Cheap tickets for London West End theatre [theater] shows: guide to musicals/plays


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< Up	Life / Entertainment / Theatre / Tickets
Guide to London shows and how to buy theatre tickets


Sections:	Introduction
	West End theatre
	Other theatres
	Links

INTRODUCTION

Information about going to the theatre in London or other parts of Britain.

Mamma Mia!

Stomp

WEST END THEATRE

The most famous location for theatre in the UK is in London's West End (the British equivalent of New York's Broadway).

You can choose either to have tickets posted to you at a UK address (make sure that you allow enough time to receive them), or you can choose to pick them up at the theatre.
A typical price range for tickets to a West End show is £20 - £50 per person.
Group rates may be available, typically for 10 or more tickets to the same show.

Tickets can usually be booked several months in advance (they may be on sale more than a year in advance for very popular shows which are certain to run for a long time). The cheapest seats are usually sold out earliest. Offers are most likely to be available in the few weeks before a performance, when some of the highest priced tickets may be sold at a discount to make sure that the theatre is full.

Note the names of the locations of seats in the theatre:
Stalls / Orchestra Stalls : front (the ground floor seats nearest the stage) [US English: Orchestra]
Circle / Dress Circle / Grand Circle / Royal Circle : middle [US English: Mezzanine]
Upper Circle : back [US English: Second Mezzanine]
Balcony / Gallery : back, at the top (furthest from the stage)
When you book online have a look at the seating plan in the theatre, so that you know exactly where you will be sitting (there are links to seating plans in the theatre table below).

Most evening performances start at about 7:30pm and are finished by about 10pm. Combined theatre and restaurant packages are sometimes available: these include a pre-theatre meal at a nearby restaurant. It can be difficult to get a taxi after a show, so it may be easier to walk to the nearest Tube station to go back home. Matinee performances are afternoon performances, typically from about 2:30pm to about 5pm. Many performances have a couple of matinee performances each week, most commonly on Wednesday or Thursday and on Saturday. Most theatres are closed on Sundays and on Christmas Day (25th December), but are usually open on other UK public holidays. Friday and Saturday evening performances are usually the most popular, so if you are flexible about when you go you may find it easier or cheaper to get a seat at other times. The Easter period (late March to late April), summer holiday season (July and August) and pre-Christmas (December) are the busiest for the theatres.

Below is a list of West End musicals in London (last updated: 9 May 2008). Future productions for which tickets can be purchased now are shown in italics. You can book tickets by clicking on the show's name.:

London: musicals/dance	Theatre	Brief description
Avenue Q	Noel Coward	Musical combining humans, puppets and adult humour
Billy Elliot	Victoria Palace	Based on the film about an English boy who wants to become a ballet dancer
Blood Brothers	Phoenix	Popular musical by Willy Russell (writer of Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine)
Buddy	Duchess	The life story and music of the American rock'n'roll star Buddy Holly
Cabaret	Lyric	Musical set in Berlin in 1931 (the film starred Liza Minelli)
Chicago	Cambridge	Sexy jazz musical set in Chicago in the 1920s
Dirty Dancing	Aldwych	Music, dance and romance in the US in the summer of 1963 (the film starred Patrick Swayze)
Gone with the Wind	New London	Life changes for Scarlett O'Hara in Atlanta, Georgia in the 1860's
Grease	Piccadilly	Based on the film about high school lovers Sandy and Danny
Hairspray	Shaftesbury	American teenager seeks fame (based on a film)
Havana Rakatan	Peacock	Cuban music and dance [21 May - 22 Jun 2008]
High School Musical	Hammersmith Apollo	Stage musical based on the Disney film, set in a US high school [30 Jun - 9 Aug 2008]
Jersey Boys	Prince Edward	Story of 60's rock 'n' roll band Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
Joseph	Adelphi	Popular Tim Rice/Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical based on a Bible story
Jump	Peacock	Wordless show based on Korean martial arts [15 Apr - 10 May 2008]
Les Miserables	Queens	Musical drama based on Victor Hugo's novel, set in post-revolutionary France
Lion King	Lyceum	Musical based on the Disney film about an African lion cub (suitable for adults and children)
Lord of the Rings	Theatre Royal Drury Lane	Dramatic musical based on Tolkien's stories of Middle-Earth [until 19 Jul 2008]
Mamma Mia	Prince of Wales	Musical featuring the songs of Abba
Marguerite	Theatre Royal Haymarket	A musical love story set in Paris during the Second World War
Never Forget	Savoy	The story of a Take That tribute band, featuring the most popular Take That hits
Oliver!	Theatre Royal Drury Lane	New version of Lionel Bart's musical, based on Dickens' story "Oliver Twist" [from 12 Dec 2008]
Phantom of The Opera	Her Majestys	Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical: the story of a phantom at an opera house in 1880's Paris
Sound Of Music	London Palladium	A new nanny arrives to look after a family in 1930's Austria (the film starred Julie Andrews)
Spamalot	Palace	Comic musical by Eric Idle based on the film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"
Stomp	New Ambassadors	Lively street dance and percussion
We Will Rock You	Dominion	Based on the music of the rock group Queen
West Side Story	Sadlers Wells	1950's musical combining dance and a popular musical score [22 Jul - 31 Aug 2008]
Wicked	Apollo Victoria	Musical about the Wicked Witch of the West (from the Wizard of Oz)

The Sound of Music

Lee Mead after a performance as Joseph

Wicked

For a list of current London West End plays: click here

The main West End theatres are listed below in alphabetical order. Click on the theatre name links to buy tickets at that theatre. Click on the "seating plan" links to find where seats are located (by row letter and number). Click on the "map" to see the location of the theatre.

Theatre Name	Seating plan	Seats	Road	Nearest Tube	Map
Adelphi	seating plan	1500	The Strand	Charing Cross	map
Aldwych	seating plan	1200	Aldwych	Covent Garden	map
Apollo	seating plan	800	Shaftesbury Avenue	Piccadilly Circus	map
Apollo Victoria	seating plan	1800	Wilton Road	Victoria	map
Cambridge	seating plan	1300	Earlham Street	Covent Garden	map
Comedy	seating plan	800	Panton Street	Piccadilly Circus	map
Criterion	seating plan	600	Piccadilly Circus	Piccadilly Circus	map
Dominion	seating plan	2100	Tottenham Court Road	Tottenham Court Road	map
Duchess	seating plan	500	Catherine Street	Covent Garden	map
Duke of York's	seating plan	600	St. Martin's Lane	Leicester Square	map
Fortune	seating plan	400	Russell Street	Covent Garden	map
Garrick	seating plan	700	Charing Cross Road	Leicester Square	map
Gielgud	seating plan	900	Shaftesbury Avenue	Piccadilly Circus	map
Her Majesty's	seating plan	1200	Haymarket	Piccadilly Circus	map
London Palladium	seating plan	2300	Argyll Street	Oxford Circus	map
Lyceum	seating plan	2100	Wellington Street	Covent Garden	map
Lyric	seating plan	900	Shaftesbury Avenue	Piccadilly Circus	map
New Ambassadors	seating plan	400	West Street	Leicester Square	map
New London	seating plan	900	Drury Lane	Covent Garden	map
Noel Coward	seating plan	900	St. Martin's Lane	Leicester Square	map
Novello	seating plan	1100	Aldwych	Covent Garden	map
Old Vic	seating plan	1100	Waterloo Road	Waterloo	map
Palace	seating plan	1400	Cambridge Circus	Leicester Square	map
Phoenix	seating plan	1000	Charing Cross Road	Tottenham Court Road	map
Piccadilly	seating plan	1200	Denman Street	Piccadilly Circus	map
Playhouse	seating plan	800	Northumberland Avenue	Embankment	map
Prince Edward	seating plan	1600	Old Compton Street	Leicester Square	map
Prince of Wales	seating plan	1100	Coventry Street	Piccadilly Circus	map
Queen's	seating plan	1000	Shaftesbury Avenue	Piccadilly Circus	map
Savoy	seating plan	1200	The Strand	Charing Cross	map
Shaftesbury	seating plan	1400	Shaftesbury Avenue	Tottenham Court Road	map
St Martin's	seating plan	500	West Street	Leicester Square	map
Theatre Royal Drury Lane	seating plan	2200	Drury Lane	Covent Garden	map
Theatre Royal Haymarket	seating plan	900	Haymarket	Piccadilly Circus	map
Vaudeville	seating plan	700	The Strand	Charing Cross	map
Victoria Palace	seating plan	1600	Victoria Street	Victoria	map
Wyndham's	seating plan	800	Charing Cross Road	Leicester Square	map

Special offers

For details of special offers at West End shows, click here

Half-price ticket booth

You can buy half-price tickets for some plays or musicals in London by queuing at the TKTS building in the middle of Leicester Square (10am - 7pm, Monday to Saturday, and 12 - 3pm on Sunday; map). The tickets are only for performances on the same day. Note that half-price tickets are only available for the most expensive seats (for example £30 instead of £60), you cannot choose your seat, and you are unlikely to find tickets for the newest or most popular shows. Each day the shows for which half-price tickets are available are listed on a board or electronic display outside TKTS, and are also shown on this website: http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/tkts/today. Some tickets are available with a 25% discount, and others may be sold at full price. There may be different boards and queues for matinee (afternoon) and evening performances, so make sure you join the correct queue. There is a service charge for each ticket (in 2007: £2.50). Tickets can also be bought (by card only) at a second TKTS office which is located near platforms 4 and 5 at the DLR station at Canary Wharf (in East London's Docklands).

TKTS is the only official ticket shop, organised by the theatres. Be careful if you buy tickets from other ticket shops around Leicester Square which advertise half-price or discount theatre tickets or claim to be "official". Make sure that you ask about the booking fees before you buy tickets. Check the location of your seats: you may not be able to see much if the ticket is marked "restricted view". Always ask what the face value is of the tickets you are being sold. Do not buy tickets from touts (US English: scalpers) outside the theatre.

TKTS (Half-price ticket booth),
Leicester Square, London

Student standby

Cheap student standby tickets may be sold on the same day as a performance at the theatre's box office. You will need to show student identification, usually an ISIC or NUS card. The arrangements are different for each location, but often these tickets start to be sold two or three hours before the performance. Some theatres have a few cheap tickets for people who are prepared to stand at the back of the balcony (at the top of the theatre).

Returns

If all the tickets have been sold, it may be possible to buy "returns" at the theatre's box office (these are tickets from people who cannot go and who have returned their tickets).

Get Into London Theatre

Each year there is a special theatre promotion called Get Into London Theatre. A limited number of specially priced tickets are available for a range of plays, musicals, operas and dance performances in London.
In 2008 this offer was for performances between 3 January and 8 February 2008. Top price tickets were available for £15, £25 or £35 (with no booking fee). There was also a special youth offer for people between 16 and 25: a limited number of tickets were available for £15 (if you bought this type of ticket you might be asked to show proof of age at the theatre).
The 2008 promotion has now finished, but check this page in January 2009 for details of Get Into London Theatre 2009.

Theatre etiquette

- There is not a strict dress code, except perhaps on a first night or special performance. If possible wear either smart casual or formal clothes. Don't wear large hats, as they may affect the view of the people sitting behind you. Avoid wearing strong perfume.
- Try to arrive at the theatre 30 minutes before the start. This is especially important if you need to pick up your tickets from the theatre's box office.
- Put your coat in the cloakroom. Smaller coats may fit under your seat, if you want to avoid queuing to get your coat back at the end.
- Get to your seat on time. At the end of the interval bells announce when it is time to make your way into the auditorium.
- Do not take drinks from the bar into the auditorium (a few theatres allow drinks in plastic cups - not in glasses, for safety reasons). It should be alright to take a small plastic bottle of mineral water.
- Do not take your own food into the auditorium. If you eat sweets (for example to control a cough), unwrap them before the performance. Note that ice creams are often sold during the interval.
- Note that there can be long queues for toilets (especially for the ladies), so make sure that you allow enough time for this.
- Stand up to allow other people to go past you to get to their seats (unless the performance has already started).
- Turn off your mobile phone during the performance.
- Do not talk or hum during the performance - it will annoy the people around you (even if you whisper, they will hear you)
- Try to sit reasonably still, to avoid disturbing the people behind you
- Do not smoke, even in the bar areas [since July 2007 it is illegal to smoke in enclosed public spaces in any part of the UK]
- Do not take any photos or video/sound recordings inside the theatre.
- Do not offer tips to the theatre ushers (it is not expected, and usually theatre staff are not allowed to accept tips).

Theatregoers' Handbook
Author: Mark Shenton
Publisher: Harden's
Date: June 2004

The London Theatre Guide
Author: Richard Andrews
Publisher: Metro Publications
Date: February 2002

OTHER THEATRES

There are of course many other excellent theatres in the UK outside of London's West End.
Tickets for these shows are usually cheaper and the theatres are often smaller, making the experience more intimate.
A wide range of styles and new works are performed, which may not attract big enough audiences to fill the larger theatres.
For a list of productions on any particular date, many of which have been reviewed, see: http://www.thestage.co.uk/listings/bydate

The main arts festivals include many theatrical productions, for example:
The Edinburgh International Festival: http://www.eif.co.uk (August)
Edinburgh Festival Fringe: http://www.edfringe.com (August)
Brighton Festival Fringe: http://www.brightonfestivalfringe.org.uk (May)
Dublin Theatre Festival (Ireland): http://www.dublintheatrefestival.com (September/October)

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LINKS

London theatre shows: Life/Entertainment/Theatre
This section includes detailed guides to these UK musicals:
Les Miserables: Life/Entertainment/Theatre/Les-Miserables
Lion King: Life/Entertainment/Theatre/LionKing
Lord of the Rings: Life/Entertainment/Theatre/Lord-Of-The-Rings
Phantom of the Opera: Life/Entertainment/Theatre/Phantom-Of-The-Opera
Sound of Music: Life/Entertainment/Theatre/Sound-Of-Music

British films: Britain/Films
London sightseeing: Travel/Tours/London

Home page: Home

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