A Disney musical in the West End of London. Is the venue on song for accessibility, or does it hit a bum note? Read on . . .
BOOKING
The Lyceum Theatre is a member of the Ambassador Theatre Group, more commonly known as ATG. ATG has one of the most accessible booking systems online, making booking quick and straightforward.
Customers with access requirements can sign up for the ATG Access Scheme. You can apply by completing a form online, downloading it from the website, and posting it back to ATG. You can also call the Accessibility Assistance line. Either way, you’ll be asked to answer some questions about your requirements and be required to send some documents as proof. A Nimbus card is accepted.
You can select options such as wheelchair spaces, step-free access, hearing assistance and guide dogs. You also tick whether or not you require a companion to attend the events with you.
Once your account is set up, when you log in to ATG to book for a performance, you’ll see options for your requirements which won’t be visible to general ticket buyers. The system means you can book tickets in your own time without making a phone call or sitting in an online queue. General event tickets may be available on Ticketmaster and other online ticket vendors; however, accessible ticket allocations are only available directly from ATG.
There are six wheelchair spaces available in the rear of the Stalls in Row ZA. 2 seats are removed for each wheelchair, leaving companion seats in between. There are additional seating options in the Stalls for wheelchair users who wish to transfer into a seat.
All levels of the building are accessible by lift, but the seating options do have some steps. Some have additional legroom, and specific seats are reserved for customers with visual impairments.. The options suitable for you will show when you are logged into your Access account.
The booking process as an Access Scheme member is easy.
When you visit the website for the ATG venue you're interested in, you’ll see a list of upcoming events. Scroll through the list to find the performance you’re looking for.
When you click the ‘More Info’ button, a page loads showing you the dates of the performances, who’s performing in the show, a brief synopsis, and a link to view a full trailer.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click ‘Buy Tickets’. You’ll now be asked to log in to your account.
The next page opens with a calendar. It clearly shows when the performances are, how many performances are that day, and a traffic light system to indicate ticket availability. Click on the day you want, then click ‘Choose Seats’, which opens up the seating plan. There are only accessible seating options in the stalls.
The access seats are grey dots at the top of the screen with a white wheelchair logo. If you zoom in on the map, you can see the available seats. The next page offers some upgrades and drink packages.
The bottom of the page confirms your seat selection, shows that your access membership benefits have been applied, and shows your order total.
When you click to continue, the dreaded ticking clock appears, giving you 9 minutes to complete the transaction.
The checkout process is straightforward. You can download the ATG Tickets app to download your tickets, but they will also be emailed to you at the email address registered on your account and in the ‘My Account’ section of the ATG website.
When I logged in to book tickets, no wheelchair tickets were showing as available. I’d decided to book at short notice as we had a spare afternoon in London, so I thought I might have left it too late. Out of interest, I rang the Lyceum box office to ask about availability, and they said they could arrange seating for me.
They told me that if the wheelchair options have not been purchased within 2 weeks of the show, they are removed from the access list and put back up for sale as regular tickets (the seats can physically be put back in), but if they are still for sale, they can be reverted to a wheelchair space.
The staff were really helpful on the phone. They took my details and rang me back shortly after to confirm seat numbers and prices and take my payment. As I already had an ATG Access account, it was easy for them to process, and the booking was added straight to my account, so I could easily access my tickets.
LOCATION AND GETTING THERE
The Lyceum is in the world-famous ‘Theatreland’ in the West End of London. Located near the banks of the River Thames, just north of Waterloo Bridge, you’re a short distance from the bustling area of Covent Garden.
There are lots of TFL bus routes passing through the area linking to many of the central London districts. All TFL red buses are wheelchair accessible.
None of the local Underground stations are step-free, making it a bit of a tube blackspot. As you would expect with mainline train stations, Charing Cross railway station is accessible and is under 10 minutes walk or roll away.
If you’re arriving by car, there are a limited number of on-street parking bays on the streets between the theatre and Covent Garden.
Ticketholders can take advantage of 50% off at selected London Q-Park parking facilities when visiting a participating theatre. When you book your desired car park online, you will receive a discounted 4-hour parking session. The nearest park is the Q-Park Chinatown, which only has three accessible parking bays and is about 15 minutes away on foot or wheels.
With its location, the theatre is surrounded by cafes, bars, restaurants, and hotels. Many restaurants offer specials for theatre ticketholders, so there are plenty of opportunities to make a full day out of your visit.
GETTING IN
The five main doors across the front of the theatre building, situated behind the grand stone pillars, all have steps leading into the lower foyer. From here, there are seven steps down to the Stalls, so it is not accessible for wheelchair users.
Looking at the front of the building, on both sides of the pillars are two sets of fire doors. On the right-hand side is the Box Office. Again, this has steps, but there is a bell to ring for assistance.
Of the two sets of double doors on the left of the pillars, the set nearest to the pillars has a very small sign with a wheelchair logo above, indicating that this is the accessible entrance. The Lyceum’s access guide says the door is clearly marked; we struggled to find it at first, as there were large queues of schoolchildren on day trips to the theatre (we had booked for a matinee performance!). The sign could do with being a bit bigger!
There were several members of security staff at the front of the theatre who pointed us in the right direction to the door. If the door is not already open, security staff can radio through to have someone open it for you.
The staff at the door will scan your tickets and conduct a quick bag security check before showing you into the building. From the door, the floor slopes downwards towards the auditorium. I found it to be a struggle to push back up here if there are people in the way, as it’s fairly narrow and it's carpeted.
To your right, you’ll see the steps leading up to the lower foyer, where everyone else enters the building. A little further down, on the left-hand side, are two accessible toilets.
The passageway then makes a slight zigzag as you approach the auditorium door.
To your right is a doorway leading through into the stalls bar and toilets, or the door in front of you leads directly into the back left-hand corner of the theatre. Immediately to your right is Row ZA with the wheelchair spaces. The auditorium is quite dimly lit, but it’s easy enough to find your way around.
From the main door into the auditorium is a very short wheel with no chance of getting lost!
FACILITIES
As I already mentioned, the accessible toilets are the first facilities you come to in the building. The two doors are positioned at a 90-degree angle to each other, opening inward. The door on the left has a standard door handle and lock, whereas the door on the right requires a radar key.
Both toilets are pretty spacious, equipped with the required grab rails and red cord. They have nice, modern decor, which makes a change for an accessible toilet! They were clean and well-maintained.
In the Stalls Bar area, you’ll find the show merchandise stand, a small counter selling snacks and drinks and the main bar area. Only one small section of the main bar is lowered, but it does house a tap water dispenser.
There are a few seats in the bar area and a narrow shelf along the wall to put your drink. The area itself runs the full length of the back of the auditorium. In addition to the doorway near the accessible toilets, there is a door at each end of the bar, leading to the top of the aisles on either side of the auditorium.
The bar does get busy, but like many other ATG venues, the theatre offers in-seat service for drinks and snacks. Simply use your mobile phone to scan the QR code on the back of the seats, input your seat number, and you can place your order.
There are bar facilities on all levels of the theatres, as well as a Ballroom Bar and Ambassador VIP lounge.
Being an old theatre, one quirky feature remains: binoculars to hire on the back of the seats for £1.
It’s also worth noting that we went on a very hot Summer day, and the air conditioning was lovely and cool!
SEATING
We were seated in seats 41 and 42 of Row ZA, located at the back of the stalls. The row can be reconfigured as a whole row of seating, but two of the regular seats are removed to accommodate a wheelchair. The seats are old wooden, fold-down seats with fabric cushions, which were reasonably comfortable and provided adequate legroom.
There is a decent amount of space behind the row to allow people to pass easily and to accommodate some larger chairs.
We were close to both the doors for the accessible toilets and the Stalls bar.
Being an old-fashioned theatre, the floor of the auditorium slopes downward towards the stage, so if you plan on booking a seat nearer the stage and transferring, be prepared for an uphill wheel back out. This also means that the nearer you are to the back of the auditorium, the less head clearance there is below the balcony. It’s not to the extent that you need to duck down or anything, but it’s something to be aware of if you’re not a fan of being in enclosed spaces.
The balcony does block some of your view of the stage; however, the stage space and curtains are very high, so you’re not actually losing any of the stage action.
GETTING BACK OUT
I’m always an advocate for waiting a few minutes before moving, and today was a perfect example of this.
The step-free entrance I’d come in through was now open to everyone, so the corridor past the accessible toilets was busy. The school parties were being gathered into groups, and teachers were trying to keep tabs on all of their children, so it made sense to let them get sorted and leave so I’d have a clear run up the passageway to the door.
Even though there was an evening show to follow, at no point were we hurried out of the building, which was nice.
Outside the doors, many people were having their photographs taken in front of the theatre. As it was a hot, sunny late afternoon, the streets around the theatre were busy, but it was easy enough for us to get around and head off to our next destination.
OVERALL EXPERIENCE
The accessible door could do with some clearer signage.
It’s a great venue in the sense of ease of use - short distance from the door to your seats, plus easy access to the bar, merch and toilets.
In-seat service is a bonus, too.
Helpful staff both in the Box Office and inside the theatre.
It would be nice to have alternative wheelchair spaces that weren’t at the back of the theatre, but I can appreciate it’s not always easy to reconfigure in old buildings.
