The present Lyceum Theatre opened on July 14, 1834, at a cost of £40,000, to a design by Samuel Beazley. An earlier theater on the site was the first in Britain to have its stage lit by gas, in 1817. Fire destroyed the earlier building in 1830. Beazley's facade and grand portico survive.
Bertie Crewe almost completely rebuilt the interior in 1904 in a rococo style. A balcony overhangs the dress circle, which the article describes as unique, and the theater seats 2,100. Henry Irving staged Shakespeare there from 1871 to 1902, and Bram Stoker was business manager.
It became a ballroom after the Second World War and hosted Miss World from 1951 to 1968. Restored in 1996, it has staged The Lion King since 1999. It is Grade II* listed.
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