London Theater
 

My wife and I will be in London at the end of November for a few days. Unfortunately it will be a quick stay but we want to make the most of it. We live the NYC Metro area and she enjoys Broadway (not exactly my sort of thing) so she would love to see something in London. I've looked around and there are some productions that sound interesting. The best night for us is a Thursday night...that make it easier or mroe difficult?

What's the best way to go about getting tickets for a show? Should I order them online? Should I wait until I get there and do the TKTS thing? Need some advice.

Hi Tuffer - I guess it really depends on whether you want to see a specific show, or whether you are prepared to take a chance. You can see the kind of shows that are for sale at TKTS at :

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

but these cannot be guaranteed. If you want to see something in particular and have some input into how good the seats are I would buy over the internet.

Enjoy!

Higly recommend seeing Billy Elliott. Even if you're not much of a theatre fan, I think you'd really enjoy it. It does have a lot of British slang. If you saw the movie, you know the story. It is very sad yet heart-warming and hopeful at the same time.

You won't find these tickets at TKTS. It is almost always sold out. I managed to get same day tickets from the theatre (difficult too - long, very slow-moving lines). No discount on those unless you get an obscured view ticket. The good news is full price tickets for best seats are still less than the equivalent in NYC.

I usually go on the london theatre website to see what will be playing when I go. Also to look at reviews. November is off-season, so many of the plays will be available thru TKTS. But the most popular ones (Billy Elliott, Guys and Dolls, etc) won't be. We usually wait anyway and check TKTS. If the plays we're interested in aren't listed, we just head over to the theatre to see if there are still seats available. This is only good if you have time - lines can be VERY long at box office.

A lot of plays have matinees Thursdays which are often easier to obtain tickets for. Don't know if seeing a matinee, which usually has the same cast, will work in your schedule.

Oh, forgot to add. Billy Elliott is a musical with terrific singing and dancing throughout.

Billy Elliot is one of the shows we were considering going to see. Being a little picky and a bit of a controller I like to know what is available to me. If I were to buy them online is there one website that anyone can suggest that has better deals than maybe some others (or any websites that I want to steer clear of)?

In my experience, the best way to order London theatre tickets from the U.S. is by telephoning the theatre directly. The box office staff of every London theatre I've ever called have been very helpful in finding the best available seats.

To find a telephone number for a London theatre, go to http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/theatres and click on the name of the theatre. Unlike Ticketmaster, etc., theatre box offices are usually open only during business hours, so take the time difference into account before you call.

Before you call, go to www.theatremonkey.com and read the "Seats to buy or avoid" section for the theatres where the shows you're interested in are playing. Theatremonkey also has seating plans, which you may want to print out so you can have them in front of you when you call.

Find the theater website. Buy tickets. You can also call the box office and buy tickets; Pick them up at BO.
Next, first morning in London, visit West End, tour box offices, buy tickets.
Last resort...Arrive early, get in line for returns. Note that many in line are only after inexpensive tickets. Don't neglect the South Bank offerings. Caveat: Touts will be selling tickets; marked up and for last row!

You could always try www.lastminute.com

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