W. G. R. Sprague

The two substantially intact Sprague theatres outside London are the Lyceum, Sheffield, which is Grade II* Listed, and the Théâtre Édouard VII, Paris, designated a Monument historique.

• Name — W. G. R. Sprague • Birth Name — William George Robert Sprague • Born — 1865 • Birthplace — Dunedin, New Zealand • Died — 4 December 1933 (aged 68) • Place of death — Maidenhead, England • Occupation — Theatre architect • Notable Works — 35 theatres, including the Aldwych, Ambassadors, St Martin's, Noël Coward, Novello, Sondheim and Wyndham's

Sprague was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1865, the son of an English actress, Dolores Drummond, and her husband, William Drummond Sprague, a law clerk. The couple were based in Melbourne, Australia, where Drummond had a successful career, sometimes using the stage name Dolly Green. After her husband died she moved to London with the young Sprague and his four sisters in the latter part of the 1870s. Both in Australia and after moving to England, Sprague was a friend and protégé of the actor-manager Charles Wilmot, who was instrumental in securing for him an apprenticeship to Frank Matcham, the leading theatre architect of the time. Sprague remained with Matcham between the ages of sixteen and twenty, and was then articled to Walter Emden for three years. He was in a partnership with Bertie Crewe until 1895. According to a 1982 study of Britain's old theatres, once he set up on his own, Sprague, "well trained in the practicalities of theatre architecture, but uninhibited by the pedantries of an academic education", designed numerous theatres including some that remain as "the most elegant smaller houses of the West End". 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". He told an interviewer in 1897 that in his view there was nothing more foolish than to make a theatre too large: For a populous district of working folk, where melodrama at cheap prices is to be done, a vast theatre is suitable. In a "genteel" suburb such a house would frequently be half empty, and the fatal atmosphere of depression would be created. For such a locality a small, elegant theatre, always seeming prosperous, is the thing. Sprague often had to convince his clients that traditional theatre layouts of three or four tiers did not in reality accommodate a larger audience than his preferred two-tier auditorium: "Used with a proper ingenuity the two tiers can be made to accommodate the same number of people as three tiers, making them ever so much more comfortable and dividing the classes of playgoers quite as effectually". Sprague hated obstructive pillars in the construction of a theatre, and considered it the responsibility of the architect to ensure that every occupant of a seat had a clear view of the entire stage. The theatrical newspaper The Era commented in 1902: Sprague married twice. His first marriage was in November 1890 to Mary Jane Beer; they had a daughter, Maud. They divorced in 1898 and in April 1900 he married Isabella Katherine Bennett; they had a daughter and two sons. Sprague died from heart failure at his home in Maidenhead on 4 December 1933, aged 68.

In London, except where stated. Of Sprague's surviving theatres, thirteen are Listed – officially designated as of particular architectural or historic interest deserving special protection. Eleven are listed in the lowest category, Grade II, and two – the Lyceum, Sheffield and Wyndham's, London are in the middle category, Grade II*. • Date — Theatre — Capacity — Notes • 1890 — Olympic Theatre, London (with Bertie Crewe) — 3,000 — Demolished 1905 • 1891 — Theatre Royal, Aldershot (with Crewe) — 700 — Demolished • 1893 — Theatre Royal, Lincoln (with Crewe) — 475 — Exterior rebuilt in 1945. (Interior survives and is Listed Grade II) • 1894 — Camberwell Metropole (with Crewe) — 2,200 — Demolished 1937 • 1896 — Shakespeare, Battersea — 3,000 — Demolished 1956 • 1897 — Grand, Fulham — 2,239 — Demolished 1958 • 1897 — Lyceum, Sheffield — 3,000 — Listed, Grade II* • 1897 — Lyceum, Newport — 1,250 — Demolished • 1898 — Coronet, Notting Hill Gate — 1,143 — Listed, Grade II • 1899 — Wyndham's — 759 — Listed, Grade II* • 1899 — Terriss Theatre, Rotherhithe (later called Rotherhithe Hippodrome) — 2,087 — Demolished 1955 • 1899 — Holloway Empire — 1,210 — Demolished mid-1970s • 1899 — Princess of Wales's Theatre, Kennington — 1,347 — Demolished 1949 • 1899 — Empire Palace of Varieties, Stratford — 2,000 — Demolished • 1899 — Royal Duchess, Balham — 1,200 — Demolished 1960s • 1899 — Empire, Bradford — 2,000 — Demolished 1980s • 1900 — Camden Theatre (now called Koko) — 2,434 — Listed, Grade II • 1900 — Euston Palace of Varieties (later called the Regent) — 1,380 — Demolished 1968 • 1902 — King's, Hammersmith — 3,000 — Demolished 1965 • 1902 — New, London (later called the Albery and then the Noël Coward Theatre) — 1,250 — Listed, Grade II • 1902 — Royal Artillery, Woolwich — 1,000 — Demolished 1956 • 1905 — Hicks Theatre (now the Aldwych Theatre) — 1,092 — Listed, Grade II • 1905 — Waldorf (later the Strand; now called the Novello Theatre) — 1,146 — Listed, Grade II • 1906 — Globe (now called the Gielgud Theatre) — 1,000 — Listed, Grade II • 1907 — Queen's (now called the Sondheim Theatre) — 1,120 — Listed, Grade II • 1907 — Palace, Reading — 1,460 — Demolished 1961 • 1908 — Grand Opera House, Norwich (later called the Hippodrome) — 1,836 — Demolished 1966 • 1908 — New, Oxford — 1,200 — Demolished and replaced 1933 • 1910 — Kilburn Empire (later called the Broadway) — 1,913 — Mainly rebuilt in 1970s; fragmentaryremainsofSprague'swork • 1912 — New, Northampton — 2,300 — Demolished 1950 • 1913 — Ambassadors — 490 — Listed, Grade II • 1913 — Théâtre Édouard VII, Paris — 800 — Monument historique • 1915 — Penge Empire — 1,500 — Demolished 1960 • 1916 — St Martin's — 600 — Listed, Grade II • 1929 — Streatham Hill Theatre — 3,000 — Listed, Grade II • Source: Mackintosh and Sell, and Arthur Lloyd website.

What the record establishes about W. Sprague is recorded with the occupation architect. Sprague is recorded as a citizen of Australia. The identifiers under which W. Sprague may be traced in institutional catalogues.