Our New Background & Theatre News

Hi Everyone, thanks once again for your continued support of this blog. Welcome back to Access London. I am actually away from London this week on a short holiday but really wanted to post some updates for you all.

Firstly, you may have noticed....we have a fabulous new background for our blog. I love the design and would like to offer a huge thanks to Damion from Degrafik designs for putting it all together for us :)
Hopefully you can recognise some of London's great attractions and highlights from the pictures, if not, then check out some of our previous posts or, stay tuned for more to come.

It would be great to hear your thoughts and feedback on our new background, so feel free to post a comment on this post or drop an email to: claire@horizon-va.co.uk

If you are a regular reader of Access London, you may remember I dedicated a post to the brilliant theatre version of Yes Prime Minister back in January. I was lucky enough to see it before it finished its West End run.

I am delighted to share the news that it will be back this summer in the West End for a limited run, and would definitely recommend going to see it.

Yes Prime Minister will be showing at The Apollo Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue from the 6th July to the 17th September 2011.

There has been a cast change since its original run and the show will now star Simon Williams and Richard McCabe. Yes Prime Minister was the Winner of the Best New Comedy Award at the whatsonstage.com Awards 2011.

The Apollo theatre is accessible to wheelchair users, who can sit in the stalls area. There are spaces for wheelchair users to remain in their chairs and also for wheelchair transferees in any aisle seat in the stalls. The theatre cannot unfortunately accommodate scooters but can provide assistance for a step-free access into the stalls area.

To book tickets, please call: 0844 412 4648 where you can ask for an Access Rate if required for you and 1 carer.

Our second piece of exciting theatre news for this post relates to another magical show that we reviewed in earlier posts - The Phantom of the Opera.

London's current Phantom, the Phantastic John Owen Jones, has agreed to extend his contract until March 2012, so there is plenty of opportunity to go and see him perform behind the mask.

John has performed as the Phantom more times than any other actor and this is his second run in the show in the West End. To read an exclusive interview that John did with Access London last month, please see our previous posts on Phantom, which also include an interview with the current Christine, Sofia Escobar. Again, our thanks go to both actors for taking the time out to do this.

Access London is delighted to learn of John's extended contract and hope to bring our readers more from him later this year, after we visit Her Majesty's again in September.

John also has his own album out which you can purchase from his website HERE

To book Access Tickets for Phantom, please call: 0844 412 2707.
To book all other tickets for Phantom, please call the box office on: 0870 890 1106.

Her Majesty's Theatre is accessible to both wheelchair users and mobility scooters. Please inform the theatre/box office when booking and then a member of the front of house team on arrival. You will then be escorted to the accessible entrance that leads straight into the stalls. There are several places for those who cannot transfer from a wheelchair. For those that can, any alise seat in the stalls is easily accessible.


Thanks once again for taking the time to catch up with Access London and for helping to support disabled access in London.

COMING SOON: Love Never Dies, The National Gallery, The Royal Parks

The Gielgud Theatre & Yes Prime Minister

Hi Everyone. This post will be on the first theatre I have reviewed so far on this blog and also a bit about the play I saw there.

The Gielgud theatre is located on Shaftesbury Avenue in London, a really central location and a road that has many theatres on it, including The Queens Theatre right next door to The Gielgud. The Gielgud theatre is one of the many London theatres that has its stalls at basement level, therefore the dress circle is the tier that is on street level.

If you are in a wheelchair or use a mobility scooter (or have any trouble using stairs) then the dress circle is where you will need to book tickets for. Contact the theatre booking line on 0844 482 5137 for more information on tickets and seating. For those with mobility problems, there is an entrance on Rupert Street, to the left of the theatre, that has a ramped access, instead of stairs (again, please notify the theatre beforehand so that a member of staff can open this entrance for you).

The theatre foyer is relatively small but has a bar and cloakroom and disabled toilets nearby. There is also another bar upstairs. The theatre looks to have been fairly recently decorated as it is clean and fresh and dripping with period features. All of the staff were extremely helpful - from the booking office staff to the ushers - one of which was the most helpful usher I have ever met. He was waiting for us to arrive, opened the side entrance door for us, took us to our seats, checked on us during the interval and came back to collect us at the end - an absolute star!

Inside the theatre, the decor is luxurious with a grand chandelier commanding full attention from above. The chairs are very comfy and appeared somewhat larger than other theatres I have visited. There is pretty generous leg room in most aisles too.

The performance I saw was Yes Prime Minister, staring David Haig and Henry Goodman. It was a brilliantly written piece, very funny and was performed with great timing by all the cast. Unfortunately this show has now come to the end of its run as we saw it on its final night. However, if you get the chance to see it on tour, I would definitely recommend it for an excellent night out for all. The writers (from the original TV show) have brought it right up to date - with a coalition Government, global warming, expenses scalndals and a financial crisis.

The video shows some of the theatre and the set from Yes Prime Minister.

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I would definitely recommend a night out to The Gielgud - its next production, opening in March, is Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

Up next: Our recommended hotel for 2011 - The Cavendish

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