The Alhambra was originally known as the Royal Panopticon and was a landmark building at 23–27 Leicester Square, completed in 1854 by T. Hayter Lewis as a venue for showcasing the finest in the arts and for scientific demonstrations and popular education.

[2] The Leicester Square theatre's name was changed frequently, but usually reflected the building's (very loose) stylistic associations with the celebrated Alhambra in Granada, Spain.

In the 1860s, John Hollingshead took over management at the Alhambra and made it famous for its sumptuous staging, alluring corps de ballet and the notorious front-of-house Promenade bar.

The interval is one of the main features of the show, for the huge basement canteen is open to any of the audience who think a visit worth while ... You wander down after the ballet, pick up a couple of dancers and buy them champagne.

Nearly an hour passes in telling stories and gossiping about the crowd of swells and chorines who skirmish and lounge and laugh in the long, bare but well lighted room.

Another example of the fare on offer was this 1882 production, written by Dion Boucicault[a] and J. R. Planche: Marian, the giant Amazon queen, will make her first appearance in England at the Royal Alhambra Theatre on Saturday, 8th July, in the magnificent silver armour scene in the enormously successful fairy extravaganza, "Babil & Bijou".

This young lady was born on the 31st January, 1866, at Benkendorf, a village near the Thuringia Mountains, Germany, and has attained the remarkable height of 8 feet 2 inches (2.49 m), and is still growing.Early films were also a part of the entertainment, with Robert W. Paul, a former collaborator of Birt Acres, presenting his first theatrical programme on 25 March 1896.

This included films featuring cartoonist Tom Merry drawing caricatures of the German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II (1895),[6] and Prince Bismarck (1895).

The music for the revues was written by Nat D. Ayer with lyrics by Clifford Grey, and the text was by George Grossmith Jr.[8] Like many other theatres, the Alhambra went into decline after World War I owing to the increasing popularity of cinema and radio.