The Phoenix Artist Club, one of London’s ‘Hidden Gems’, celebrates its Pearl Anniversary on 25th April after thirty years of ‘Entertaining Entertainers’, as well as those lucky enough to find their way down the stairs to a unique venue in the heart of the West End.
Opened in 1988 by entrepreneur John Mahoney as a brand new and exciting bar-restaurant, the Phoenix Artist Club also became the go-to place for the actors, musicians, singers and workers in the West End. During its formative years, the venue was known as Shuttleworth’s and many still refer to it as “Shuts” as it seems as if it never does.
The Phoenix Artist Club was once the rehearsal rooms of the Phoenix Theatre above, used by Noël Coward, Gertrude Lawrence and Laurence Olivier to rehearse Private Lives in 1930, the venue still features an amicably kitsch décor, a 1930s parquet floor, copper-topped bar, memorabilia from past productions, signed West End posters, plus row upon endless row of autographed headshots – many famous, others not so, but all welcome just the same!
Stories abound of how The Phoenix Artist Club earned the reputation of the place to be once the curtain fell. Overseen by the extravagantly waist-coated and gin-powered Maurice Huggett, the loved and sometimes loathed proprietor steered the Phoenix through several turbulent years, not always on an even keel, but staying open as rival venues closed, neighbourhoods changed, and rents spiralled.
When Huggett died in 2011 there were doubts whether the old Phoenix bird would ever rise again and be restored to its former glory.
As a final flourish, Huggett left his company shares in the Phoenix Artist Club to his friends Ken Wright and Colin Savage who vowed that the Phoenix would remain one of London’s ‘hidden gems’ as it’s so often referred to in many reviews. With the motto ‘Entertaining Entertainers since 1988’, The Phoenix Artist Club is one of London's last independently owned and operated venues.
In just over six roller-coaster years Ken Wright and Colin Savage have turned the Phoenix Artist Club around and it is now a multi-award winning venue for the modern day creative.
They have opened during the day as a Creative Hub with hot desking, free tea, coffee and broadcast quality WIFI; introduced nightly in-house entertainment; and run over 600 ticketed events a year – all for membership starting at just £10 a month.
The Club has been named a Musicians’ Union ‘Fair Play’ Venue, a ‘Trading for Good’ Company, Restaurant of the Year in 2016 / 2017, a ‘Small Business Saturday’ Top 100 Company, and in 2017 the ultimate accolade of being named ‘King of Clubs’ at the Club Awards, beating 10,000 competitors from across the U.K.
Those descending the stairs to the Phoenix Artist Club in recent years have included British theatre greats John Hurt, Ian McKellen, Jude Law, Simon Russell Beale and Adrian Lester; Broadway and West End stars Michael Ball, Imelda Staunton, James Corden and Ben Platt. Comedians Ricky Gervais, Al Murray, Catherine Tate, Stephen Fry and musicians Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and Jamie Cullum have also been seen there.
While Hollywood stars searching for some British hospitality and a haven from the media gaze have included Kiefer Sutherland, Keira Knightly, Danny DeVito, Josh Hartnett, David Soul, Orlando Bloom, James McAvoy, Stan Lee, Rupert Everett and Jennifer Lawrence.
