Apollo Victoria Theatre

The Apollo Victoria Theatre stands on Wilton Road in the City of Westminster, directly across from London Victoria Station. It has a second entrance on Vauxhall Bridge Road. Built in 1929 for Provincial Cinematograph Theatres, the building mixes concrete and Art Deco styling. Two identical façades face Wilton Road and Vauxhall Bridge Road. The exterior shows strong horizontal banding on the auditorium sides. Vertical channelling frames the entrances, which feature black marble columns and chrome trimmings. The theatre opened in 1930 as the New Victoria Cinema, showing films and variety shows. It later hosted major musicals such as The Sound of Music and Starlight Express. Starlight Express ran for 18 years with a roller-skating ‘race track’ through the audience. The interior was restored in the 2000s, replacing thousands of lamps with low-power LEDs. Wicked has played here since 2006, drawing large audiences and long runs. Inside, visitors find nautical-themed Art Deco decoration with scallop shells and sculptured fountains. The auditorium is lit by 88,000 LEDs, a first for a West End theatre. The stage once measured 24 metres by 7.3 metres and had ten dressing rooms. Today’s productions use the same grand space, framed by the theatre’s Grade II* listed architecture.