Snippets

Vaguely Interesting Snippets | 21 January 2014

  • The roof collapse at the Apollo Theatre has focused attention on the safety of some of the West End’s oldest and most iconic theatres. It also saw a startling statistic across many newspapers – fully 32,000 spectators go to West End shows each night. A couple of matinees means that the West End attracts around 14 million visitors each year. In 2012, the West End grossed over half a billion pounds. And this is just from the West End’s 45 theatres. The Society of London Theatre has commissioned a report to survey theatre across the capital and the initial findings are startling – “We think there are more than 230 professional theatres in London, with a combined seating capacity of over 100,000.”

  • Jane Seymour was the only one of Henry VIII’s six wives to be granted a state funeral. Undoubtably a reward for bearing the male heir the king so badly wanted.