london theater
 

We , 2 adults, 2 children , want to see some shows while in London.
We will be seeing Wicked on broadway ; right after we return from europe.
what has gotten good reviews?
We have some interest in mary poppins.what has been said about it?

I have just returned from London and I saw Mary Poppins. You must, MUST see it, you will absolutely love it!! The musical is not exactly like the movie so there will be some surprises. I can't say it enough, with or without children it is time and money well-spent.

I was very lucky to get my ticket on the day of the show, but I recommend booking in advance. And here's a little hint: Try not to get seats on the right side of the theatre on the floor level because your view will be obstructed by the balcony above you. I can't tell you why, it will spoil the ending. :-)

Mary Poppins got mixed reviews, but it is a sure-fire hit and pleasing the masses. We tried several times over Christmas and New Years to get tickets, even standing in line for last minute cancellations, without luck, so bought our tickets then for our June visit to London.

When are you going? I bought tickets to Hay Fever starring Judi Dench that opened this week to all rave reviews. It plays through the summer.

Billy Elliott is the big HOT musical of the moment, and great for the whole family.

Hi, Neo. On your recommendation I saw Billy Elliot and that was a terrific show as well. That show was sold out, but I stood in the returns line and got the only remaining ticket. I was really lucky with show tix on this trip.

Thanks a mil for the suggestion!! :-)

we will be there in august.
where does one buy theater tickets for london?
is there a tickermaster or such?

Melissa

The best way to buy theatre tickets in London (unless you prefer to pay higher prices and prefer not to have the best choice of seats) is to call each theatre directly. They will discuss the best tickets available for each performance, take your credit card over the phone, and hold the tickets right at the theatre.

Here is a good site to look for what's playing, where, and when as well as showing what is available at the TKTS booth each day:
http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/

Here is a good site for printing off seating charts (but not so great a site for buying tickets)
http://www.albemarle-london.com/News.php

And here is a good source for more information than you'll probably ever want for which seats to buy or to avoid, as well as pricing information and phone numbers of theatres:
http://www.theatremonkey.com/

thanks for all of your help
we will see Billy Elliot and mary poppins, at least.
Maybe more

Just a quick point...

Billy Elliot is a fantastic show but be aware the accent are very heavy Northern English type and a little bit difficult for my American ears (sorry about that to follow) and there are quite a few 4 letter words uttered during the show that you might not feel appropriate for young children (although one has to wonder just what is appropriate and what they haven't heard in this day and age) so the age of your children might be a factor in seeing this show.

Mary Poppins is clearly for everybody...interesting to note Mary Poppins will be opening on Broadway in October but there is still some question if Billy Ellot will make it to Broadway...the heirarchy of the show want to deliver it to Broadway intact accent and cuss words and all but there are those who think it might not do well on Broadway. The last couple of British musicals imported to Broadway, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Woman in White simply did not do well and quickly closed on Broadway but Mamma Mia has done phenomenally well.

I won't argue with xyz's points above, but let me remind all that both Woman in White and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang got mixed to very negative reviews in London. In fact both shows have also closed in London with not particularly long or successful runs. In all honesty I was never sure why either one was being imported to Broadway to begin with.

Chitty played in London for over 3 years which is not terrible...woman in white was at the Palace for about 1 1/2 years somewhat on the lower end of the scale.

I didn't like Woman in White and could never understand why Les Miz was moved out of the Palace for it; interesting to note Les Miz is still going strong at the Queens Theatre.

I did enjoy Chitty thought and thought it was really well done.

One difference, BTW, between American and British musicals involving children. British labour laws prohibit kids from working more than a certain number of shows a week so in each of the 3 shows with kids we're talking about with kids in leading roles, Billy Elliot, Mary Poppins and Chitty, there were several different sets of kids in the lead roles. To the best of my knowledge, when Chitty hit Broadway, the same 2 kids played the Potts' children throughout.

One of the problems in reading the web again with Billy Elliot getting to Broadway is the producers do not know how to handle the lead role...they are a bit reluctant to bring British kids to Broadway as they will be missing their schooling while they feel they don't want to compromise the role by not having kids with the proper accents.

Interestingly enough, while the accents are important to them, not so is ethnicity. I understand that currently there is an Oriental kid playing Billy, an Asian kid (Indian?) and they have brought in an American kid.

The big problem with these shows, of course, is that when you have 12 year old parts, the staying power before the dreaded hormones take over can be very limited.

But all these shows, except WIW, to me were very worthwhile.