Theatre to be named after Coward

Two of the West End's most famous theatres are to be "reinvented" with investment of more than £6million and new names, Sir Cameron Mackintosh revealed today.

The Albery theatre is to be named after one of the most irreverent and inventive figures in British theatre history: Sir Noël Coward.

In 1920 Sir Noël's first play, I'll Leave It To You, was staged there.

Meanwhile, the Strand theatre - which opened 100 years ago today - is to be rechristened the Novello after matinée idol and virtuoso composer Ivor Novello.

He lived above the Strand theatre for 38 years and wrote many of his best-known musicals there.

Both venues are to undergo extensive repairs and improvements.

The Strand will reopen this autumn with new seats designed for today's larger theatregoer, extra lavatories, wheelchair access and new bars. The interiors and exteriors of these two listed buildings will be painstakingly restored. The Albery will reopen late next year.

Impresario Sir Cameron said: "We want people to have a good night the moment they step over the threshold."

The work is the latest stage of his £35million investment in his sevenstrong portfolio of West End venues. He has already spent £7million on the Prince of Wales theatre, home to musical Mamma Mia!

Many West End theatres are now sadly faded with cramped bars and a lack of lavatory facilities.

Wyndham's, which along with the Albery comes into Sir Cameron's control after its current lease expires, will also be refurbished. Graham Payn of the Noël Coward Estate said: "It is fitting that his contribution to the theatre is being acknowledged."

Chris Green, chief executive of the Ivor Novello Awards, said: "We are confident that the renamed Novello Theatre will do much to enhance his name."

Sir Cameron added: "Ivor Novello's personal connection with the Strand made him an obvious choice and I've long thought that Noël Coward deserved an honour in the West End, a place he did so much to glamorise."