W. G. R. Sprague

William George Robert Sprague (1865 – 4 December 1933) was a theatre architect.

W. G. R. Sprague
In The Sketch, 20 September 1899
Born	William George Robert Sprague 1865 (1865) Australia
Died	4 December 1933(1933-12-04) (aged 67–68) Maidenhead, England
Occupation	Architect
Spouse	Isabel Katherine Bennett ​ ​ (m. 1900)​
Children	1

Biography

Aldwych Theatre

Sprague was born in Australia in 1865, the son of actress Dolores Drummond, who returned with acclaim to London in 1874.^[1][2]

In the 1870s Sprague was an articled clerk for Frank Matcham for four years, then in 1880, worked in the office of Walter Emden until 1883. He was in a partnership with Bertie Crewe until 1895. Sprague went on to design a large number of theatres and music halls, almost all of them in London. At the height of his career he showed a productivity worthy of mentorship from Matcham, and produced six theatres in Westminster in less than four years.

Unlike Matcham and Emden, Sprague studied architectural forms and conventions and used his knowledge in his designs, saying of himself that he "liked the Italian Renaissance" as a style for his frontages, but would take liberties when needed "to get the best effects". In 1902 a journalist for the theatre newspaper The Era described him as "Britain's youngest theatrical designer, with more London houses to his credit than any other man in the same profession."^[2]

In 1898, William Morton, owner and manager of the Greenwich Theatre, commissioned Sprague to produce plans for a 3,000-seat theatre to replace his existing theatre on a new site on London Street, but this was never followed through.^[3]

Sprague married Isabel Katherine Bennett on 30 April 1900, and they had a son in 1907.^[1]

Sprague died from heart failure at his home in Maidenhead on 4 December 1933.^[1][4]

Theatres

Theatre	Location	Build Date	Original Seating Capacity	Status	Notes
Theatre Royal	Lincoln, Lincolnshire	1889			with Bertie Crewe
Olympic	London	1890		Demolished	with Bertie Crewe
Theatre Royal	Aldershot	16 February 1891	700	Demolished 1959	With Bertie Crewe
Lyceum	Newport	1896	1,250	Demolished	The Lyceum Theatre on Bridge Street, Newport was built in 1896 at a cost of £20,000 on the site of the former Victoria Hall, later the Victoria Theatre, which had opened 20 years earlier in 1876 but been destroyed by fire. It was determined from the outset that the new theatre should hold a place amongst the best in the kingdom, and Mr W. G. R. Sprague was commissioned. He recommended that the handsome Grecian style exterior of the old Victoria Theatre might be preserved. He therefore designed the newer, bigger Lyceum Theatre to be created within the walls of the old Victoria Theatre. This was a unique undertaking and sets it apart from Sprague's other theatres. The Lyceum Theatre was demolished in 1967 to make way for the building of a new Cinema by ABC which cost £250,000
Lyceum	Sheffield	1897	1,068	Listed building	Traditional proscenium arch theatre, this 1,068-seat listed building is Sprague's only surviving design outside London. Following closure in 1968, the Lyceum endured spells as a bingo hall and a rock venue before undergoing a £12 million renovation and reopening as a Number One Touring Venue in 1991 [5]
The Coronet Theatre	Notting Hill, London	1898	1,143	Listed building	Grade II Listed status
Wyndham's Theatre	London	1899			Grade II* Listed status in 1960
The Rotherhithe Hippodrome	London	1899	2,087	demolished	Originally the "Terriss Theatre" [6]
Empire	Holloway, London	1899	1210	closed 1938 demolished 1953	Built for Oswald Stoll, became part of Moss chain; renamed Empire Theatre of Varieties, became part of Biocolour cinema chain 1923, Gaumont 1926.[7]
KOKO	Camden Town, London	26 December 1900	2,434		Grade II Listed status in 1991
King's Theatre	Hammersmith, London	1902	3,000+	Demolished 1963	"King's Studio" for BBC 1955–56
Noël Coward Theatre	West End, London	1903			Originally the "New Theatre", then the "Albery" from January 1973 to May 2006
Aldwych Theatre	London	December 1905	1,092	1,176 seats. Currently operated by the Nederlander Organization	Built for Seymour Hicks and Charles Frohmann, as one of a pair of a similar, though not identical theatres to each side of the not yet built Waldorf Hilton, London - the other being the "Waldorf Theatre", 1909 renamed "Strand Theatre". Opened Dec 1905 with Seymour Hicks's musical comedy Bluebell in Fairyland[8]
Novello Theatre	London	22 May 1905			Built as one of a pair with the Aldwych Theatre on either side of The Waldorf Hilton, London. Opened as the Waldorf Theatre on 22 May 1905, renamed the Strand Theatre in 1909. It was again renamed as the Whitney Theatre in 1911 before again becoming the Strand Theatre in 1913. In 2005 was renamed by its owners Delfont Mackintosh Theatres the Novello Theatre in honour of Ivor Novello.
Gielgud Theatre	London	1906			Opened in 1907 as the Hicks Theatre, paired with the Queens Theatre, then became the Globe, before becoming the Gielgud Theatre to allow the reconstruction of William Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on the Southbank to be named the Globe Theatre [9]
Sondheim Theatre	London	1907			One of a pair, the other part being what is now called the Gielgud Theatre. The front of the theatre was blown off during World War II, restored and opened again in 1959. The building had been given a new façade and front, which was designed by Brian Westwood and Sir Hugh Casson
Ambassadors Theatre	London	1913			Grade II listed 1973. First home of Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap"
St Martin's Theatre	London	1916			Present home of Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap"
Streatham Hill Theatre	London	1929			Built in 1929, it was the last theatre designed by Sprague, but possibly his largest and one of the best-equipped in London, outside of the West End. Became a bingo hall in 1962. Grade 2 listed. Bingo closed in 2017.