A HISTORY OF DELFONT MACKINTOSH THEATRES
Sir Cameron Mackintosh’s Delfont Mackintosh Theatres Ltd owns (as six freeholds and two long leases) and operates eight of the most prestigious theatres in London’s West End: the Gielgud, Noël Coward, Novello, Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, Sondheim, Victoria Palace and Wyndham’s. In the autumn of 1990, the then owner of the Prince Edward and Prince of Wales, Lord (Bernard) Delfont, asked Cameron if he might be interested in becoming the owner of two West End theatres. At the time, the theatres were owned by First Leisure Corporation, the hugely successful public company that Bernard had created with the extraordinary property developer and arts champion, Lord (Max) Rayne. Bernard was determined that the theatres would remain in the care of someone who felt as strongly as he did about their future and in February 1991, Cameron agreed to become his partner in a new theatre company. In July of the same year, Cameron took on the freehold of the Strand Theatre (later renaming it the Novello in recognition of the brilliant actor and composer, Ivor Novello, who lived in the flat above the theatre for 38 years) and, following completion of the sale in November 1991, Bernard and Cameron’s theatre company was renamed Delfont Mackintosh Theatres Ltd (DMT).
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