One Night in London- A late Show?
 

Hi there,

Need your help on suggestions of things that might be on late on the evening of 23rd of Oct. Hubby and I will be flying in to Gatwick that afternoon at 17.30 and will have time to kill until our flight- again from Gatwick - the next day at lunch time. We were thinking about going into the centre of London and trying to catch a show. It would seem that all the west end shows start no later than 8 and we feel we might be cutting it a bit fine to catch those especially as we would have to check into hotel etc.
So I was just wondering if anyone knew of anything interesting that might have a later start time like a comedy show or a play. We will already have done an over night in gatwick on the outward part of our journey so would really like to go further afield. Both of us have been to london several times before so there is no pressure to cram in the sights as we have those well covered.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

Cailin

Another option -- Instead of checking into your hotel, leave your bags at LGW, pop into London on the Gatwick Express(30 mi9nutes to Victoria, and go directly to the theatre. Then go back to LGW collect your bags and check in to an airport hotel.

If you chose one of the shows near Vistoria you'd have a 2 minute walk from the station.

Wicked at the Apollo Victoria
Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace

Thanks Janisj,

That does sound like a great idea. I have looked into tickets for Wicked but am a little concerned as the show starts at 7.30 that it might be tight especially if there is any delay in our flight. Maybe we are very cautious but I am not sure that 2 hours will be enough.
Think I will check out the regularity of the Gatwick Express and gauge if we can take the risk. I would hate to book the tickets for the show and not be able to make it. Still seriously considering your proposal as I am absolutely DYING to see Wicked. Thanks so much for your help.

The Gatwick Express runs every 15 minutes.

You can't really allow for a late landing -- that is just a gamble you'd take. The theatre will seat you between scenes/when there is a break so being a few minutes late won't mean missing much or the whole show.

(sorry about the typos in my first post)

Cheers JanisJ, I just needed some gentle encouragement!! Now to convince my OH!!! Thanks again for your help.

If you do decide to choose between Wicked and Billy Elliot, choose Wicked. I have seen both in the last month (including Wicked last night), and Wicked blows Billy Elliot out of the water. In fact, Wicked is the best musical I have seen...best costumes, best set, and best singing. Fantastic!!

Billy Elliot is far superior to Wicked but if you don't know the historical backstory it can be somewhat confusing

I wasn't confused. I just thought the choreography wasn't very good and that it didn't live up to the hype. It was the show I had been looking forward to the most and it didn't come close to meeting my expectations (based on reviews, the movie, etc.).

I did enjoy the Maggie Thatcher jokes, though. :)

I have seen both Wicked and Billy Elliot within the last year and a half and I would choose Wicked. Wicked is not the best musical by any means but it is entertaining. Billy Elliot was ok.

I actually saw Billy Eliott earlier this year ( and thoroughly enjoyed it too) in Chicago so we will probably go with Wicked but thanks everyone for your advice. Still nervous about making plane to theatre seat in two hours but life's too short to pass up the chance so going to go for it!!! thanks again everyone!!

I'm of the contrary opinion....you are really cutting it fine even if the plane is on time...you never know about the queues at UK passport control...you never know how long it will take for your bags to come down the carousel and then you hgave to drop them off...catch the train to Victoria which true only takes about 30 minutes...sigh...I wouldn't do it (is there any way to get an earlier flight?)

XYZ, afraid there is no chance of an earlier flight. A comedy club has been suggested whcih doesn't start till 8 so we might look into that. Thanks for your input too.. Will let you know what we did when I get back. Haven't booked anything as of yet. We are on the outward journey tomorrow, Gatwick tomorrow night and fly onwards to turkey on Sat morning. V. Excited!!

"I actually saw Billy Eliott earlier this year ( and thoroughly enjoyed it too) in Chicago so we will probably go with Wicked "

Watching a British show in the US & a US show in the UK...

OK here's how it panned out. Decided that the timimg might be a bit risky to book anmything in advance so had my sister on standby to book something online once we were sure that our flight would take off on time.
As it happened at 10 am on the morning of departure, the rep from our travel company called around to our villa and told us that our flight was going to ba delayed by at least 7 hours!! The upside was that we could stay put in the accommodation, so instead of killing the time in london, we ended up having a whole bonus day in the sun. We arrived in Gatwick at 1 am in the end so it was a bit late to catch that show!!!
Thanks everyone for their help. We will just have to go to make anpther trip to London to catch Wicked!!!