Advice on purchasing theatre tickets in London
 

We're heading to London for a week post-cruise Aug 9-15 and are interested in seeing a few theatre productions while we're there. I've seen people advise the use of the TKTS booths in Leicester Square. We're hoping to get tickets to Lion King, Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera. Is there any chance that we'd miss out by waiting until the day of the show or should we go to the booths on our first day and buy up then?

Also, we'd love to see a Shakespeare play at the Globe. How should we go about purchasing tickets for that?

For the Globe Theatre, you can order tickets from their own website
http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/

At TKTS, you can only buy tickets for the same day so you can't "buy up" for any other days. And it isn't "booths" - it is just the one stand-alone TKTS (well there is a 2nd one but it is out at Canary Wharf and you won't be anywhere near that location). Do not go to any of the other "1/2 price" booths that are near the Square.

What is available at TKTS is different every day but there are some shows that are almost always available. To give you an idea - here is what was available at TKTS last Sat.

MATINEE...
Absurd Person Singular
Blood Brothers
Boeing Boeing
Buddy
Cabaret
Chicago
The Country Wife
Dealer's Choice
Fiddler on the Roof
Glengarry Glen Ross
History Boys
Lord of the Rings
Les Miserables
Nicholas Nickleby
Rent
Shadowlands
Spamalot (25% off)
Stomp
Swimming With Sharks
39 Steps
Woman in Black
Woman of Troy


EVENING...
Absurd Person Singular
Avenue Q (25% off)
Blood Brothers
Boeing Boeing
Buddy
Cabaret
Chicago
The Country Wife
Dealer's Choice
Fiddler on the Roof
Glengarry Glen Ross
Herge's Adventures of Tintin
History Boys
Lord of the Rings
Les Miserables
Nicholas Nickleby
Rent
Shadowlands
Spamalot (25% off)
Stomp
Swimming With Sharks
39 Steps
Woman in Black
Woman of Troy

<<< well there is a 2nd one but it is out at Canary Wharf >>>

Thought it had closed several months ago

Maybe so. Some sites still list it but I've never been out there so don't know one way or the other.

If you have internet access, you can find tickets 24 hours ahead of time. Discounted tickets are available at londontown.com, broadwaybox.com-check their prices before you go- and lastminute.com. For those shows I really wanted to see but were not discounted, I was still able to buy a ticket or two the night before or mornig of at the theater's website.

Well I just bought our June tickets for The Lion King online via Ticketmaster. No discount, but I got two seats, dead center, 7th row.

You will be in London with lots of tourists in August. If there are productions you really want to see I would book them ahead of time. You never know what will be available at TKTS. There was little at TKTS between Christmas and New Years this year.

mjs: between Christmas and New years is a special case - because many theatres are running pantos and all the holiday visitors.

That is not a typical time at TKTS.

August isn't nearly as difficult - there are lots of tourists but many fewer locals going to the theatre

Just a thought - we went to the half price booth in Leicester Square but they were not selling tickets for the show we wanted (just check the boards, no need to queue up) so we went down to the theatre and were lucky to get good tickets at the box office for that night. Would be worth trying.

Kay