The Apollo is smaller than most Theatreland venues, a really old-fashioned theatre with narrow corridors and an intimate feel, thus it usually stages plays rather than musicals. The current show is Noel Coward’s ‘The Vortex’, starring Felicity Kendall and Dan Stevens, which I really loved.

I booked weekday tickets via lastminute.com on a ‘best available’ basis. We didn’t know until we got there that our £20 seats were actually front row centre. Not brilliant for big shows, but fantastic when you’re there to ogle the talent (me, never!). The stalls are small, so even seats right at the back are good. They’re also a bit smaller and older than some, but there’s more leg room than at a lot of the newer or more recently refurbished theatres.

Make sure you look up when you’re seated - the ceiling decoration is amazing and the boxes really beautiful.

A show presenting a chronicled history of the dark world of organised crime, from it’s beginnings in Sicily, prohibition and the beginnings of Las Vegas. Narrated by the anonymous ‘Mercy Man’ recalling tales of real life mafios such as Al Capone. I’m sure if you are a fan of Mafia history then you’ll find this fact filled presentation interesting, if ,however you go to the West End to enjoy a show, this is definitely one to avoid. There is no performance here. A £40 ticket is severely overpriced for this ‘show’ It baffles me how this guy got a West End stage when his material would be better suited to a lecture theatre!

The Apollo is a reasonably intimate venue - the almost baroque interior seems recently restored, and the furniture and paintwork has been touched up. The bar, the American Airlines Bar, is pretty crammed - stuck downstairs in a stale-smelling basement. And the sponsorship by AA( the Easyjet of transatlantic flying) is not exactly glamorous: better get a drink elsewhere.

The seating is not particularly comfortable but there is at least some leg room (in the Stalls seats). A welcome innovation is a central aisle which makes access to seats in the middle of a row much easier.