Bradley Walsh will host Raise the Roof! at the Victoria Palace Theatre on 1 November, a single evening staged jointly by Denville Hall and Elstree Studios to mark the hundredth year of each. Tickets went on sale this morning.
Denville Hall, the residential and nursing home for the entertainment professions, reaches its hundredth year in 2026, and Elstree Studios reaches its own in the same twelve months. The two institutions will mark the coincidence on a West End stage. Raise the Roof! takes the Victoria Palace Theatre for one evening on Sunday 1 November 2026, with Bradley Walsh as host and further performers still to be announced.
The evening raises money for the Denville Hall Centenary Appeal, which is seeking £26 million in two halves. The first £13 million would pay for two new buildings of assisted living accommodation in the home's grounds, along with a café, a restaurant, a cinema, a rehabilitation and yoga studio and a gym, and would relandscape the gardens so that a wheelchair can reach all of them. The second £13 million would establish an endowment, Alfred's Fund, intended to carry the running costs through the next hundred years.
The fund takes its name from Alfred Denville, the actor-manager and Member of Parliament who bought the Northwood house in 1924 after finding an old friend from the profession sheltering under a bridge. It was opened as Denville Hall on 19 July 1926 by the Princess Louise, then the Princess Royal, and stood in memory of Denville's son Jack, who had died on stage of complications from injuries sustained in the First World War. The home admitted retired actors and actresses at first; it now takes anyone who has worked in the entertainment professions, on or off stage and screen, and offers the full range of care, specialist dementia care included.
That dementia unit exists because of an earlier bequest of the same kind. Baroness de Rothschild, who came to know the Hall through her friendship with its then chair of trustees, Sir Richard Attenborough, left it a legacy of £7 million on her death in 2003. It paid for the award-winning wing that carries her name, Jeanne's Wing, and the balance was invested to subsidise residents' fees.
"Our centenary is a chance to celebrate the remarkable people who have shaped British entertainment while ensuring that Denville can continue to be there for those who need us for the next 100 years," said Joanne Benjamin, chair of trustees at Denville Hall. The appeal's presidents are Dame Helen Mirren, Sir Ian McKellen and Daniel Radcliffe.
Rebecca Hawkes, chief executive of Elstree Studios, said: "There is a wonderful sense of joy in bringing these two centenaries together. Elstree has spent a century creating entertainment that brings people together, while Denville has spent a century caring for the people who make that entertainment possible. Celebrating side by side - and raising money for Denville - is a fitting way to mark such an important milestone."
Bradley Walsh, whose work across television and the stage has made him one of the most recognisable performers in the country, said: "What makes this really special is that we're celebrating together. Elstree has given us so many unforgettable moments, and Denville has been there for the people who created them. I'm delighted to be hosting what should be a brilliant night for a brilliant cause."
The choice of house is a considered one. The Victoria Palace opened in 1911 with a variety bill, designed by Frank Matcham for the impresario Alfred Butt, and Historic England describes it as London's last great variety house. It was home to the Crazy Gang for fifteen years from 1947. Delfont Mackintosh Theatres bought the building in 2014 and reopened it after a multi-million-pound refurbishment two years later.
A charity gala is itself part of the home's history. On Monday 8 December 1930 its trustees - among them Lady Wyndham, Sir Gerald Du Maurier, Robert Courtneidge, Percy Broadhead and Alfred Denville himself - staged a matinee for Denville Hall at the London Hippodrome in the presence of the King and Queen. The industry has been raising money for its own in much the same way ever since.
The performance begins at 7pm at the Victoria Palace Theatre, Victoria Street, London SW1E 5EA. Tickets are on sale now and start at £35.
