Stalls at the Lyceum Theatre

937 seats on the ground floor, rows A to ZB, in a big centre block with a narrow block either side. This is the level for anyone who wants to be close to the performers, and at The Lion King it's where the show comes to you: the animals walk down the Stalls aisles in the opening number.

Where we'd put you

The centre block, from row E back to row R. The floor starts to rise at row C and is clearly raked from row E, so from there you're close to the stage and seeing over the row in front.

An aisle seat, if you can get one. The opening parade comes down the aisles, so a seat on the aisle of the centre block, around rows J and K, puts the animals right beside you. It's worth asking for, first visit or fifth.

The side seats of row R are a favourite. There's no row Q, just a walkway across the Stalls, so seats 2 to 15 and 33 to 46 have nothing in front of them at all. They're off-centre, but the clear view and the legroom more than make up for it.

What to avoid

• Rows A and B. You're so close that you lose some of the staging, and you see the workings of the show rather than the picture it makes.
• Row A, seats 22 to 25, which have the conductor right in front of them.
• The far ends of the side blocks. They lose part of the stage, and they're sold as restricted view.
• Behind row X, unless the saving matters most. The Royal Circle starts to hang over the Stalls from about row S or T. The aerial scenes go high but not to the very top of the stage, so even rows X and Y keep most of them, but beyond row X you're a long way back.

Row X itself is the cheaper row to take at the back: it's usually a price band below the row in front for much the same view. There's a sound desk in the middle of the last few rows, around rows Y, Z and ZA.

Legroom in the Stalls

Good from row E back, adequate in rows A to D, and best in the side seats of row R, where there's a walkway in front instead of another row.

Getting in

Through the main doors on Wellington Street, you climb three steps into the foyer, then take a short flight of stairs down to your seats. For no steps at all, use the level entrance, a double door to the left of the five main doors, which leads down a gentle slope into the Stalls. The six wheelchair spaces are at the back of this level, in row ZA, and the access page has the rest.

Drinks and toilets

The Stalls Bar is on this level and you can reach it without a step. Drinks in the Stalls have to be in plastic. The Ladies is one step up from the side of the Stalls, or ten steps down from the Stalls Bar, and the Gents is off the Stalls Bar. You'll find two accessible toilets by the level entrance, on the way in. There's a merchandise kiosk down here too.