Press Releases

AMBASSADOR THEATRE GROUP SELLS THE NEW AMBASSADORS THEATRE TO SIR STEPHEN WALEY-COHEN

Issued : 4 April 2007

Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) has announced the sale of the New Ambassadors Theatre to Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen.

The deal for the 403-seat theatre on West Street, currently home to Whipping It Up starring Richard Wilson and Robert Bathurst, was completed over the weekend. As part of the deal, the majority of the staff will be retained at the theatre by the new management. The rest of the staff will remain employees of ATG and will work at the company’s other West End venues.

The Ambassadors Theatre, as it was originally known, and the St Martin’s Theatre, were both designed by architect W G R Sprague, as companions, and built in 1913. Charles B Cochran recognised The Ambassadors lent itself perfectly to intimate revue and a period of sophisticated “miniature revues” was performed at the beginning of the First World War. In 1952, the world's longest running and most famous play, The Mousetrap, started its run at The Ambassadors with Richard Attenborough and his wife Sheila Sim. Since then, the venue has enjoyed numerous other successes, including the Royal Shakespeare's hit production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses in the 80s.

In addition to The Ambassadors Theatre , Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen also runs the St. Martin's and Victoria Palace theatres and is the Producer of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap which has been at the St. Martin's Theatre since 1974.

Since ATG took over the New Ambassadors in 1996, it has become the only commercial West End theatre to produce its own work and present limited seasons of work throughout the year from some of the country's best and most exciting companies, writers and artists. Audiences at the New Ambassadors have experienced a variety of highly successful productions including Mark Ravenhill's Some Explicit Polariods, the highly acclaimed Stones in His Pockets, Conor McPherson's Port Authority, The Vagina Monologues, Boston Marriage by David Mamet starring Zoe Wanamaker, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg starring Clive Owen, Victoria Hamilton and Prunella Scales, One for the Road written by and starring Harold Pinter and The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband starring Alison Steadman and Daisy Donovan.

Co-founded by Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire in 1992, ATG is currently the largest theatre group in the West End and separately, the second largest in the UK regions, with a total of 23 venues, including 10 in the West End. ATG is also one of the country’s foremost theatre producers and has been behind some of the most successful and innovative productions, including Porgy and Bess, Michael Grandage’s award winning Guys and Dolls, The New Statesman starring Rik Mayall (currently on UK tour) and The Rocky Horror Show starring David Bedella (also on UK tour). Most recently, ATG announced its plans for international expansion, which will see the company grow further into Europe and North America, open an office in New York and produce its productions around the world including Australia and Asia.

Rosemary Squire, Joint Chief Executive, ATG said:
“We are delighted that this wonderful West End venue is in Sir Stephen’s hands – one of the most reputable and successful men in the theatre industry today. We hadn’t planned to sell the venue, but the offer made good commercial sense at a time that coincides with our overseas expansion and the launch of our New York office. We wish Sir Stephen and his team every success.”

Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen said:
"I am very pleased to take on this lovely small theatre and look forward to housing many further successful productions there following the run of Whipping It Up."

- ENDS -
For more information, please contact the following:
Ambassador Theatre Group – John Chittenden (Group Press Officer)
Tel: 020 8545 7919. Email: johnchittenden@theambassadors.com
Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen – Tel: 020 7828 0600

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