New London Theatre To Be Renamed The Gillian Lynne Theatre

Andrew Lloyd Webber has announced the purrfect tribute to Dame Gillian Lynne with the re-naming of the New London Theatre.

Dame Gillian Lynne. Photo: Greg Heisler

This will be the first time that a West End Theatre has been named after a woman.

The announcement was made by Andrew Lloyd Webber at a special event at the New London Theatre last night.

“I am delighted to be able to announce that the New London Theatre is to be renamed as the Gillian Lynne Theatre,” he said. “Gillian has been a pioneer of British musical theatre and dance. Gillie’s groundbreaking work on Cats inspired and launched countless careers in dance. It is only fitting that the theatre in which she created Cats is named in her honour.”

The 92 year old legendary choreographer and director was responsible for the ground-breaking choreography for Cats and The Phantom Of The Opera two of the shows which led the British mega-musical invasion of the world.

Opened in 1973 the New London Theatre played host to the original production of Cats for 21 years from 1981 playing for over 9000 performances. The theatre is currently owned by Lloyd Webber and is now playing host to his musical School Of Rock. In a statement, Lynne said: “The minute I heard Andrew’s music I fell in love with his ability to channel deep emotion into a single musical note. He continues to inspire generation after generation with his passion for musical theatre and Great Britain has benefitted enormously from his brilliance and his generosity.”