Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
cadilly and Covent Garden. With a centuries-old tradition of pleasing the masses, they
present London theater at its grandest.
I prefer big, glitzy—even bombastic—musicals over serious chamber dramas, simply
because London can deliver the lights, booming voices, dancers, and multimedia spectacle
I rarely get back home. If that's not to your taste—or you already have access to similar
spectacles at home—you might prefer some of London's more low-key offerings.
Well-known musicals may draw the biggest crowds, but the West End offers plenty of
other crowd-pleasers, from revivals of classics to cutting-edge works by the hottest young
playwrights. These productions tend to have shorter runs than famous musicals. A few
relatively recent cinematic hits (including
The King's Speech
and
War Horse
) started out
as London plays. Many productions star huge-name celebrities—London is a magnet for
movie stars who want to stretch their acting chops.
You'll see the latest offerings advertised all over the Tube and elsewhere. The free
Of-
ficial London Theatre Guide
, updated weekly, is a handy tool (find it at hotels, box offices,
the City of London TI, and online at
www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk
). If you're picky,
check the reviews at
www.timeout.com/london
.
Most performances are nightly except Sunday, usually with two or three matinees a
week. The few shows that run on Sundays are mostly family fare (
Matilda, The Lion King,
and so on). Tickets range from about
£
25 to
£
120 for the best seats at big shows. Matinees
are generally cheaper and rarely sell out.
Buying Tickets for West End Shows
For most visitors, it makes the most sense to simply buy tickets in London. But if your
time in London is limited and you have your heart set on a particular show that's likely to
sell out (usually the newest shows), you can buy peace of mind by prebooking your tickets
from home.
Before You Go
Once you know what show you want to see, buy your tickets directly from its theater's
website (which may reroute you to a third-party ticket vendor such as Ticketmaster). You
can also call the theater box office (which may ring through to a central ticketing office).
