booking london shows
 

in your experience, what is the most cost effective and secure way to book a london show?

is a "walk-up" possible for long running shows like "les miserables"? is there a bargain kiosk like the one in NYC?

surely there must be some way to economise over the prices at the specific venues (theatres).

There is a TKTS booth in Leicester Square which sells discount tickets to shows. See more here:

http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/tkts/today

Also, as discussed today on another thread, good seats at a discount can be had at lastminute.com. Going directly to box office to price them works as well.

Walk ups for long running big shows are very possible, but like in NYC, not guaranteed. Les Miz was almost always available when it was at the Palace...moved to the Queen's this past spring. I don't know if tickets are readily available now.

obxgirl...

thanks. TKTS looks like the ticket!

When I was there last week, TKTS had tickets for almost all the shows in London, including Jerry Springer which I had booked months ago at top price. Very short lines and, unlike the New York TKTS, they accept credit cards.

Whatever you do, do NOT book from a ticket broaker (i.e. Keith Prowse) before you leave for your trip! These agencies make you believe that you will never get tickets to the "top shows" while you are there if you don't book with them months in advance. It just isn't true! Not only can you get a better price (you are paying a HUGE commision with them) chances are you can get better seats as well! This happened to me in 1997. I booked months in advance for Miss Saigon. A girl in my class (I was studying abroad) decided to go that evening too. She got "stand by" tickets A LOT cheaper than mine PLUS she got 4th row center!! I was way in the back!!
After that though, I saw the light and was able to snag awesome seats for Guys and Dolls the day of the show!! (I was in London for Summer quarter and saw about 11 plays! :) I am a theatre fanatic!)

The same thing happened to me on my first trip to London in 1995. I used Keith Prowse to get a ticket for Miss Saigon and wound up way in the back. The TKTS booth has saved me money. Plus, the National Theatre runs 10 GBP specials fromn time to time. I got a front row seat last Nov for My Girl Friday for 10 GBP. I love the theatre in London.

Was in London last week. Started the day late and only reached TKTS at 11.30am. Queued around an hour. Les Miz was listed. Watched Jerry Springer for 25 pounds. Credit cards were not accepted at that time due to some system breakdown so bring cash, just in case. In anyways, there's a NatWest just 10 steps away.

I'm having all sorts of problems w/ the site today. If this ends up a double post - appologies

TKTS is great. The times you can expect the longest queues is right at opening time and around noon/lunchtime. About 45 mins after opening and later in the day the lines are short - sometimes only 5 or 6 people.

There is really no advantage to going there early - the stock of tickets goes up and down during the day. But there will always be something available. I often don't stop by TKTS until 6 or 7 p.m. and still get good tickets.

I agree a great way to get a cheap ticket to a London show is to go to a ticket booth in Leicester Square, of which there are several ( there is also one in Covent Garden). Bear in mind these discounted tickets can only be purchased on the day of the performance and are usually only for the most expensive seats, but are really good value. However if you want to see the Lion King you need to book in advance if possible as this is usually not discounted and can be a sell out at weekends. If you do want to book in advance you can do so at londontheatre.com which also has a section on it's site where you can print off seating plans for all the theatres so you can see in advance where you will be in relation to the stage. It also gives tips on where and where not to sit (restricted views etc). A stalls ticket for the Lion King will cost £57 in the 'good' seats which is more than the face value. The exchange rate today in the UK was $1.78 to the british pound. Les Mis is usally discounted. Apparently when the shows have been running for some time they will often move them to a smaller venue and when that happens they usually stop discounting. Two shows I can recommend are Tonight's the Night,the Ben Elton show featuring the songs of Rod Stewart, which has a good storyline and terrific music and Bombay Dreams, which may be coming to the end of it's run soon so if you have a chance go to see it as it is a lively show with lovely dancing and catchy songs. Tickets for these shows can be around 24 or 25 pounds each each. Whatever you do don't buy from ticket touts outside the theatre. They will rip you off and possibly even sell you counterfeit tickets which will not be honoured. If you can, I find the best night to go is mid week and I always try to get to the booth as it opens around 10am as there is never a queue then.
I hope you find this useful and have a wonderful time in London.
Bye Countrymouse

OOPS! that should be londontheatrebookings.com Sorry!
CM

What Countrymouse has said is good, but I'd take issue with one point. The post states that there are "several" discount booths in Leicester Square and one in Covent Garden. Beware of those. There is ONLY ONE TKTS booth in Leicester Square and that is the self-contained building at the south side of the "park". Those other booths I'd be very wary of. One common practice is to tell you that tickets to a show are maybe 50 pounds and then they sell you a ticket for 25 pounds. But the ticket they sell you is LIKELY not to be a 50 pound ticket, but one that would normally be even less than the 25 pounds they sold it to you for!! Some of the confusion comes from the fact that the "real" discount booth in Leicester Square used to be called the "Official" London Theatre booth, but then they changed the name to TKTS, so those other places all started putting the word "official" in their names. I have no idea what they mean by "official" since none of those are run by the London Society of Theatres.

Patrick is absolutely correct. Don't even waste your time visiting the other "discount" ticket booths. They are rip-offs. There have been posts here where people complained about getting a bad deal. You can't miss the TKTS booth in Leicester Square.

PLEASE listen to Patrick and rj007. When you leave the Leicester Square tume station you will immediately see 4 or 5 (the number keeps growing) "half price ticket" store fronts. They will all have queues in front of them - these are mostly foreign tourists that see "HALF PRICE!" and assume these are the TKTS booth. Avoid these at all costs.

instead walk directly into the square and to the opposite and you will find the TKTS kiosk - it is a stand-alone bldg.

Oops - that should be "tube station" - but I'd guess you figured that out . . . .

thanks to all for your very helpfull responses. this is a great site full of useful information and friendly advise!

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