London Theater advice
 

Any suggestions in choosing a show that would be enjoyable for a 14 year old boy as well as a 12 year old girl? Open dates are 12/27-30. I was leaning towards Mousetrap.

I'd do Blood Brothers instead. I think teens would find The Mousetrap slow and boring.

Suggestions for stage productions that teens would enjoy :
Mamma Mia
We Will Rock You
Phantom of the Opera
Thoroughly Modern Millie
The Complete Works of Shakespeare:Abridged

For that age, I echo the comment about Mousetrap being slow and boring.

I would go with the Lion King.

Keith

I agree with The Lion King. We took our 16 year old son and 12 year old daughter to see it (it was our daughter's choice) and all of us loved it. Our son chose Les Miz for his night out and the four of loved that as well. We did some preparatory reading to our kids to give them an idea of the story line for Les Miz which helped, but both musicals enthralled them. When asked which they enjoyed the most, they could not choose!

We took our kids to see Lion King in London. They were 14, 11 and 8 at the time. We all loved it.

Fodors was going through a here one moment and gone the next moment phase yesterday.
It entered "a gone moment" before I could complete my previous post.
The Lion King was to have been among my recommendations for teens and in addition I recommend Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
There are a number of pantomime productions staged during the time you will be in London. I've never been to one ,but I am sure someone on the board will be knowledgeable about the suitability of pantomimes for young teenagers.

Most British parents would argue that 12-16 was precisely the wrong age for British pantomimes. At any rate for British teenagers

They're aimed at pre-teens and their parents. From early or mid-20's, pantomimes become fun again as a sort of national joke. From 12 or so, they're sometimes tolerated as part of the b-o-r-i-n-g Christmas family ritual. But many teenagers will bring proper entertainment with them to help cope with the tedium while the children and fogeys get their incomprehensible enjoyment from shouting out "Oh no he didn't"

American teenagers might be less of a pain in the rear end about these things. Or find some anthropological interest in the bizzare behaviour of this primitive tribe.

But our mob want His Dark Materials

Mama Mia if they're old enough to remember Abba.

Blood Brothers may be a bit gruesome but we enjoyed it. It's excellent. Music was great.

Les Miserables if it's still playing. Good history. Good music.

The Complete Works of Shakepeare Abridged. Never laughed so much! Got 2nd row seats at the 1/2 price ticket booth!

I have seen Mamma Mia, The Lion King, Blood Brothers, Les Miz, the Mousetrap and the Complete Works.

First, forget Mousetrap. Although I am a diehard Agatha Christie fan, it is NOT her best work (even she was surprised that it survived on stage after 6 months - let alone for years!)

The other five are all excellent. However, your children will probably like The Lion King the best for the following reasons: 1) they already know the story 2) the staging is the absolute best - especially the opening scene and 3) it ends well. If they know something about Shakespeare, they could enjoy the Complete Works but since it is a parody, it is more enjoyable if you know what is being parodied.

Les Miz is my absolute favorite and teaches great values (it really puts into perspective how your actions may affect another without you even being aware of it; e.g.,the kindness of the bishop makes Jean Valjean change his life).

Finally, Mamma Mia and Blood Brothers deal with some grown up concepts. For example: 1) in Mamma Mia, the past promiscuity of the mother is central to the story - she does not know which of three men is her daughter's father; and 2) Blood Brothers deals with a poor single mother selling one of her twins to her rich employer and the resulting issues that occur.

Good luck

My 14 and 15 year old girls absolutely loved Phantom of the Opera a couple of weeks. After seeing this show, they asked to see more theater/musicals in the future and sang some of the songs for the remainder of our trip.

We have been taking our kids to the theater for years now, both in London and, where we live, New York. They are now 13 and 16. They loved, Le Miserables, Phantom, and Lion King. History of the World Abridged was a hit with them,but we did not care for it. They also liked the Woman in Black (or Lady in Black?). This year we are going to London and are planning on Blood Brothers, Bombay Dreams and Anything Goes (just the 13 year old and her mom - the guys will be in Portsmouth that day!). I would have to say that of the list playing now, Le Miz and Lion King would be my top choices.

I am surprised that so many folks say their children loved Le Miserables.

I liked it as an adult, but don't believe I would have cared at all for it at age 14.

Keith

Keith, My kids absolutely loved the show and they both saw it when they were younger than 14. I took the time to tell them the story in advance - I think that helps. They insisted we get the CD and it was an instant hit - we all learned the words to the songs during long car rides! Don't underestimate kids - mine love a good story and this is definitely a good story!

Thanks! Now I'm leaning toward Les Mis, as we've seen Phantom and Lion King, although not in London. My son is young mentally, so this info is helpful.