Managed by Samuel Arnold, from 1794 to 1809 the building hosted a variety of entertainments including a circus produced by Philip Astley, a chapel, and the first London exhibition of waxworks by Madame Tussauds.

The theatre then played opera, adaptations of Charles Dickens novels and James Planché's "fairy extravaganzas", among other works.

In 1904 the theatre was almost completely rebuilt and richly ornamented in Rococo style by Bertie Crewe, but it retained Beazley's façade and grand portico.

The house was famous for hosting the London première of Mozart's opera Così fan tutte (9 May 1811)[6] and as the first theatre in Britain to have its stage lit by gas (6 August 1817).

[11] Composer John Barnett produced a number of works in the first few years of the theatre, including The Mountain Sylph (1834), credited as the first modern English opera.

In 1841–43, composer Michael William Balfe managed the theatre and produced National Opera here, but the venture was ultimately unsuccessful.

Tom Taylor's adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities, with Dickens himself as consultant, played in 1860, shortly after end of its serialisation and volume publication.

In 1866, Dion Boucicault's The Long Strike (his adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's Manchester novels Mary Barton and Lizzie Leigh) was produced here.

[13] In 1867, he presented his Christmas pantomime, called Harlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren, and in 1884, he produced the drama Comedy and Tragedy.

[14] In 1889, the world's finest Italian dramatic tenor, Francesco Tamagno, appeared at the Lyceum, singing the leading role in the first London production of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Otello.

[18] Other celebrated productions included Much Ado About Nothing, The Lady of Lyons by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1878), Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, The Lyons Mail by Charles Reade (1883), the immensely popular Faust by William Gorman Wills (1885, which even drew applications for reserved seats from foreigners), Macbeth (1888, with incidental music by Sir Arthur Sullivan[19]), Henry VIII (1892),[20] Becket by Alfred Tennyson (1893), King Arthur by J. Comyns Carr, with incidental music by Sir Arthur Sullivan (1895),[21] Cymbeline (1896) and Victorien Sardou and Émile Moreau's play Madame Sans-Gêne (1897).

When Irving and Terry toured America, as they did several times beginning in 1883, the theatre played works with many famous actors including Johnston Forbes-Robertson, Mrs. Patrick Campbell, Sarah Bernhardt, and Eleonora Duse.

After being bought by Thomas Barrasford in 1904, the theatre was rebuilt and richly ornamented in rococo style by Bertie Crewe, retaining only the façade and portico of the original building.

The Lyceum was the last London theatre to continue the early practice of concluding pantomimes with a harlequinade, a free standing entertainment of slapstick clowning, juggling and tumbling.

The theatre closed that year with a landmark performance of Hamlet directed by Sir John Gielgud (Ellen Terry's great nephew).

T.Rex and its earlier incarnation Tyrannosaurus Rex, the Sex Pistols,[26] the Grateful Dead, The Groundhogs, The Clash, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Led Zeppelin, Queen, The Police, The Ramones, The Who, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, both incarnations of Adam and the Ants, U2, Colosseum, The Smiths, Iron Maiden and Pink Floyd all played here.

[29] In 1973, the theatre gained protection and was Grade II* listed as Interior despite adaptation and alteration for present ballroom use retains [a] substantial part of Crewe's work.

James Earl Jones, who voiced the role of King Mufasa in the original Disney animated film, attended the performance.