amk611

I will be in London the first week of July and have my heart set on seeing Chicago and Mama Mia. Any suggestions on getting the best deal on tickets? Average cost expected to pay?

xyz123

Go to a London Theatre, get the phone number of the box office and call the theatre directly. If you are calling from the US, prefix the call with 1016400 and you pay something like 3 cents a minute so the 4 or 5 minutes it takes to call the theatre costs you soething like 15 cents.

If the thatre number is listed as 020-7555-1212, you would dial 1016400-011-44-20-7555-1212 where 1016400 is the alternate long distace code,011 is the prefix for internatonal calls from the US, 44 is the country code for the UK, you omit the lead 0 when calling the UK from outside of it, 20 is the city area code for London and London phone numbers have 8 digits...inner London phone numbers start with a 7, outer London numbers start with an 8.

Many Americans are so ignorant of just how cheap it is today call the UK from the US using alternate 101 carriers and how easy it is to book tickets via phone. Give them your credit card and they will either hold the tickets for pick up at the theatre 30 minutes before the performance (my preferene) or if you are a paranoid, they will post (mail) the ticktets to you usually at no extra charge!

Or alternatively, you can wait till you get to London and drop by the theatre. I don't know about Chicago but Mamma Mia is still a pretty hot ticket; athough by no means as hot as it once was and week day performances are usually available (but perhaps not during high tourist season if such a thing exists anymore).

xyz123

Oops meant to say go to a London Theatre web site etc.

janis

The best deals are either at the 1/2 price TKTS booth at Leicester square or with various theatre deals offered by the Times and other newspapers.

the shows offered at TKTS vary each day but to give you an idea here is what they had last Wed.

MATINEE:
Absolutely! (perhaps)
Arsenic and Old Lace
Bomb-itty of Errors
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Dance of Death
Joseph and the Amazing ...
Jus' Like That!
Mum's the Word
My Fair Lady
Ragtime


EVENING:
Abigail's Party
Absolutely! (perhaps)
Arsenic and Old Lace
Blood Brothers
Bomb-itty of Errors
Chicago
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)
Dance of Death
Duchess of Malfi
Fame
Grease
Joseph and the Amazing....
Jus Like that
Madness of George Dubya
Les Miserables
Mum's The Word
My Fair Lady
Our House
Phantom of the Opera
Ragtime
Rat Pack
Stomp
Stones in His Pockets
Three Sisters
Through The Leaves
We Will Rock You
Woman in Black

Fot Mama Mia you best option is to go directly to the theatre box office after you are in London, or phone the theatre from home. Do not have them mail the tickets to you - collect them at the theatre before the show or any time after you arrive in London.

xyz123

Just a quick point...

I heartily endorse using the TKTS booth at Leicester Square...the only thing is that it is hard to predict just what will be available in July; especially this year when nobody really knows how tight the tourist situation will be in London.

In the past, mainstay shows such as Phantom and Les Miz were never available there; recently they have been available almost every weekday but this is not high season. If there is something you really want to see and have to see it on a specific day, then it is best to book in advance. Of course, you will probably feel 2 inches tall if you pay £40 for a top seat and somebody sitting 2 seats away from you gets te same ticket for £22.50 (1/2 price plus £2.50 service charge).

Of course, if you don't buy the most expensive seats, say a £15 upper circle, if the theatre has many empty seats, they let you move up anyway. So it's really a crap shoot exaceberated by the unknown of just whatsummer 2003 will be like in London!

Patrick

I'll repeat what xyz has said perfectly. While I'm a big advocate of the TKTS booth in Leicester Square (see another post of mine about how the true "official one" is now called TKTS while the rip off places are now calling themselves "official half price booth"), I would doubt that either of your two specific shows will be available there in July. So call the box office now and reserve them with no fees and let them tell you which are the best seats available and then hold them for you. See www.albemarle-london.com for full seating charts (but if you buy your tickets through them you will pay more than at the box office.(

GSteed

Do not buy tickets from touts outside theater. Touts buy low priced tickets up to six months in advance of show date. At show date they misrepresent seat location and overprice ticket. Concierege at hotel is a good source for tickets. No tickets? Try the return ticket line at the theater.

LoisL

When we were in London two weeks ago, we were not able to get tickets for Mamma Mia. I'd suggest calling ahead of time if it is important to get tickets for that show.

anna_k

I was able to get tickets for Mamma Mia at the TKTS booth in Leicester Square this past Monday (5/26). We had to pay full price plus the fee of 2.50. I would reserve ahead now as some of the others have recommended. We loved Mamma Mia - start listening to your Abba Gold CD now, we've been listening to Abba ever since we got back. The TKTS booth also had half price tickets for Chicago, but only for single seats.