Apollo Victoria Theatre — Attraction in London

I've seen Wicked 12 times since 2021 today's matinee was my 13th time and just realised I've never left a review from my visits at the Apollo Victoria Wicked is the first musical I saw on the West End the perfect show that got me hooked on musical theatre I've seen 2 cast changes and loved rooting for every single one of the actors/actresses and wishing them well on their next adventures, even been lucky to meet a few of the cast at stage door The swings&crew are amazing, you can tell everyone gives it their all, there's a lot of hard work that goes into learning each dance number, lines, comedic timing etc and all of that behind the scenes like costumer designers, ushers work super hard too and the security team are fab at front of house and probs know me from how many times I've been to visit won't be long before I have a revolving door or a seat with my name on lol The only issue I have is with the popcorn still being sold and kids being allowed (more like parents dragging them along smuggling them in) I've been unfortunate to sit through kids week, Easter half-term where feral kids were sat on the back of the seats in the stalls, jumping up and down in their seats running up near the stage whilst parents won't discipline them and just sit on their phones, even admitting out loud to the person sat next to them how old their child actually is (well under the age limit so have no business coming to the show!) grown adults talking like they're at a footie match and getting twitchy fingers from having to refrain from using their phone for 2hrs and 45 minutes I've seen people texting during big number performances even trying to record and luckily fail as the staff are hot on their heels with phone recordings here (Thank God!) Despite all of this getting on my nerves I can somehow ignore any minor nuisances and get into the show by zoning out not taking wanting to take my eyes off the stage BUT an absolute hate of mine (I'm sure it goes through other people's minds too who have theatre common sense like me, is latecomers and popcorn There is nothing more distracting/ annoying to have to put up with when there's kids (and adults!) who can't chew with their mouth closed, who make a mess for the ushers to clean up after treating the theatre as if they are slothing on their couch at home- all that's missing is taking their shoes off for the rest of us decent theatre goers to have to smell! The popcorn in the stalls:today's matinee put me on edge so much despite seeing the show 13 times you couldn't relax or enjoy the second half as a parent and his toddler decided to move seats behind me as they were empty nobody told them off but the munch crunch sound went through me I felt like tipping the bucket over their head it got on my nerves so much even the people next to me too were cross as we turned around to look at the culprits Nobody wants to pay good money to sit and hear others eating in the theatre! It riles me up to no end and I can imagine that it's harder for the actors trying to do their job as they have to speak/sing louder to drown out horrendous noise that disrespectful people in the audience will make who have no common sense or theatre etiquette!! If it were up to me they'd be banned Please rethink your idea of selling popcorn and ban it, do thorough age checks by coming up with photo ID or raising the age limit to 7 and over (NOT 5 or under- I've seen 3-4 year olds too who ruined the show for me in the past!) it really does impact the experience any decent loyal theatre fans (who abide by the rules) can have when they come to visit I'm sure it does the ushers heading having to clean up after these animals and they probs get fed up of complaints about it but I don't want to hear popcorn being consumed we are there for the show-to appreciate and respect the actors&actresses to be amazed and applaud their talent if I'm distracted by someone chewing like a cow next to me on popcorn with their jaw open I'm not going to get the full Wicked experience unable to relax or complain to an usher if I...

I have been a huge fan of wicked for years, and was extremely excited to see the musical after working hard to be able to afford tickets. Despite the musical and the actors being amazing, there was absolutely no way for me to enjoy it due to the animalistic audience, and the lack of any effort to enforce any rules by the staff.

We sat on the second row in the stalls, with a theatre usher situated just behind us. A disgustingly behaved and obviously drunk family in front of us spent the entire first act singing, letting their child stand up and run around and having full blown audible conversations with no regard for anyone else. You would expect the ushers to tap on their shoulder and shush them, but they didn’t even try to enforce any basic rules or respect. As the ushers couldn’t be bothered to do what they are paid to do, my partner tapped on their shoulder and asked them POLITELY to be quiet. They then became argumentative and spent the rest of the first act mocking us. In intermission they walked away talking about us audibly. We asked them why they were talking about us, and the visibly hammered dad comes charging down the aisle in a threatening manner to argue with us. Did an usher step in at this point? Of course not. The way people behave is disgusting and none of the staff care.

We spotted a few empty seats in a different row so we moved to those in intermission, hoping we could still enjoy the second half at least. To no avail, we were still surrounded by loud conversation, packets rustling, singing and even people just sat on their phones (visibly not even secretively).

The theatre was like a huge oven. There was no air circulation. It was so warm that I felt sick and lightheaded, it made me so poorly I almost had to leave, but I pushed through as the tickets cost so much. Another thing that overshadowed how talented the actors were was the fact that the sound system in the theatre is shocking. The speakers were distorted and loud. The orchestra was louder than the vocals, and the vocals that you could hear were muffled. So a lot of the time you couldn’t make out the lyrics of the songs. It’s 2025, and this is one of the most popular and long running musicals on the west end. But they can’t invest in better sound systems and air conditioning?

To summarise, you have an amazing show with a hard working, talented cast, which is ruined by the lazy staff, the disgusting, selfish, feral members of the public who seem to gravitate towards this musical, the pathetic excuse of a sound system, and a general uncomfortable environment (mostly due to lack of...

Visited 18th May 2024 (matinee)

As a regular theatre-goer, I have never come across such dreadful etiquette and behaviour from other patrons in all my life!

Throughout the performance, there were people constantly getting up, mingling up and down the aisles, rustling packets, talking and even a couple behind us singing along at points. It was as if they were treating it like a pantomime or cinema but there was zero intervention from the stewards or staff at any point.

There were groups of people sat further back in the stalls who took it upon themselves to "upgrade" their experience and move far closer to the front of the auditorium. At least one group was asked to move by the patrons that were actually meant to be sat there but the staff did nothing to intervene.

Another thing that baffles me is the theatres choice to use actual glassware as opposed to plastic cups and glasses. I heard at least three people dropping and smashing their glasses throughout the show, creating unnecessary noise and mess and I'd imagine being incredibly off putting for the cast.

The behaviour observed from some patrons bordered on "feral" and frankly ruined the experience. I think the "hype" behind the show brings out people who don't regularly attend the theatre and forget how to act correctly so as not to disrupt others.

As for the show, while the cast were good, the show itself leaves a lot to be desired and I was rather underwhelmed when you consider the "hype" and the fan-base behind the show. I honestly do not understand the "hype". It felt flat and unimaginative with only a couple of memorable songs with rest feeling very forgettable. The pace of the story is off and feels like they try to shoehorn in 5 hours of story in under 3. It felt disjointed and lost.

My biggest issue with the show was the awful sound reproduction. The volume wasn't the issue, more the clarity and quality of it. Everything sounded muffled and you couldn't distinguish they lyrics clearly. Pretty shocking for a show that has been running for so long and is as popular as it is.

Overall, a pretty dire experience all-round I would strongly suggest you attend many of the other great musicals within the West End and give this one a miss, unless you want a rowdy,...