Theatres - Apollo Theatre

Currently Showing (return to list of shows)

Yes, Prime Minister ( Apollo Theatre ) - Play

The award-winning comedy YES, PRIME MINISTER, returns to the West End starring Simon Williams and Richard McCabe. This hilarious comedy is written specifically for the stage by original writers Antony Jay & Jonathan Lynn and follows a critically acclaimed West End run (Best New Comedy Award - Whatsonstage.com Awards 2011) and a hugely successful national tour. Sir Humphrey Appleby and Jim Hacker are back by popular demand for a limited 10 week run at The Apollo Theatre from July 6.

Blithe Spirit ( Apollo Theatre ) - Play

Blithe Spirit opened in 1941 when it played for over 2,000 performances. It has been one of the world's favourite comedies ever since. Novelist Charles Condomine and his second wife Ruth are literally haunted by a past relationship when an eccentric medium manages to conjure up the ghost of Charles's neurotic first wife, Elvira, at a seance. They have assumed the preposterous Madame Arcati is a fraud who will simply entertain their dinner guests with a little chicanery and supply Charles with material for his forthcoming novel. But when Elvira appears, visible only to Charles, and is determined to sabotage his current marriage, life - and the afterlife - begin to get complicated. Written by Noel Coward, Blithe Spirit will star Alison Steadman as Madame Arcati and Ruthie Henshall as Elvira.

Apollo Theatre

Shaftesbury Avenue
London W1D 7EZ

Nearest Tube: Piccadilly Circus
Nearest Bus Stop: 1, 14, 19, 22, 24, 29, 38, 55, 176

The Apollo was orginally built as a 'super-cinema' and called the New Victoria Cine-Variety Theatre, when it opened in 1930. This strikingly art deco cinema was designed, as were all super-cinemas of the period, with facilities for stage shows that would precede the cinema films.

The cinema closed in 1975, then reopened for live entertainment in 1981 under it's present name. The opening show was a Shirley Bassey concert. Other productions included "The Sound of Music" musical with Petula Clark in 1981, "Camelot" with Richard Harris in 1982, "Dash" with Wayne Sleep in 1983 and "Fiddler on the Roof" with Topol also in 1983.

1,262 seats were removed to accomodate a roller-skating track and much of the auditorium was painted black for the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "Starlight Express" which opened on 27 March 1984 and played for 7,406 performances up to 12 January 2002. After it closed the theatre was refurbished and the interior was once again returned to its former glory and the musical "Bombay Dreams" opened on 19 June 2002.