Cameron Mackintosh may be about to rename the Strand and Albery Theatres in honour of Ivor Novello and Noel Coward respectively, but can the days be far off when we follow Broadway’s lead in actually honouring corporate sponsors and company chief executives instead? Already Broadway has the American Airlines Theatre, the Hilton Theatre (formerly the Ford, so swapping one sponsor for another), and the Cadillac Winter Garden; it also now has two theatres named for the Shubert Organisation’s long-presiding chief operating officers, the late Bernie Jacobs and the still current Gerald Schoenfeld.
In London, we have so far resisted putting such names above the title, though the Royal Court compromise that was struck was to re-name the theatres within it the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs and Jerwood Theatre Upstairs to recognise their involvement. At the Royal Opera House, the grand floral hall was renamed the Vilar Floral Hall when benefactor Alberto Vilar pledged £10 million towards the Development Appeal, and subsequently also pledged money for the Young Artists Programme, several opera sponsorships, and for the installation of seat back titles in auditorium seats. But when Vilar repeatedly failed to meet his payment obligations, the Royal Opera House announced in September that it was removing his name “from all printed material, and signage around the building will be altered over the forthcoming months.”
So that’s one blow for corporate naming; but meanwhile, another has discreetly arrived in the West End. When I re-visited the Piccadilly Theatre yesterday afternoon to see Guys and Dolls again, I noticed that the stalls bar on the house left of the auditorium had suddenly been renamed the American Airlines Bar, to reflect the show’s company sponsor. Will the name, however, continue beyond the run of the show — or simply be replaced by that of the next tenant’s sponsor?
And one more thing I also noticed there: a whopping new high price for souvenir brochures of £10 each! Now I know that these are an ‘added extra’ and there is no compulsion to purchase them on the part of audience members; but Ewan McGregor is the kind of star around who fans will collect anything, and it seems to me that price gouging like this is an attempt to cash in on that devotion. I only hope Mr McGregor is getting a cut, and not merely having his image used to generate income for others.
One of the best sponsorship brandings in this respect has to be the Sky bar at the Coliseum -- named after the Sky/Artsworld sponsorship of the ENO, of course, but with the new glass roof after the refurbishment a couple of years ago, it's an appropriate name.
"The American Airlines Bar" sounds like somewhere you go to fortify yourself before spending the next few hours in an uncomfortable seat with inadequate legroom.
Oh, hang on...