new-wimbledon-studio

The New Wimbledon Theatre is situated on the Broadway, Wimbledon, London, in the London Borough of Merton. It is a Grade II listed Edwardian theatre built by the theatre lover and entrepreneur, J.

The theatre has approximately 1,670 seats across three levels, making it the eighth largest theatre in London following the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the English National Opera's London Coliseum, and the major musical venues the London Palladium, Apollo Victoria, Drury Lane, Dominion, and Lyceum.

The main auditorium is adjoined by the smaller black box space of the Time and Leisure Studio, a flexible space seating up to 80 people. It is often home to small drama and comedy productions, often prior to West End or Edinburgh Festival runs each summer. Up From Paradise, the only musical written by Arthur Miller, directed by Patrick Kennedy received its London premiere at the Studio in July 2014 following a successful year of musical programming.

Until 2001, the theatre was owned and operated by the Wimbledon Civic Theatre Trust, on behalf of the London Borough of Merton, who still own the freehold of the building. The trust was responsible for overseeing a multimillion-pound refurbishment in the late 1990s, incorporating a brand new backstage area, fly tower, and a complete re-seating of the orchestra stalls as well as redecoration of the interior. During this period, the theatre was closed for an entire year. The venue fell into severe financial difficulties in 2003 and was forced to close. Following lengthy talks between leading producers, local councillors, and companies, in autumn 2003 a deal was agreed for the theatre to be managed by the Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG). Following a name change to the New Wimbledon Theatre, the venue reopened in February 2004 with Matthew Bourne's production of The Nutcracker followed by a season of touring musicals, dance, and ballet, culminating in the London revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats. In November 2005, the theatre saw the launch of a new UK pantomime company, First Family Entertainment with their flagship production being Cinderella starring Susan Hampshire, Richard Wilson, John Barrowman, Naomi Wilkinson, Peter Duncan, and Tim Vine. In 2006, the theatre welcomed its first Hollywood star in the shape of Happy Days' Henry Winkler. Subsequent Christmases have seen global stars including Pamela Anderson, Warwick Davis, Edna Everage, Linda Gray, David Hasselhoff, Priscilla Presley, Jerry Springer, and Ruby Wax, alongside British household names including Brian Blessed, Jo Brand, Bobby Davro, Anita Dobson, Gareth Gates, Ross Kemp, Alistair McGowan, Paul O'Grady, Joanna Page, Wayne Sleep, Louie Spence, Claire Sweeney, and Tim Vine. The theatre has since played host to a large variety of major touring productions, plus the UK launch of Josef Weinberger's UK collection of Disney musicals available to amateur companies throughout the British Isles. In 2010, the national tour of Spamalot, the musical based on the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, opened at the New Wimbledon. In September, 2024, War Horse (play)

The venue is frequently hired out for television production, with many television series having been shot at the location, including The Optimist, The Bill, The IT Crowd, De-Lovely, Little Britain, Extras (the Aladdin pantomime episode with Les Dennis), Jonathan Creek and We Are Most Amused, a comedy gala performance to celebrate the 60th birthday of The Prince of Wales, in aid of The Prince's Trust.

Available at this venue:

• Wheelchair-accessible entrance
• Wheelchair-accessible toilet

Not available at this venue:

• Wheelchair-accessible parking

Accessibility information supplied by Google Maps. Please contact the venue directly to confirm details for your visit.