Apollo Victoria Theatre London

The Apollo Victoria Theatre, near Victoria station originally opened as a cinema in 1930. It di not become a theatre housing musical theatre until 1981, when it opened with a production of The Sound of Music starring Petula Clark.
It is one of London’s largest theatres with a capacity of 2,500, so needs big shows with a long shelf life to make the productions sustainable. Wicked which is currently running, opened here in 2006. It claimed a record-​breaking £761,000 taken at the box office, during its first eight performances and to date has grossed £150 million in London alone. My contribution is to see it twice.
The theatre itself was Grade II listed in 1972. It is a great example of art deco architecture. The entrances on Wilton Road and Vauxhall Bridge Road are simple, with chrome trimmings. The interior is nautical themed in the original Art Deco style, which makes extensive use of concealed lighting, decorated with scallop shells and columns that burst into sculptured fountains at the ceiling.
You get the feeling of it once being a cinema when you enter the auditorium. The seats are not the most comfortable in the West End either. It’s one of the few theatres when I would not both buying a drink, as the bar facilities do not reflect the number of people the theatre holds. It aslo feels like a cram and long process getting everyone seated.
The most effective use of the theatre, what when it staged Starlight Express in 1984. The interior was extensively modified by the introduction of a ‘race track’ that ran through the audience. I remember being in the middle of the stalls with the action happening all around me. It was amazing for its time. The show actually had a 18 year run, before it closed in 2002 after completing 7,406 performances.
This really is a big theatre for big shows!

I watched Wicked here and it was really amazing. The theatre is a really short walk from Victoria station so is well located. However, I would advise to arrive early as the staff are not super helpful due to the number of spectators for the show. The show itself is spectacular though, from the dancing, singing and the props, stage and lighting. Definitely worth watching :)

I came here to see Wicked. I knew where this theatre is as its a very short walk from Victoria Station and have passed it numerous times. I came close to the starting time of the show as I only got an hours notice to be here. It was unbelievably busy and I found the staff not very helpful. It was my first time here and I could not figure out where my seats were. The staff did not help me when I asked, I don’t know if that is cause they didn’t hear me or they were too busy dealing with a very big group of children attending. I finally figured where my seating was by asking another patron of the theatre if I was in the correct area whilst showing them my ticket and they replied that I am and I’m sitting the row above them which was great. It is a good theatre and the show was breathtaking.

Amazing! My boyfriend and I saw Wicked here the other night and enjoyed the entire experience so much. Upon arrival we purchased the VIP upgrade. This allows you to hang out upstairs in the lounge before the show with complimentary champagne, wine, beer, spirits, and snacks. The lady and the gentleman working the lounge were so lovely and attentive. We had many laughs and an overall wonderful time up there.
The show was incredible. We sat front row of the first balcony, right smack in the middle of the stage. Definitely some of the best seats in the house. The atmosphere inside the theater is truly one of a kind. I wouldn’t expect anything less from The Apollo.
Try to see a show here if you are in London. And get the VIP upgrade. You won’t regret it.

Los asientos están muy pegados unos al otro. Ojo para las personas con dificultad motriz.

Wicked at the Apollo Victoria was AWESOME. Others have mentioned the excellent deals you can get here – my wife and I took advantage to grab tickets for 27 pounds apiece. The show itself is incredible.
We had the misfortune of sitting in front of a Russian family, the mother of which decided to explain every second of the show to the rest of the group. We approached the management about the excessive chatter, and they were gracious enough to move us to two available seats that were even better than our original seats! I really appreciate the personal service, even if I did feel a little snooty during the whole episode. The staff were extremely gracious and friendly.

Wicked is one of the best musicals EVER. That was the second time I’d watched it, and it was as wonderful as I remember… If you like theatre, musicals and classical stories on stage, do not hesitate and book your ticket to Oz. I am pretty sure you will try to ‘defy gravity’ after watching it!

Possibly the highlight of my London trip was seeing Wicked at Apollo Victoria Theatre. Normally priced around 40 pounds, I was able to snag a pair in the nosebleed section for only 19 ($ 30). The theatre is huge and can accomodate a couple thousand spectators, so I was initially worried that I wouldn’t be able to see much. You can rent binoculars from the theatre to get a better view, but fortunately, I didn’t need them that night.
The stage production was huge! The cast was lively, vibrant and incredibly talented. I was so impressed by the acting and singing. Each performer brought something to the table and it really made the show spectacular. The band was incredible and set the mood for each scene. In some parts, I was leaning forward in anticipation just to see what would happen next!
Overall, a wonderfully executed musical. When in London, seeing a show at the Apollo Victoria is a must do!

A really nice theatre to see a show in. Acoustics are good, seats are comfy and there’s plenty of leg room. It’s quite an unassuming theatre, seeming to blend into the surrounding buildings and inside is a bit of a maze. The foyer is quite small… A bit cosy really but they’ve combated this by having a number of food and drink stands and bars stationed around the theatre. As always there aren’t enough female toilets… Nice theatre though. Not as grand as some of the others but nice enough!

The final big surprise of my birthday London trip was that Harry had scored tickets for Wicked! Every time I’ve tried to see the show before, it has been sold out months in advance and I couldn’t get near it. My sneaky boyfriend got some cancelled tickets, though, and in prime stall seats, too.
Sadly, we arrived late thanks to some crazy road works. We couldn’t find the pedestrian route around them from the tube station. The theatre’s policy is that you could be waiting for a while before you are seated if the show has started. Thankfully, they have a TV showing the live show in the lobby while you’re waiting so you don’t miss anything. So I planked my bottom on the floor with a drink and watched until we could go in.
The Apollo Victoria is a beautiful Art Deco building with soaring ceilings, plenty of leg room, and has a light and airy environment (a theatre with air flow, who knew?). Everything is set out beautifully, and because it used to be a cinema, there are no support struts causing restricted viewing to those further back. I expect people furthest away on the upper level might have trouble seeing because of the sheer size of the place, but It didn’t seem too bad when I had a gander up there.
Alas, the toilets left something to be desired. At intermission, everybody went to the toilet, and the queue for the ladies was enormous! For a theatre of that capacity, there were only 5 cubicles at floor level, and another 5 upstairs. The queues for both were enormous. In fact, I barely managed to get back to my seat before the intermission came to a close. I was almost tempted to run into the gents, as they seemed to be free quite quickly. If you attend, make sure you’re first in the loo queue or you may be sorry. There were still people waiting when the curtain was about to go up.
In closing, the show was fabulous (and I love how the cast kept their English accents and didn’t try faking American), staff were lovely, but I may be considering a manly disguise for my next visit.

As far as London theatres go, I rate the Apollo as the emerald jewel in the crown that is the West End.
My biggest issue with heading for a night out in Theatreland is space. Actually, a lack of space to be more precise. The buildings were designed at a time when the general population was a little more petite. It can be cramped sitting in the stalls of your favourite West End musical.
That said, I find the stalls in the Apollo to be some of the most well-​proportioned in the city and I have comfortably sat through Wicked twice. As the building was built to be a cinema, I find the venue to be more sweeping, broad and deep than most other theatres in town. This could mean your seat is a long way from the stage but never fear as the stage itself is rather shallow, meaning the theatrical action is very ‘forward’ and close to the audience.
As Wicked has started booking until the end of 2014, I’m not sure you will get a chance to see anything else at the Apollo anytime soon. You might as well get down there, stretch your legs out and sing along with the witches.

I am definitely a fan of what is on at the Apollo Victoria (Wicked) but as I am reviewing the theatre itself I would not say it was the best in town at all, largely due to the fact that it is extremely large and if you are in the cheap seats, expect to be very very far away from the action.
I don’t really think this venue lends itself to a show of this scale very well but it is much better than a previous show I saw there because the set is so grand and does use the stage space well. But unless you pay above the odds for a good seat (Royal Circle or Stalls really) then you are going to need to bring binoculars or have very good eyesight! You won’t however feel like you are too high though as the seats go far backwards rather than steep high up.
You will see everything though from wherever you sit, there are no poles in the way or side seats obstructing views, this is because the Apollo used to be an old cinema back in the day so everyone needed to see.
Facilities are nice and the décor is superb. It is a very beautiful place, designed in the Art Deco style and decked out in green in lots of places — wonder why?!
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Get to the taxi line fast or you will be sorry

Wow. What a place!
I had recently gone to theatre to see the production of Wicked, and it was amazing.
Coming here, I knew what to expect. I knew that there would be expensive programs (that would have been free at my local theatre) and I knew I probably couldn’t drink my water in the dry-​aired area. Then there were the bathrooms. There was one bathroom for the women. I don’t know how many stalls there were, but the line to get in was huge. They were so big, my friend ran in to use the loo that was assigned for the men, and she was in and out within 5 minutes. I would have done the same, as I had to go to the little girl’s (or in this case, little boy’s) room very badly, but there were too many employees around.
But the place itself was beautiful! I could not believe my eyes, as it was so big and there were so many details in the architecture.

This is a very impressive theatre. It’s absolutely huge and seats up to 2500. Whilst its appearance on the outside doesn’t really blow you away, on the inside this building is stunning.
It’s a very short walk from Victoria train/​tube station which makes access very simple.

Ein wunderschönes klassisches Theater mit Stil!
Sehr lang ist’s her aber einzigartig fantastisch als ich Saturday Night Fever zu beinahe einem Kinoticketpreis erleben durfe!
Fabelhafte Kulisse, einwandfreie Lichtershow und fantastischer Klang!

Are you a tall man? Yes? Do not come to this theater. I spent 3 miserable hours with my shins pressed firmly against the seat in front of me. Not pressed, jammed. To the point of bruising. Far worse than any possible airplane seat you can imagine. The lack of legroom in the balcony is nothing short of torturous.
Now that you know the most important part, let’s continue. The problem with the overwhelmingly positive reviews of this theater are that they’re reviews for Wicked, not the Apollo Victoria. Separating the venue from the show is necessary, so I must very strongly advise a few things. First, if it is the hottest day of summer in London, a show here is not a good choice. There is no air conditioning at the Apollo Victoria. Cram 2,000 people into a building with no airflow on a hot day and the results are just plain gross. It was hot, and not just hot for the UK, hot for anywhere.
Second, did I mention legroom? Seriously I can deal with the heat. But the legroom in the balcony is just unacceptable. My legs were bruised. Bruised! What the hell, man?
I guess Wicked has been at this location for a long time, so let’s talk about it. I don’t get it. What’s with the Steampunk set and costume design? The timeframe of the subject is not talking place during the Industrial Revolution, or at the dawn of train travel. So, why then? I makes no sense and it prevented me from falling into the story and forgetting I was in a theater. I am not suggesting the design had to follow the movie, in fact quite the contrary, but it needs to make some sense. Other things that prevented becoming engrossed? Legroom and indoor climate. And legroom. Legroom.
So yeah, this theater is terrible. Positives? The most reasonable drink prices in London. It helps to drink yourself into a stupor to forget about the excruciating pain of your shins being pressed against the seat in front of you because there is no legroom.

#559 On an impromptu trip into London to meet a friend, I decided to catch a matinée production of Wicked at the Apollo before drinks and dinner. The fact that the theater was just a couple of minutes’ walk from the Oxford Tube’s bus stop definitely worked to the Apollo’s advantage. I walked straight up to the box office after I arrived in the city and informed the agent that I was a student, flashing the ID card. He immediately offered up the £90 seats to me for just £27.50. What a friggin’ steal! I knew that students were offered concession, but I had no idea they would be such deep discounts! Of course, I accepted right away and we picked out the appropriate seat for me. If my story ended there, then I would have given the Apollo a 4 – 5 star rating. Unfortunately, once I got inside, I started to notice the subtle details of the place that turned me off.
First of all, I had the opportunity to go to the toilet on both the Dress Circle level, as well as the Stalls. Let me just warn you now, the quality of the Dress Circle toilets is so far below that of the Stalls’ that you might as well be at a pub. The stalls are cramped and the facilities have aged greatly. But the Stalls had the most amazing facilities, as well as many more stalls. I am a huge proponent against class divide, but I feel the Apollo is simply playing into it. Minus one star.
As for the deduction of my second star, here’s my story. When I asked someone at the front where the toilets were, they told me to go down in the Stalls and it would be on my left. However, I did notice that the curtains were still drawn. I figured I could still go down to find the toilets and made my way in. Unfortunately, once I got down there, this heavyset woman came up to me and informed me shrilly that I was in the wrong place and was not allowed to be down there. I explained to her that I was looking for the toilet and she just pointed me back upstairs. So, I went. But, right when I walked away, I heard her talking behind my back to another employee that «that Asian lady has no idea what she’s doing.»
I’m going to leave it at that.

my friends and i went to see Wicked on Friday the 13^th of all days thank u very much at The Apollo Victoria Theatre. what a wonderful place it was to see this play and it was all decked out in green lights outside and in.
our seats were pretty much smack in the middle center which was perfect but as far as i could tell every seat in the house was a good seat.
souvenir shops where set up nicely around so there wasn’t a huge crowd… i seen at least 3 of them.
they had a few bars selling snacks and drinks, there was a candy area where u pick your size cup and tell the girl what candy (gummi bears, sour cherries, white chocolate shaped as ice cream cones) to scoop into it, they had staff walking around selling wine in covered wine glasses that u would peel back to drink, ice cream and other goodies. what a fun great place to see a show… i can’t wait to come back.
p. s. almost forgot to say they had a fabulous huge hanging dragon over the stage and not sure if it’s there all the time or not or only for this show cuz i showed friends the picture and they had seen the show in other venues that didn’t have the dragon. so anyways this dragon moved and everything which was very cool

Went to see Wicked last night and the show was amazing! Both of the leads had great voices and carried the show amazingly. The actual venue is quite nice. It’s a no frills theatre located next to Victoria Station. The seats in the upper circle were not very comfortable, but we had a good view of the stage despite sitting in the cheap seats. There are a few bars in the theatre which had efficient servers. Also, there were a good amount of ladies toilets and I didn’t have to wait too long in line.

war hier schon mehrmals drin-​3x um «wicked» zu schauen und davor auch schon und muss sagen, dass die venue einfach super schön ist (wie übrigens die meisten musical venues in london. die haben alle sehr viel charme, vor allem im vergleich zu den vielen modernen in deutschland). alt, bequeme sitze (wenn auch nicht allzuviel beinfreiheit) und dann auch noch direkt an der victoria station gelegen. kann ich nur weiterempfehlen wenn man mal in london ist

This was my second time at the Apollo Victoria (first time I was quite young) and we went to see Wicked.
We had amazing seats also — Row C in the stalls. You could see the actors facial expressions, emotions when they sang and how much they spit as they enunciated their words — awesome!
The venue is rather big — I would say around 500 person capacity. It was about 90% full too so the atmosphere was right.
I’ve wanted to see this musical since it came to London years ago and to say the least, I was very excited.
I can say Wicked did not disappoint! What a brilliant show. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The costumes and props were beautiful and you could see this clearly is a big budget show. Defying Gravity is by far my favourite song and watching it live was breathtaking. The actress playing Glinda and Elphaba were very talented.
Anyway — back to the venue. Comfy seats — but after the second half I started to become a little restless — but that’s natural I guess. Staff were helpful and intermission snacks were ‘theater priced’
I would definitely recommend seeing Wicked especially at this venue. Brilliant Monday night for me — standing ovations all round.

Sehr schönes Haus und gute Preise. Habe mir dort Wicked angeschaut und bin begeistert.

When I was invited to see Wicked, I was expecting to be heading to the West End where the main concentration of theatres are to be found in London.
However, to my pleasant surprise, the Apollo Victoria, located just a short stroll from Victoria station, was a wonderful venue for this great musical. It has a sense of history in its façade but the seats are well banked to offer the best view for a maximum number of guests
The show itself was excellent. It’s basically a re-​telling of the story of the Wizard of Oz from the point of view of the (allegedly) Wicked Witch of the West. Very amusing and touching in parts
It’s a very American story and for our performance, the part of Elphaba was played by an actress who had come over from Broadway. She actually lost her voice halfway through the performance but the understudy did very well when she stepped in
Top class show in great theatre