Apollo Victoria Theatre
| New Victoria Cinema New Victoria Theatre |
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Apollo Victoria Theatre in 2006
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| Address | Wilton Road London, SW1 United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°29′44″N 0°08′34″W / 51.4956°N 0.1427°W |
| Public transit |
  Victoria
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| Owner | Ambassador Theatre Group |
| Designation | Grade II* |
| Type | West End theatre |
| Capacity | 2,328 (seated) |
| Production | Wicked |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1930 (as cinema) |
| Years active | 1981 – present |
| Architect | E. Wamsley Lewis and William Edward Trent |
| Website | |
| http://www.atgtickets.com/venues/apollo-victoria-theatre/ (Official Website) | |
The Apollo Victoria Theatre is a West End theatre on Wilton Road in the Westminster district of London, across from London Victoria Station. (The theatre also has an entrance on Vauxhall Bridge Road.) Opened in 1930 as a cinema and variety theatre, the Apollo Victoria became a venue for musical theatre, beginning with The Sound of Music in 1981, and including the long-running Starlight Express, from 1984 to 2002. The theatre is now the home of the musical Wicked, which has played for eleven years at the venue as of 2017.
The theatre was built by architects Ernest Wamsley Lewis and William Edward Trent in 1929 for Provincial Cinematograph Theatres, a part of the Gaumont British chain. The theatre was built with two identical façades on Wilton and Vauxhall Bridge Roads. Construction is principally of concrete, with strong horizontal banding along the exterior sides of the auditorium. By contrast the entrances feature a cantilevered canopy, and are framed by vertical channelling, with two black marble columns rising to the roof line. The entrance is simple, making use of chrome trimmings, this leads to a nautical themed interior in the original Art Deco style that makes extensive use of concealed lighting, decorated with scallop shells and columns that burst into sculptured fountains at the ceiling.
The theatre had a 74 feet (22.6 m) by 24 feet (7.3 m) stage and was equipped with 10 dressing rooms and two suites for principals. The theatre was Grade II* listed on 28 June 1972.
The theatre opened as the New Victoria Cinema on 15 October 1930 with a film starring George Arlis in Old English, based on a stage play by John Galsworthy. It was equipped with a Compton 3 manual 15 rank theatre organ, played on the opening night by Reginald Foort. and the theatre also staged variety shows. The first show played also during the opening was Hoop-La.
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