Bristol Hippodrome
reviews and complaints

Went to see the 3rd of February evening performance of wicked at the Bristol hippodrome, and was most shocked to see when finding our seats that someone had thrown up over several seats and they had not yet been cleaned it up. I understand that there is a short period of time before the performance starts but when it still smells of sick and they are trying to usher people to sit in those seats or close by, I found it appalling as there were empty boxes and seats for the other people.

Hello, I recently bought tickets to go to the Pantomine Aladin at the Bristol Hippodrome - 175gbp worth of tickets. To go as a family with our 6 and 8 year old children. We went to the Pantomine last year there with Torvil and Dean and really enjoyed it. However the one this year was SO different - in a different league. The quality was so shockingly poor and cheap, cheap laughs, adult humour, Joe Pascale was terrible... at one stage I thought he was actually drunk and off script and was going to be taken off the stage, spending about 10 mins just trying to distract Aladdin and the Princess from their song by rubbing their faces, hair etc. so the Princess then started giggling in the middle of her song. It was so unprofessional, the humour was completely cheap and rude, and not at all suitable for children. There was another cheap scene lasting at least 10 mins where they just repeated tongue teasers, just so dull, my sons kept asking during the first quarter of an hour when the panto was starting as they didn't even recognise the Aladdin story. there wasn't even an "he's behind you". It was terrible from start to finish and the worst waste of money ever. Such a lot of money for a terrible 2 hours. Had it not been for my children we would have walked out. As said the one the previous year with T and Dean was brilliant. I do not understand how you can change the quality so much. Our local panto would have been better - we travelled 1.5 hours to get there, as last year it was worth it so on top of the expense we wasted 3 hours in a car. I really would like some form of compensation for such a waste. Thansk, [removed]
Oder no [removed]

I am a very regular theatre visitor but today was so unfair. I went with my niece and two other guests (usually for the panto have about 20 guests). We were sat in the top tier today, when we arrived we saw that part of the show was to wear 3d glasses, on asking the lady on entering she said she would hand them out later as was waiting for them to arrive. At half time we again asked and was told that they were on their way up from downstairs and yet again when they arrive she would hand them out. Then the warnings came to put on safety glasses nobody sat by us had any and when we asked the lady where they were she said they had run out! How disgusting. You know how many shows you have, how many tickets can be sold so why run out even if people don't hand them back as they should you should still be able to provide as we all pay for our tickets which are not cheap. As a theatre card holder I am most disgusted with the service today. Please provide me with an explanation for this as a very good pantomime was ruined with this boring piece put in!
Thank you and await to hear an explanation for this.
Tracy Brooker

I recently visited the Bristol Hippodrome to see Sister Act which I thoroughly enjoyed but I am writing to complain about the price of a 175ml glass of Sauvignon Blanc at £7.80! This is absolutely disgraceful to charge such high prices - goodness knows how much a large glass would have been. You can get many very good Sauvignon Blanc wines around Bristol at a much lower price. I will never bother having a drink in the theatre again but pop 5 mins away on the harbourside where the prices are acceptable.

I applied for a job as Front of House Assistant at the Bristol Hippodrome, a part of the Ambassador Theatre Group. I was delighted when I received a phone call from Ben Manning at the Hippodrome letting me know I had an interview at 6pm on a Thursday evening. The only information that he gave me was that I needed to turn up at the stage door for an interview at 6pm that evening.

On arrival, I was surprised to find that the process was in fact a group interview, with approx. 25 other candidates there for the same purpose. After we were lead to the bar area, we were all informed that we would be having a “get to know each other” session, a maths test, and then individual interviews. The Hippodrome staff informed the group that the whole process should take “just over an hour”. Upon speaking to the other candidates present, I learned that they were just as surprised about this as I was – we had all turned up expecting a (standard) individual interview.

To secure any job, employees should of course be prepared to be put through their paces in these types of situations, but some pre-warning would have been courteous, if not necessary, to help us prepare. At no stage in my correspondence with The Hippodrome was I lead to believe it would entail a group session / maths test.

My real issue though comes with what happened next. After the introductory period and maths test, the time was 7.15pm (already 75 mins into the evening). We were then informed that the staff would exit to mark the maths tests, and then the individual interviews would commence on a one-by-one basis. At this point there was some concern between candidates at the length of time involved with this process.

We sat in the lobby/bar area whilst candidates were called one at a time by the Hippodrome staff. Obviously the staff are obliged to conduct interviews at their own pace, but meanwhile this left the remaining candidates sat waiting and, in the knowledge that there were 25 candidates to get though, the time was becoming a real worry. Some of the people around me were missing appointments, their dinner, surpassing their car parking allowance, and even worse – missing their buses and trains home. One girl even left in quite a frustrated state. Some people around me had travelled considerable lengths to this interview (from across the country) and were very anxious about getting back home at all, some started asking for nearby hotels (obviously at great expense to them).

It was eventually 9pm that I was called for my interview, and I left the Hippodrome at 9.20pm after this had finished.

I was, at the time, angry to have been held at the venue for so long without prior warning – and I know I was not alone. If it had been explained beforehand that the interview could reach 9pm (or later), then the candidates could have made alternative travel/dinner/parking/evening plans. When I was called for interview at 9pm, there were still 9-10 candidates in the waiting area, so I can only assume that they were kept at the Hippodrome until even later on that night (10pm or later at the rate of interviews).

At no point during the whole evening was there any reference by the Hippodrome staff that we had all been in the building for so long, and unexpectedly so.

I really think there needs to be some kind of review of this interview process as this is a really inconsiderate way of treating potential future staff. Considering I was informed that the interview was at 6pm, I certainly did not to expect to arrive home three-and-a-half hours later. It was only a desire to work for the company that kept the candidates in the building for so long without warning, and I think this treatment by the Hippodrome really took advantage of the candidates’ need for work and interest in the Hippodrome.

I would never, ever apply for a job with Ambassador Theatre Company again.