Theater in London
 

I am coming to London on business the first <BR>week of March. What's playing in the theater <BR>that you would recommend? What are the costs? <BR>How do I get tickets ahead of time here in <BR>Chicago before I leave?

This same question has been asked and answered almost weekly for quite a while. Try a search by typing in "London Theatre" and bringing up some of the recent posts. They will not only list plays and musicals and opinions, but also ticket info, web sites, and sources of more information. If you don't find all that, repost here.

Hi Elaine <BR>www.whatsonstage.com <BR>www.thisislondon.co.uk/ <BR>www.timeout.com/london/ <BR>www.albemarle-london.com/ <BR>www.londontheatre.co.uk/ book tickets without agency fees <BR>http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/ includes a click to the Globe theatre website. <BR>www.whatson.com/ Theatre and concert schedules, reviews, seating plans, prices, tickets, seating charts <BR>www.itsagift.ticketmaster.co.uk sometimes theater discounts <BR>www.theatrenow.com theater news, reviews, email, chat, booking service <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

Depending upon where you're staying, we always have the concierge book our tickets and dinner reservations in advance. All done by fax and everything is awaiting you when you check in.

If you have never been to a play in London you may want to check out the theater when you get there with regards to reserving a table to sit at during the break. <BR>I believe for the price of a bottle of champagne, some theaters will reserve a table for you. <BR> <BR>It's a nice touch for a special occasion.

Fodors <BR> <BR>Dear Ms Koch, <BR> <BR>London listings, updated several times daily by the Evening Standard are on http://www.thisislondon.com <BR>There's a theatre directory at http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/main.html <BR>Reviews of plays are at <BR>http://www.albemarle-london.com/ and <BR>http://www.whatson.com/. <BR> <BR>But no web site has all the plays in London, since no site covers the fringe. You can book at any theatre from Chicago by taking a credit card, phoning the theatre from noon to seven Greenwich Mean Time, booking, and collecting your ticket on the evening. The fringe has much of the best work, but looking at their listings in the weekly "What's On in London" I see that none runs beyond mid February. And in any case, web sites cover only half or less of the fringe. The solution is to leave evenings free, and on arrival at a London airport or Waterloo to buy "What's On" or "Time Out", then book seats by phone. You never know who on the fringe will turn up with a good production, but some fringe theatres known for quality are the Almeida, the Tricycle, the Lyric and the Riverside at Hammersmith, the Orange Tree Richmond, the Southwark Playhouse, the Courtyard in Kings Cross, and the Bush at Shepherds Bush. <BR> <BR>Please write if I can help further. Welcome to London. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines <BR> <BR>She replied, and I wrote <BR> <BR>Dear Ms Koch, <BR> <BR>Ah, but I'm not sure that a map of the fringe exists. All you need is the bus map as well as the tube map of all London: both are free at any tube station, including Heathrow and Waterloo. Then listings magazines give you nearest tube stations, and when you phone to book you can ask whether busses come nearer to theatres (When you phone you can also ask fringe theatres about nearby lunches or suppers. They tend to have good theatre buffets, and to be well placed amongst reasonably cheap restaurants). <BR> <BR>Yes, you can make a day trip by bus to Stonehenge. Tour busses go from Victoria Coach Station, and I think from some hotel areas. You'd find out if you used http://www.yahoo.co.uk, pressed for "UK sites only", and asked for "Stonehenge coach tour" <BR> <BR>If you're training for a client then you have a special subject. If you'd like to tell me what it is I'll think whether we have a museum or other special place to meet that interest. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

XXX: Tell me more; that is a wonderful idea,,,,that is why I love this Forum sooo much,,,Thanks for sharing, I am very interested....Judy :-0

We went up to the bar before the play started and reserved a table by buying a split bottle of champagne to drink at intermission. <BR>At intermission when the lines are very crowded for drinks, we were able to go straight to a reserved table and sit down with champagn. I believe you sit at a table that has a reserved sign and tell the wait person you bought the champagne. <BR> <BR>Since the lines get pretty long, we were able to enjoy the intermission better instead of standing in line the entire time. <BR> <BR>I'm not sure if all the theaters do this and you may be able to call ahead.

This idea about reserving a table is interesting, but after sitting in those often too narrow and uncomfortable seats for the show, I generally welcome the chance to stand during the interval (that's British for intermission, by the way). You can also preorder a drink and it will be waiting for you on the bar, a table, or often a sort of long shelf -- again no waiting. It's always amazing to me that no one has ever taken my drink by the time I get there. The barman has told me where it will be and it always is.

Use the links from the other response to find what's playing. They are accurate. <BR> <BR>Since you are not going in peak tourist season, you can probably wait til you get there to get most tickets. I went in March several years ago and got tickets to a Friday night performance of the Mousetrap. I was there last November and got tickets to The King and I. <BR> <BR>Good luck. <BR>Deb