Cindi Underwood

My Mom and I are visiting London in mid September. Any suggestions regarding purchasing theatre tickets before hand or what luck have you had with the half price booth in London?

terrell

<BR>We've done 3 theatre-trips to London this decade. I would not recommend booking tickets ahead. We have never had trouble going to the ticket window during the day and buying returns. We got tickets to "Sunset Boulevard" the third week it was open though the concierge at our hotel assured us it was sold out. The half-price booth is great, but selection is limited. If you want to see something that has been playing for a while (Lady in Black, for instance) it is great. "Hot" tickets are not usually there. Best bet -- you've travelled halfway round the globe and spent big bucks to get there -- I wouldn't worry about saving a few pounds and compromise on my viewing. Get a current theatre guide when you arrive and start going to the theatres and booking tickets. I wouldn't telephone, I would go in person. It can be a pleasant morning. You can scout out your theatres, hop into interesting shops and grab some pub-grub for lunch. (By the way, don't forget that the new Globe is open! I got to tour it last time I was there, but the first production was in rehearsal. If you go, please e-mail me and let me know how Shakespeare is in the original!)

Iris

Cindi, Terrell is right on the money!!!! Many years and many, many shows and still it is never enough! If you are lucky to catch a matinee in the afternoon and a show in the evening you are even luckier. Saw Mousetrap (longest running show in the west end) for the first time last year because matinees are dark most days and Moustrap was playing! Sunset Boulevard is spectacular if you love musicals and it is still playing - also Whistle Down the Wind (which never got past D.C. for broadway unfortunately) opened last week also. Enjoy and let us know how you made out.

Mike Miller

This past October we saw Jesus Christ Superstar by just going into the theatre and buying the tickets. Ditto for Martin Guerre (which I think has closed) and also for Oliver (which has closed). The advice above is right on target. Think of the money you have spent just to get there and don't let a few dollars saving make you waste alot of your valuable time standing in a 1/2 price ticket booth line.

kam

Agree with all of the above. The 1/2 price booth is OK for college students and young people who don't mind the line. Above all else, don't buy from the scalpers who set up near the 1/2 price booth. If you want to go to Stratford-on-Avon to a play there tickets can be booked directly from the US and you can use your visa etc. Stratford is not an easy daytrip however, because of the train, so you should plan to overnight if you're going to the theatre. Theatre in London is out of this world!! PS You'll probably get a lot of advice to go to the 1/2 price booth, but it takes a lot of time! <BR>

wes fowler

Check the West End Theatre Guide on the Internet via city.net. You'll find schedules, opening and closing dates, theatre plans and reviews of what's on in London. You might want to check closer to your departure date for more current productions. Advance preparation and prioritizing what to see could save you some steps when wandering through the theatre district.

gina

<BR>Look in Time Out for recommendations but go and see theatre rather than musicals. <BR> <BR>Saccarine sweet Whistle Down the Wind is having particularly ghastly reviews. One critic recommended taking the kids because then you'd have something to watch rather than the stage!!! <BR> <BR>Good now are: <BR> <BR>Closer <BR>The Iceman Cometh (Kevin Spacey is FANTASTIC) <BR>Art <BR> <BR>Shows at the National, Royal Court (currently in 2 venues in the West End) are nearly always wonderful though the Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is pretty grim <BR> <BR>

Bob

We were in London in 1990 and got some of the best seats we had ever had at Harrods, the famous department store. They had a return ticket booth for that days performance. No discount, but they were great seats for a sold out sat evening performance of Blood Brothers. You may want to try there. It should still be in operation. <BR>

Bob

We were in London in 1990 and got some of the best seats we had ever had at Harrods, the famous department store. They had a return ticket booth for that days performance. No discount, but they were great seats for a sold out sat evening performance of Blood Brothers. You may want to try there. It should still be in operation. <BR>

Ben Haines

If you want blocvkbuster musicals you have all the advice you need. If you want serious plays and classic comedies then I can add a point or two. <BR> <BR>Time Out lists fringe theares, nearly all of them in Travel Card zones 1 and 2. Tickets in these theatres cost about ten pounds, but some are less, down to about six pounds. One books a couple of days ahead, or on the day, by credit card. I always ask the booking desk to tell me where to find a nearby pre-theatre supper. Fringe theatres are in areas with cheaper eating than the West End can offer. At many of the West End theatres that are not showing musicals the cheapest tickets are ten pounds, but the seats are poor, being high up and distant. No matter: if you go thirty minutes before curtain up on a Monday, or at a weekday matinee, and buy the cheapest seat, you will often find that the theatre has closed the topmost gallery ("the gods") and seats you at the back or side of the main gallery. And there it is quite permissable to wait till the lights are dropping, and edge forward to a central seat, behind the block of people who have paid full price. I was at a good production of Oscar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband" last night. It was a Friday, but I am a pensioner, so my seat was 12 pounds 50. <BR> <BR>There is no site on the net for all London theatres. The one quoted is for West End only. <BR> <BR>Please write again if I can help further. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, London