A popular music hall, it hosted performances by Niccolò Paganini and Franz Liszt and Mr Keane the leading actor manager of the early nineteenth century.

These show the theatre to have been a low building with no windows and a door with a Grecian portico typical of larger houses of the era.The interior was rectangular with two tiers of boxes along each wall and standing in the pit.

Extract from 'Nicholas Nickleby' "They groped their way through a dark passage, and, descending a step or two, threaded a little maze of canvas screens and paintpots, and emerged upon the stage of the Portsmouth Theatre.

It was not very light, but Nicholas found himself close to the first entrance on the prompt side, among bare walls, dusty scenes, mildewed clouds, heavily daubed draperies, and dirty floors.

Rutley (born Newcastle 1816) was an impresario and circus proprietor who had arrived in Portsmouth in 1854 and purchased the Swan Tavern in Commercial Road and the adjoining Landport Hall, a racquet court.

The magistrates, believing theatres places of ill-repute, granted a licence for a limited period with the condition that there was no direct access from the tavern.

Boughton decided on a major rebuild demolishing and replacing the theatre with the present building which re-opened on 4 August 1884 with Gilbert and Sullivan's "Princess Ida".

A plan in the early 1900s to build a 'super theatre' on the site today occupied by the "Zurich" offices was rejected by magistrates and the Empire was extensively redecorated and reopened with Marie Lloyd in 1913.

He built over a hundred and fifty theatres across the country including the Tower Ballroom Blackpool, Sadlers Wells and the London Palladium, his greatest success.

He developed 'raked' stages (built at an incline toward the audience) to improve vision from the upper circle and gods, and decorative mouldings and shaped frontage to the balcony fronts that encouraged better acoustics.

During some of performances his private secretary and theatre manager, Abraham ('Bram') Stoker - author of his biography and of the classic Gothic novel Dracula - worked in the offices backstage.

At its height from the Victorian to pre-WW2 eras, theatres provided a dynamic programme of entertainment to the communities they served typically, boasting "two shows nightly" with weekend matinees.

As the Victorian wealthy liked to dine late after a trip to the theatre, the main performance started at 7.30 and the support (shorter and usually less demanding such as a light drama or farce) opened afterwards.

By the 1920s, radio and cinema led to the decline in attendances and, coupled with economic depression and war costs, theatres began to close or convert to film screening.

The neighbouring Guildhall was gutted by fire and the Prince's destroyed by a direct hit during an afternoon matinee for children but the Royal escaped unharmed.

According to local academic and musician David Allen, the theatre was the venue for the first live rock 'n' roll performance in the UK in 1954.

In 1957 it opened as a repertory theatre under local impresario Hector Ross but this was short lived and from 1960 it operated only as a bingo hall and a venue for wrestling.

The continuing decay and damage led to the formation of the Theatre Royal Society which pressured to defend and preserve the building.

In 1971 the controversial director, Ken Russell chose the theatre as the location for a film version of the hit musical "The Boy Friend".

A member of the public alerted a patrolling policeman to the smoke but by the time the fire brigade arrived the rear of the theatre was ablaze.

In 1975, volunteers were allowed back into the building to start the long process of repair and renovation and a trust was formally established to care for the theatre.

(The offices and dressing rooms along with the Strand lighting unit were situated to the 'audience' left of the stage behind the White Swan and survived the fire.

In 2003, faced with on-going financial stringency, the Board of Trustees commissioned the Boyden Report which advised a short closure and re-launch and the appointment of an experienced professional director.

With additional funding, the Matcham cast iron portico was renovated, central heating and a new pit bar installed, and original vintage seating in the stalls which had previously been used on the set of Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge.

Drama, stand up comedy, music and dance became features of each season whilst work with local schools and community groups was expanded.

In 2009, London-based architects Peynore and Prasad were contracted to design the building and a professional fundraiser was appointed to raise the estimated £4m cost to the trust.

A fund raising programme "Let's Make It Great" began at the opening of 2010 with a weekend finishing with a gala performance MC'd by comedian and broadcaster Sandi Toksvig and headlined by the actor Sheila Hancock, chancellor of the university.

Broadcaster and musician Paul Jones and actor Christopher Timothy were among the cast list which included popular and classical music, comedy, opera and dance.

In May 2010, the theatre hosted the first screening in nearly three decades of "The Boy Friend", an honour it shared in the same week with the Verona Film Festival.

The screening was preceded by an interview with the director Ken Russell and cast members Twiggy, Brian Murphy, Georgina Hale and Murray Melvin and the score composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davis, former Master of the Queens Music.