The Adelphi Theatre opened in December 1930, built by architect Ernest Schaufelberg, and is a Grade II listed building and over its three level auditorium seats 1,500 people. The venue which originally stood on the site of the current Adelphi Theatre, the Sans Pareil Theatre, was demolished in 1850 and rebuilt remaining open for 40 years until it was modified to the point where the building was barely recognisable. The theatre soon became the Adelphi Theatre in 1819 and then was renamed the Royal Adelphi Theatre in 1829 until, after much public pressure the theatre dropped the “Royal” prefix in 1940. Early performances featured the musical Evergreen,Noel Coward's Word and Music and Cole Porter's Nymph Errant, as well as a revival of Ivor Novello's musical comedy The Dancing Years which ran for a total of 969 performances. In more recent years Chicago became the theatres longest running show to date making way for Evita’s arrival in 2006, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat in 2007 and Love Never Dies in 2010, and the world premiere of The Bodyguard in 2012.
What are the best seats at the Adelphi Theatre?
The auditorium retains the classic horseshoe shape of theatres dating back to earlier than the Art Deco style of the Adelphi Theatre. Seating 1,500 patrons across the Stalls, Dress Circle and Upper Circle, the best views of the stage being from the middle section of the stalls and front rows of the dress circle. The stalls seats over 650 patrons and is set just below stage level, divided by a central aisle from row K to the rear of the auditorium, so patrons in the first few rows will look up in order to see the action on the stage. Leg room in the front section of the stalls is limited, becoming more spacious from the mid-section back. The Dress Circle, sited a floor above the stalls, is close to the stage and overhangs the Stalls. The Upper Circle, the third floor of the auditorium, overhangs the dress circle from approximately the fifth row backwards and is the furthest in distance from the stage. A safety rail at the front of this section can obstruct views from the first two rows, although the majority of seats in the front section of the upper circle offer the better views, the rear of this section provides more leg room.
Adelphi Theatre seating plan
How many seats are at the Adelphi Theatre?
There are 1,500 seats over three levels of the auditorium, the Stalls, the Dress Circle and Upper Circle offering a wide range of views of the stage.
Are there accessible seats at the Adelphi Theatre?
The Stalls of the theatre have level access and there are two dedicated wheelchair spaces in Row X. As well as this, any aisle seat in the stalls can be used for customers who wish to transfer from their wheelchair to a seat. The Dress Circle and Upper Circle can only be accessed via stairs. There are 41 steps to the Dress Circle from the ground floor and 71 steps to the upper circle from the ground floor. Trained access hosts are available to assist visually impaired customers throughout their visit, if required. For deaf or hearing-impaired patrons an Infa-Red audio enhancement system is available. Headsets and hearing aid loops for this are available from the cloakroom in the main foyer. The theatre also hosts periodic accessible performances including Audio-described, Captioned, BSL Interpreted and Relaxed performances.
What shows are on at the Adelphi Theatre?
The Adelphi Theatre has played home to numerous top bill musicals, plays and opera and is currently showing the time-travelling epic Back To The Future The Musical! Great Scott!