Mrs Doubtfire musical on song for West End’s Shaftsbury Theatre

The success of West End musical Mrs Doubtfire has helped boost the finances of the firm behind London’s Shaftsbury Theatre.

The business behind the venue has reported a turnover of £26.2m for 2023, up from the £17m it achieved in 2022.

Newly-filed accounts with Companies House also show its pre-tax profit jumped from £1m to £1.5m over the same period.

The Mrs Doubtfire music opened at Mrs Doubtfire in June 2023, having first been performed in November 2019 in Seattle, USA.

Shaftsbury Theatre is owned by the Theatre of Comedy, which was founded by actor Ray Cooney.

A statement signed off by the board said: “2023 saw a tight change of shows in Q2 which resulted in only five weeks of the year not welcoming audiences into the theatre.

“2023 was also the start of a new collaborative relationship between the theatre and the producers of the new 2023 music which saw an agreement reached for the presentation of a range of musicals at the theatre for a set period beyond 2024.

“This agreement will allow the theatre’s management to actively plan further developments to the building during 2024 and beyond.

“The additional front of house works were completed in 2023 with the theatre inviting guests into its new VIP areas in the year.

“The company successfully launched its events business and with further planned investment in this area, the company has confidence that this will also expand the theatre’s reach outside the theatre industry.”

The company behind Shaftsbury Theatre added: “The senior management are confident that with the current popular production in situ and the new arrangement in place for future productions, that company will generate sufficient working capital to continue to repay its debt obligations as they fall due.”

How does Shaftsbury Theatre compare to its West End rivals?

The results come after City AM reported that sales at Nimax Theatres, operator behind iconic London venues including The Palace, Garrick and Apollo Theatres, outstripped their pre-pandemic levels for the second year in a row.

Turnover across the group increased to almost £33m over the 12 months ending October 1, 2023, up from just under £32m in the year before and 10 per cent higher than the period ending September 29, 2019 – the group’s final results before the pandemic hit.

These strong sales meant the company remained in the black despite pre-tax profit dipping slightly from £8.5m to £7.5m over the course of the year.

Nimax said much of the success could be attributed to long running shows, with three theatres in its group accommodating year-long productions: Harry Potter and The Cursed Child and The Play That Goes Wrong, playing at The Dutchess and Palace Theatres respectively and the musical Six, which finished its second full-year run at the Vauderville.

City AM also reported how the popularity of productions such as Frozen, Back to the Future and Matilda with audiences helped sales near £200m at the theatres owned by Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber.

LW Theatres is made up of The Theatre Royal Drury Lane, The London Palladium, Adelphi Theatre, His Majesty’s Theatre, Cambridge Theatre and Gillian Lynne Theatre.