Athenaeum Theatre — Attraction in Melbourne

We had a very unpleasant experience at the theatre. We arrived 5 - 10 mins before the show started but were put in seats a few rows behind our seats and in a far corner because they were "moving people to the front". It's frustrating looking at random people settling in our seats and we were put in a corner and it killed our mood for the show. It was chaotic so we waited until interval to ask for our seats back but no one were at the box office. We managed to grab one staff who told us we actually were "upgraded" and if we wanted he could "downgrade" us to our seats with a very unhelpful attitude. We just couldn't bother to argue so we took it as it was. One of us left a review abour the situation and at the end of show management pulled us aside and interrogated us about the review and insisted we were "upgraded" (if you call from centre seats row E to far corner seats for G is "upgraded"). First they blamed us and took a while for them to apologies & offered free seats to watch again but our night was completed ruined and we wouldn't want to be back. Also we felf so embrarassed being interrogated in middle of a crowded lobby. Shimmery was amazing. We watched it twice to support the cast. But our expirience at their 1st year at Gasworks art park was so much better. The stage at Gasworks was more spacious, the interaction between casts & audience was better. If you have a show, I would not recommend to book this theatre, Gasworks is better. We watched and performed at Gasworks multiple times, never had an issue with staffs. 1st time we ever experience such a...

Always love going to this theatre but was disappointed with my recent experience for a couple of reasons. Went to see the show Oracle Sat 23 July 2022 and purchased tickets for 5 people all in a row in in Stalls 2, only to find that our seats were split up by an aisle which was not what was depicted when booking seats 3 on one side and 2 on the other (I wouldn't have booked these if that was the case because why would I separate our group of 5 out?). Then the numbering of the seats were given were in stalls 2 Row M, 16-20, turned out the numbers on the left side of the aisle were wrong so we were confused about where to sit. I spoke to the usher who directed me to the guy sitting near the ticketing box to assist. When I spoke to the guy (tall white guy with glasses in a purple blazer jacket) he seemed to bothered that I was asking him for help and to check for me. He wasn't assisting anyone or busy. He tried to correct me to make me feel like I was in the wrong about the seat numbers and after reiterating that yes indeed the seat numbers were incorrect, he got up in a frustrated manner to check himself. When he came to the row he realised that he was wrong and saw that the seat number was incorrectly numbered and resumed to say 'oh well the seat must have been replaced recently and has the wrong number on it' then walked off. No apology, or empathy or anything. The sound quality from where we were seated was also a little muffled. The theatre itself is physically beautiful, but the customer experience/service there was what...

Saw a Comedian here and was very impressed how this iconic theatre is still so Very well designed that no matter what seat you are in you get an amazing view of the stage and performer/s, like most other iconic places they don't need much review as much is already known about them however I feel compelled to state that for such an old building it is amazing to see it in all its glory today and staff working and sling drinks and snacks, the bar and even security staff were very professional and did a great job overall. I will state that drinks were relatively expensive to purchase however I think this is to be expected. I think if they had cheaper prices they would likely see an increase in business. I purchased 2 cans of alcoholic drink (CC dry and Lemon 196), one small bag of lollies and one bottle of water and cost $44, cans at other places such as bars and pubs are between $8-$12 each, bottle of water say $3-$4 and small bag of lollies say $5 at best, if your a little slender on the pocket, bring your own bottle of water and nibblies and save the drinks for after the show at a much cheaper pub or bar down the road. For this reason I deduct one star, prices should be fair rather than feeling like it's exploiting...