Apollo Theatre box office are sure to see a different crowd then what they are accustomed to with such a change in direction from current play, Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit. Blithe Spirit tickets are on sale until 18th June. The Apollo Theatre has a history of staging Noel Coward plays . In 1944, the Apollo became the new home of the first major revival of Noël Coward Private Lives which Coward had written for himself and Gertrude Lawrence when they were still occupying the Phoenix.
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Originally the Apollo Theatre was built for musical comedies and although it's first show, The Belle of Bohemia in 1901 was not a success, musical hits followed with musical successes at the theatre including Kitty Grey, Three Little Maids and The Girl from Kay’s, all presented by George ‘Gaiety’ Edwardes. The light opera Veronique (1904) with music by André Messager starred Ruth Vincent and was big hit. Cicely Courtneidge made her London debut in Tom Jones (1907) with music by Edward German, and from 1908 until 1912 the theatre was home to H G Pelissier’s The Follies. From then on the policy for musical comedy was replaced with far more varied fare, the most successful of which, during the First World War, was Harold Brighouse’s Hobson’s Choice (1916).
Later a change in direction saw plays being staged as order of the day. This year we are celebrating the centenary of writer Terrence Rattigan with a number of revivals in the West End including Flare Path, which was staged at the Apollo in 1942 and his play Separate Tables starred John Mills in 1976. One of England's most illustrious actors Sir John Gielgud returned many times to the Apollo. After directing Sybil Thorndike and Lewis Casson in Treasure Hunt, he returned in 1968 to star in Alan Bennett's 40 Years On again in 1969 in David Storey's Home before making his last appearance at the age of 83 in Hugh Whitemore's Best of Friends in 1988.
Many hit comedies were staged often transferring from or to other theatres along with plays such as Albert Finney in Orphans (1986), Paul Scofield in I’m Not Rappaport (1986), Dorothy Tutin, Eileen Atkins and Sian Phillips in Thursday’s Ladies (1987), Wendy Hiller in Driving Miss Daisy (1988), Zoe Wanamaker in the National Theatre’s Mrs Klein (1989), Vanessa Redgrave in A Mad house in Goa (1989), Peter O’Toole in Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell (1990), Penelope Wilton in The Deep Blue Sea, Peter Bowles in In Praise of Love (1995) and Sleuth (2002), Jason Priestley in Side Man (2000), Penelope Keith in Star Quality (2001), Felicity Kendal and Frances De La Tour in Fallen Angels (2000), Warren Mitchell in The Price (2003) and Jonathan Pryce in The Goat or Who is Sylvia? (2004). Last year saw a huge success with the staging of Arthur Miller's All My Sons starring David Suchet and Zoe Wannemaker. The play was nominated and received many awards.
Built for Henry Lowenfield by Walter Wallis, the Apollo Theatre was originally to be called the Mascot Theatre but this never came to fruition. The opening night programme stated: 'In the dress circle can be seen the mascot of the theatre, the original badge of the German tribe of gipsies who are connected with Mr Lowenfeld's family estate in Poland. It is a silver chain and buckle, on the buckle being a flying lizard supported dexter and sinister by lions rampant. This device is supposed to bring good luck and is reproduced in the scheme of decoration.' The theatre was the 4th official theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue and has recently been a part of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group before becoming part of the Nimax chain.
The current Apollo Theatre seating plan is an auditorium that is split on 4 levels with a total of 775 seats (480 of them on the stalls / dress circle level). The stage measures 9.2m x 8.8m. With a long history of musical, plays and comedies, Apollo Theatre tickets London always has something interesting to offer!