 In 1791 the Drury Lane Theatre was demolished, and Grimaldi was loaned to the Haymarket Theatre, where he appeared, briefly, in the opera Cymon, which starred the tenor Michael Kelly. On 21 April 1794, the new Drury Lane theatre opened, and Grimaldi, now 15 years old, resumed his place as one of the principal juvenile performers. The same year, he played his first major part since his father's death; as the dwarf in Valentine and Orson. Two years later, at Sadler's Wells, he played the role of Hag Morad in the Thomas John Dibdin Christmas pantomime The Talisman; or, Harlequin Made Happy. The pantomime was a success, and Grimaldi received rave reviews. The Drury Lane management were eager to capitalise on his success, and later that year he was cast in Lodoiska, a Parisian hit adapted for the London stage by Kemble. Grimaldi played Camasin, a role that required the acrobatic and sword-fighting skills that he had learned as a child. He won wider admiration as Pierrot in the 1796 Christmas pantomime of Robinson Crusoe at Drury Lane.
