cats" as the longest running musical of all time on 8th October 2006 should it continue. The Queen's is set to form part of owner Cameron Mackintosh's masterplan for a new Shaftesbury Avenue theatre complex. As part of this scheme, the foyer will be amalgamated with the adjoining Gielgud Theatre (also owned by Mackintosh), and the Queen's will be transformed into 1200 seats over two levels. On the roof, will be the new Sondheim Theatre scheduled to open in late 2007.
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