Palace Theatre Manchester — Attraction in Manchester

The Palace Theatre in Manchester is a leading provincial theatre in the UK. You only need to see which shows make it on to the stage here to know it's importance, especially to Mancunians. At over 130 years old, it's old world opulence, tired though it may be in places is, in itself something to take in before a show or at the interval. At just short of a 2000 seat capacity, it gets very busy and can seem overcrowded, but, it is extremely well organised, lots of ushers, very smartly dressed and all polite and willing to help. With crowds of people queuing outside with less than 30 minutes to showtime, they had us all inside with time for a toilet stop, refreshments or merchandise. Everyone behaved, followed direction and the show started just minutes behind schedule. On this visit we were in the stalls but previously we have been in "the Gods" in the circle. If you are afraid of heights, don't go there! That said, wherever you sit, for an old theatre, the seats are surprisingly comfortable with adequate leg room. I was only just getting to the"numb bum" stage after a two and a half hour show plus the interval. Rows are well graduated so your view is always good. Every level is very well catered for with bars and toilets, as always .... big queues for the ladies!! What do the menfolk do?? Anyway, as usual with concessions at any event, they aren't cheap! What I do like is the ability to preorder and whatever you require will be brought to your seat, either before the show or at the interval. You can even order before the show and then place a further order for the interval. The app is a little messy and doesn't confirm the order has been received and will be with you shortly but It works nonetheless. As far as enjoying the show goes, the Stalls are good but draughty if on the edge of a row as we were. The circle I've already mentioned and as always, sitting in the middle somewhere will give you the best sound and vision. ATG who operate the theatre, along with it's sister The Opera House over on Quay Street, overall, do a good job both of maintaing the character of the theatres whilst staying planted in the 21st century. I have yet to see a production at either that wasn't stunning. This time it was Wicked, and it was. Prices for all theatre venues are expensive these days and if you look at what "the players" earn compared to the revenue, especially for something that will pretty much sell out, twice a day for several weeks, you can't help but wonder but, and this is a big but,I wouldn't want the headache of putting a show on, keeping 2000 people safe and happy and keeping a 130 year old building from falling down. It...

The theatre is old, and if you don’t get stalls seats, it’s absolute torture. The toilets are tiny.

We visited here for an evening performance of Moulin Rouge. Paid £110.00 for two stalls seats.

Being so expensive, I expected nothing less than world-class performances. If I pay less, I expect less.

This was like a high school end of year play that they´d put together with the best students, nothing more.

We were very disappointed with the show. In places, it was amateurish. The lead lady playing Satine was faultless throughout, but the rest of the cast were just average. The male lead was good, but even his voice faltered at times.

The choreography was some of the worst I’ve seen, and I’m a seasoned West End theatre fan. Even the execution of it was lax. The choreographer should sit and watch the show and get it tightened up, with movements precise — not just wandering off to the side wings after they’ve done their bit. The can-can at the end was pathetic, as if they’d had enough. That number needs to be precise and tight.

In some parts, it felt like a pantomime. The guy who played the Duke performed it like a panto villain, which is not how it’s supposed to be played. His voice wasn’t up to it either. The character with the stick was the same — poor vocals — and the “Gaga couple” were diabolical. That section is supposed to be comedic, but his voice was horrific and she wasn’t engaged at all.

They are all clearly talented but need more vocal coaching for these parts

Obviously, this is a jukebox musical, and it needs to be utterly amazing to work. This was not.

The audience generally loved it, but with popular songs that’s almost guaranteed regardless of the show itself.

I notice that the tickets for tomorrow night, for our seats, are now £225.00 plus the booking fee — which is absolute extortion.

Theatres are pricing normal working people like us out.

However, if people keep paying these prices, they’ll keep charging them.

This show should not demand more than £55.00 per stalls seat, as that’s...

My youngest daughter gave me a gift voucher for ATG theatre tickets last year for my birthday and I used it to buy great center stage seats, 13 rows from the stage in the stalls, for my wife and I to see the fantastic Moulin Rouge musical tonight. It's a large theatre with a 2,000 seating capacity. There were moderate queues on the pavement outside waiting to go though security checks prior to having our online tickets scanned before entering the large foyer. From there we went down to the stall bars to have some pre-show drinks, ordered & prepaid for our interval drinks, which we took to our seats once the doors into the stalls were opened, about 25 mins before the start of the show. Unusually the male & female toilets were actually located on either side of the stalls and not off the bar or front lobby. There was decent leg room in front of tired but comfy seats and although they were pretty narrow, they weren't the narrowest theatre seats we have sat in. Some of the artists came onto the stage shortly before the show to strike some poses and peek at the audience from behind the giant Moulin Rouge sign that dominated the large & deep stage - it was a very unique and great pre-start to the show The show followed the story line of the Baz Loman Moulin Rouge film set in Paris around 1900 starring Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman. It told the tragic story of Satine, a courtesan & star of the Moulin Rouge, through fantastic song & dance sets with modern pop hits and witty dialogue interjected with lyrics from recent pop songs. The singing, dancing, music, costumes, sets and production were all exceptional and the show just flew by with hit after hit songs being played. The lighting, sound & sets were very good and the audience were invited to get up from their seats to join in with a few songs for the encore section, which lasted about 5 minutes before the cast took a well deserved standing ovation in their...