King's Theatre — Attraction in Great Britain

I would like to say that I have recently had the BEST experience dealing with a theatre. King's Theatre has shown me that excellent customer service still exists; from the moment I emailed them with a query a week before the show, to arriving on the day and being shown to our seats.

The theatre itself is a work of art, you can imagine being transported back in time over 100 years ago when it was built. The building is extremely traditional, the original decor is retained via plaster mouldings, luxurious wallpaper and even stained glass windows. I am sure that no matter what show you are seeing here, just walking through the theatre and sitting in the auditorium will be an enjoyable experience.

We had booked to see Jesus Christ Superstar, but on reviewing the seating plan I realised there may be some accessibility issues. I emailed the theatre and got an immediate reply from David W who was very understanding and accomodating. He arranged for our seats to be switched over (due to the circumstances), and luckily he was working on the day of the show - discreetly changing my tickets over in person, and explaining what we needed to do.

The staff on the door when we arrived (security and ushers) were all friendly, efficient and welcoming. At first when we saw the queues we were concerned about how long it would take to get into the theatre (especially as I had to go to the box office first), but it turns out with so many entrances and exits, the queue was no more than 5 minutes, despite being wrapped around the building!

The woman checking our bags was friendly too. Unlike other venues I've been to, I didn't feel intimiated about letting her see my personal handbag contents. The atmosphere was just as it should be; exciting and happy as the customers waited in anticipation of the performance.

Inside the ushers in the upper circle showed us to our seats, I didn't know that I wasn't allowed to film the interior of the theatre, and I explained it was for a vlog promoting the venue - I wasn't going to film the persomance at all, but I didn't get made to feel guilty or embarrassed for not knowing the rules.

At the interval I used the bathrooms and I lost my way back down to the box (the theatre is old with a lot of winding corridors). A couple of helpful people serving food showed me where to go. At the end of the amazing show, we hung around to marvel at the theatre interior and got to say thanks to the cleaners and ushers, they seemed happy with their job and we never once heard any staff complaining or speaking negatively about their work :)

All in all, I would rate King's Theatre among the top 5 I have visited in the UK. I would actually rank it above Glasgow Pavilion in terms of facilities, decor and staff friendliness. The only potential 'issue' I had was that (as in all old theatres) the toilets were a bit of a strange set up, and being so busy sometimes you couldn't...

Such a disappointing experience last night at Snow White. Not because of the show itself but because of the following;

We were in the gallery, absolutely no room, the view wasn’t great at all and it was far too hot. My fault for booking these seats, I suppose 🤷🏼‍♀️

I have only ever been to the Pavillion in Kilmarnock before which we all loved. So this was a real treat going to Glasgow to a bigger and better venue….or so we thought.

After queuing we eventually got to our seats. As soon as we got seated I went to get my 3 kids a drink, I stood at the bar, not one, two but three staff members just ignored me! I stood and I stood, not wanting to be rude and ask to be served but I eventually I did to be told the bar was closed during the performance. Ok so, again probably my fault as never having been to the Kings before I wasn’t aware of this. Went online at the seats as by this time everyone was so hot they were uncomfortable. So I see you can order drinks online, great!

But no, that function is not available. Now my three year old is crying. My other two boys also need a drink. I ask if I can please buy some juice. Point blank sorry no.

I asked for the Manager. Duty Manager Enzo comes to speak to me, I explain the situation.

“Well, you’ll just have to wait till the interval” No, sorry, or I understand your frustration. At this point another staff member appears behind him staring at me and leaning on the wall, Enzo says she is with me! It was clear she was trying to intimidate me. I am here with kids for a special Christmas night out. My 3 year old is crying for a drink.

I asked him, as the manager can he make an executive decision and help me out, let me buy a juice as the heat is unbearable and we are trying to enjoy our night. And as I wasn’t aware of this ‘rule’

I was told “your not the only one here with 3 kids!” Excellent customer service Enzo.

Now I understand you can’t have people interrupting the performance but going to the bar however, this should be made clear for newcomers.

And the fact there was no, apology or understanding, just a point blank “No, the answer is no, this is the rules and you will just need to deal with it” Honestly absolutely shocking attitude.

Definitely will not be back purely based on this man’s disgusting attitude and staff member trying to intimidate me all for asking for a juice...

It's a beautiful old theatre, and that's also the issue with it; it's old. What that means is it's cramped, hot and has hard seats. I love the King's Theatre and go often to various performances, and I'm glad it continues to exist and do well, so don't let me put you off going as it stages some fantastic shows. The bar for the stalls is tiny and has no seating so arriving early is not a good idea, especially if you have mobility issues and can't stand for a time holding a drink. There's a small wall shelf but that quickly fills up. Better to use the order to my seat service and have your drink and/or snacks brought to you once you've been allowed into the auditorium. You'll still need to hold it of course as there's no floor space because the rows are quite close together. Expected for such a historic theatre really. Drinks and snacks are theatre prices £7+ for a can of wine, so something to consider when planning your evening. You can check the price lists online at the website. There's no centre aisle in the stalls, so you do a lot of stand, sit, stand, sit while people are finding their seats, at the interval and if someone on your row needs a comfort break during the show. Sound quality has always been good for me, and I've always been able to hear everything clearly no matter where I sit. Staff are always lovely and friendly even at their busiest times. Take a fan with you. Paper or a quiet hand held. Some people have those ones you wear around your neck, which is a great idea. If you are tall or large be prepared to do a bit of shifting about to stay comfortable, and maybe bring a big scarf to fold up like a cushion. Absolutely worth a visit though as it really...