Architect Bertie Crewe's London Opera House, a grand Beaux-Arts
vision with a 2,660-seat capacity, opened in 1911 aiming to rival
Covent Garden. Though it struggled to compete, it housed diverse
productions and even briefly became the National Theatre during
World War One. In 1916, impresario Oswald Stoll purchased the venue,
and after a brief stint as the Stoll Picture Theatre, it returned to
live entertainment under its new namesake. The curtain fell on the
Stoll in 1957, its demolition making way for an office block.
Crewe's architectural legacy lives on in the Peacock Theatre, which
now occupies the site.
