BBC Radio Theatre
{{short description|Theatre at BBC Broadcasting House in London}}
{{distinguish|text = the BBC radio theatre in Camden subsequently known as KOKO}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox venue
| name = BBC Radio Theatre
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| former names = The Concert Hall
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| image = BBC Radio Theatre (geograph 4148736).jpg
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| image_alt = View of a theatre stage from the centre of the balcony. The stage is in the middle of being prepared for an event; there are chairs, microphones and foldback speakers in place. The top of the photograph features the theatre's lighting rig, above the auditorium. The theatre's red stalls seats are visible.
| caption = The theatre's stage viewed from the balcony
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| address = Broadcasting House,
Portland Place
| location = London
| coordinates = {{coord|51|31|6|N|0|8|37|W|display=inline,title}}
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| broke_ground = 1929
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| operator = British Broadcasting Corporation
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| architect = George Val Myer
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| capacity = 550
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The BBC Radio Theatre (originally named The Concert Hall) is a theatre situated within the BBC's Broadcasting House complex. It is used for live broadcast and audio recordings.
History
Originally named The Concert Hall, the theatre was designed by George Val Myer as part of the BBC's new Broadcasting House building.{{cite web |last1=Beckwith |first1=Roger |title=Lower Ground Floor |url=http://www.orbem.co.uk/bh32/bh32_lg.htm |website=www.orbem.co.uk |publisher=Old BBC Radio Broadcasting Equipment and Memories |accessdate=11 November 2019}} The hall is {{convert|106|ft}} long, and tapers from {{convert|48|ft}} wide at the rear to {{convert|36|ft}} wide behind the stage. The room's height is {{convert|31|ft}}, taking up three storeys of Broadcasting House. Upon original specification, the hall had a reverberation time of 1.7 seconds.
Broadcasting House was opened on 14 May 1932 by Queen Mary.{{cite web |title=BBC – History of the BBC, Broadcasting House opens 14 May 1932 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01z12dt |website=BBC Online |publisher=BBC |accessdate=12 November 2019}} The theatre's first performance was held on 15 October 1932; at this time the hall's capacity allowed a large orchestra and an audience of 550. On 10 March 1933, the hall hosted a memorial concert to the BBC's former Director of Music, Percy Pitt.{{cite book|author=Jennifer Ruth|title=The BBC and Ultra-Modern Music, 1922–1936: Shaping a Nation's Tastes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CVCtkShvDSkC&pg=PA467|accessdate=11 November 2019|year=1999|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-66117-1|page=467}}
In 1933, the BBC Yearbook described the hall's acoustics and architecture:
{{cquote|In the design of public concert halls a difficulty frequently encountered is the variability of the reverberation time according to the size of the audience, owing to the sound-absorbing properties of the latter [...] This difficulty has to a very large extent been avoided by providing heavily upholstered seats for the audience and by carpeting the space occupied by the orchestra. The upholstery and carpets provide sufficient sound absorption in themselves, and conditions are not greatly altered when the upholstered seats are occupied.}}
Val Myer's interior included extensive Art Deco fittings, an oak dado and bas-reliefs by Gilbert Bayes. The theatre's green room was designed by Raymond McGrath.
Upon the outbreak of the Second World War, part of the theatre was used as a dormitory. On 6 September 1939, Stuart Hibberd wrote that:
{{cquote|Wakened by sirens at 6.50 a.m. in Broadcasting House, I scrambled into some clothes and went to the concert hall now being used as the main shelter for those on duty. One end of it had been converted into a dormitory, in which twenty or thirty people were asleep. The other was filled with people sitting and standing around in groups, dressed in all sorts of garment: girls in dressing-gowns of various hues, some thirty or more charladies, some with their mops and buckets, and engineers and programme staff on duty, like myself. We sat there for two hours before the 'All Clear' went; then there was a stampede to the canteen for breakfast, and of course nothing was ready.}}
In 1966, the BBC commissioned a report into sound propagation between spaces inside Broadcasting House, entitled Acoustic Tests in Broadcasting House, London: The Anomalous Sound Transmission between Studio S2 and the Concert Hall. The investigation found that Studio S2—situated in the sub basement below the Concert Hall{{cite web |last1=Beckwith |first1=Roger |title=The Sub-Basement |url=http://www.orbem.co.uk/bh32/bh32_sb.htm |website=www.orbem.co.uk |publisher=Old BBC Radio Broadcasting Equipment and Memories |accessdate=12 November 2019}} and used for small orchestras and pop groups—leaked sound into the auditorium above due to inadequate sound insulation and lack of a floating floor; this occasionally distracted musicians in the Concert Hall although it could not be heard on transmissions or recordings.{{cite web |last1=Gilford |first1=C.L.S. |last2=Burd |first2=A.N. |title=ACOUSTIC TESTS IN BROADCASTING HOUSE, LONDON: THE ANOMALOUS SOUND TRANSMISSION BETWEEN STUDIO S2 AND THE CONCERT HALL |url=http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1966-21.pdf |website=BBC Online |publisher=BBC Research Department |accessdate=12 November 2019 |page=1 |date=21 January 1966}}
In 1994, the Concert Hall was renamed the Radio Theatre.{{cite book|author=Mark Hines|title=The Story of Broadcasting House: Home of the BBC|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sc7nPAAACAAJ|accessdate=11 November 2019|year=2008|publisher=Merrell|isbn=978-1-85894-421-0|page=121}}
In 2012, a developmental Super Hi-Vision (8K) video system with 22.2 surround sound audio was installed in the theatre to show the London Olympics and its opening ceremony.{{cite web |last1=May |first1=Steve |title=Super Hi-Vision: 2012 Olympics in ultra hi-def – Inside CI |url=http://www.insideci.co.uk/articles/super-hi-vision-2012-olympics-in-ultra-hi-def.aspx |website=www.insideci.co.uk |publisher=Insideci |accessdate=12 November 2019 |date=7 August 2012}}{{cite web |last1=Zubrzyki |first1=John |title=The Olympics in Super Hi-Vision |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/blog/2012-08-the-olympics-in-super-hi-visio |website=Research and Development |publisher=BBC |accessdate=12 November 2019 |date=1 August 2012}}{{cite web |last1=May |first1=Steve |title=Super Hi-Vision: inside the 8K future of television |url=https://www.t3.com/news/super-hi-vision-the-future-of-television-today |website=t3.com |publisher=T3 |accessdate=12 November 2019 |language=en |date=1 February 2016}}
= Organ =
On 16 June 1933, the BBC unveiled the Concert Hall's Compton organ, the first of the BBC Theatre Organs. To celebrate the event, the corporation broadcast a concert featuring George Thalben-Ball, G. D. Cunningham, and Walter Alcock. The organ featured 2,826 pipes in 35 ranks.
Productions
The BBC has recorded a number of comedy programmes in the theatre, including What's My Line?,{{cite book|author=Guy Starkey|title=Radio in Context|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CgncCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA167|accessdate=12 November 2019|date=9 October 2013|publisher=Macmillan International Higher Education|isbn=978-1-137-30224-3|page=167}} Just a Minute,{{cite book|author=Nicholas Parsons|title=Welcome to Just a Minute!: A Celebration of Britain's Best-Loved Radio Comedy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6iRBAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT201|accessdate=12 November 2019|date=18 August 2014|publisher=Canongate Books|isbn=978-1-78211-248-8|page=201}} and I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.{{cite web |title=I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue – 30th Anniversary Special |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2002/04_april/04/cluepack.pdf |publisher=BBC |accessdate=12 November 2019 |page=6 |date=4 April 2002}}
Musical artists to have performed in the venue include David Bowie (for his Bowie at the Beeb album).{{cite book|author=Dave Thompson|title=Hallo Spaceboy: The Rebirth of David Bowie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k0l_cQEHV5oC&pg=PA357|accessdate=12 November 2019|date=16 November 2010|publisher=ECW Press|isbn=978-1-55490-271-2|page=357}} The Radio 2 In Concert series is broadcast from the theatre; contributing artists include Stereophonics,{{cite web |title=BBC Radio 2 announces In Concert series for 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2019/radio-2-in-concert |website=www.bbc.co.uk |publisher=BBC |accessdate=12 November 2019}} Jeff Lynne's ELO, James Morrison,{{cite web |title=James Morrison |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000b7sd |website=Radio 2 In Concert |publisher=BBC |accessdate=12 November 2019}} Emeli Sande,{{cite web |title=Emeli Sandi |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bsrsnp |website=Radio 2 In Concert |publisher=BBC |accessdate=12 November 2019}} Ed Sheeran,{{cite web |title=Ed Sheeran |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bshht6 |website=Radio 2 In Concert |publisher=BBC |accessdate=12 November 2019}} and Paul Weller.{{cite web |title=Paul Weller |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bq3zyj |website=Radio 2 In Concert |publisher=BBC |accessdate=12 November 2019}}