The Metropolitan was a leading theatre for music hall and variety, but with the decline of the latter in the mid-20th century it struggled to survive, and was demolished in 1964 to make way for a road-widening scheme.

From the 16th century the village of Padynton, about a mile north-west along the road to Edgware from Tyburn had contained a well known inn, the White Lion, whose licence was believed to date back to 1524.

[1] The hall benefited from the opening of a new Metropolitan line station at Edgware Road the following year, which made it easily accessible to Londoners from other districts.

The Era of 25 December 1897 reported: Of the auditorium, The Era commented: The new theatre opened on 22 December 1897 with a variety programme that included the singer and comedian Tom Costello, the "Coster Comedienne" Kate Carney, the ventriloquist Fred Russell, the yodelling Alexandra Dagmar, the Villion Troupe of acrobatic bicyclists and "Mr Fred Leslie's leaping dogs".

[4] The theatre historians Mander and Mitchenson commented in 1963 that during the first half of the twentieth century "the pattern of entertainment at the 'Met' follows the rise and fall of variety, the era of touring revue, through to its complete decline in recent years".

The London County Council earmarked the building for compulsory acquisition and demolition to make way for the widening of the Edgware Road and the construction of the Westway fly-over.