Fellow theatre fans -- please recommend your favorite shows currently playing in London. I already have tix to see Chicago, Mama Mia and Bombay Dreams and want to choose another show to see when I'm in London in 3 weeks. I like high-energy, upbeat, fun dance & song musicals. Thanks to all for their opinions!

A couple come to mind:<BR><BR>I would love to be in London to see Anything Goes at the National, limited run until late March, in probably the most comfortable theatre in London.<BR><BR>People rave about We Will Rock You with the music of Queen.<BR><BR>Like Gilbert and Sullivan? HMS Pinafore is playing at the very beautiful Savoy theatre.<BR>

Phantom of the Opera is absolutely AMAZING!

I realized that my comment about We Will Rock You might be misleading. The show got almost all bad reviews from the critics, but everyone who posts here or elsewhere and those I've talked with seem to love it. <BR><BR>Phantom is of course, a great show, but hardly seems like a &quot;high-energy, upbeat, fun dance &amp; song musical&quot;, which is what Jenson says he's looking for. That is also why I didn't mention My Fair Lady or even Blood Brothers, all of these being some of London's best.

Thanks for recommending We Will Rock You. I initially had that as a top choice on my list -- but read that critics were panning it. I've always liked Queen's music ... so I'm returning this to my list. Would love to hear from anyone who's seen the show! Also, Patrick, I'm not familiar with Gilbert and Sullivan. A quick web search tells me it's a comic opera. I assume that means this production includes opera music?

Uh-oh, now I've done it. How do I explain Gilbert and Sullivan? <BR><BR>Gilbert and Sullivan wrote comic operettas around the turn of the 19th to the 20th Century. They are in English. Most popular is The Mikado which takes place in Japan, yet no one ever really does anything very Japanese -- in fact it is filled with English humor. I'd suggest you go to Blockbuster and rent HMS Pinafore --there have been several versions filmed, and see if you like it. It is vastly different from other musicals, very funny and lively. If the term &quot;opera&quot; scares you off, it shouldn't!! To be honest it isn't everyone's cup of tea, but seeing a production of &quot;Pinafore&quot; at the Savoy could be a great change from your other fare.<BR><BR>There was also a wonderful movie made just a couple of years ago about Gilbert and Sullivan and the staging of the first production of The Mikado. The film is called Topsy Turvy and you can get it at most video stores. Worth a look -- even as a prelude to going to London as well as seeing if you think you might enjoy seeing one of their productions.

I saw We Will Rock You last October.... the music is familiar, the band is loud and enthusiastic, it has high-energy performances but also a truly stupid book to be taken with many grains of salt(the lead character's name is Galileo Figaro) . You will leave the theater humming Bohemian Rhapsody. All in all it was a very enjoyable evening.<BR>Then there is Contact. .. great choreography here, but it is a musical without live music! All the music is recorded. <BR>Fame is still playing... it has high -energy, at least. <BR>I just read that Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is due to open at the New London Theatre in a couple of weeks. If you have not already seen this in the US, it could be fun. I saw it in Chicago about 8 years ago (Donnie Osmond played Joseph) and that production had great dancing, toe tapping songs. ... and you already know the story line! &lt;g&gt;<BR><BR>

Patrick, I will definitely look into HMS Pinafore at Blockbuster. Sounds very interesting and always up for trying something new. Thanks for the &quot;review.&quot; <BR>Starspinners, Contact is now on my list too. So many choices -- not enough time in London!

Interestingly enough, a couple of years ago on the US board there was a lot of controversy over Contact on Broadway. My complaint (along with others) was that although it was well done, it was purely a dance show -- no live music, no songs, and almost no dialog or book -- yet it won the Tony for Best Musical. Most people loved it. I thought it was fun, but far from a great &quot;Broadway Musical&quot;. Recently Contact won the Olivier award (London's Tony equivalent) as best musical entertainment or some such category. Cleverly they did not make it compete with true musicals. <BR><BR>I also just saw that a revival of Joseph is opening, as mentioned above. It is a really fun and upbeat show.<BR><BR>Can you extend your stay to two or three weeks, Jenson? I'm so glad I'm staying in early June for 15 days. I expect I'll see at least 20 shows in that time!<BR><BR>And if all else fails there is a new show opening soon called, &quot;Jerry Springer the Opera&quot;. I wish I were kidding, but I'm not.<BR>

Patrick, don't I WISH I could extend my stay a few weeks?! But, unfortunately &quot;Joseph...&quot; begins after my visit to London. <BR><BR>Contact does interest me -- even if it is just a dance show. Sounds very upbeat and fun. I'm also considering Our House even though I'm not familiar with the group Madness. <BR><BR>What can you tell me about &quot;Anything Goes?&quot; <BR><BR>Also, since obviously you're a theatre fan, (20 shows in 15 days!! Now that's my kind of trip to London!!) have you seen Chicago in London? I've only seen it in NY and LOVED it and only hope it will be as enjoyable in London.

Our House is a fabulous upbeat show. I highly recommend it. The cast has an enormous amount of energy. As soon as you hear the opening bars to the overture, you'll certainly remember the music from Madness.

Anything Goes is a 1930's Cole Porter musical that originally starred Ethel Merman. It features songs like &quot;I Get a Kick Out of You&quot;, &quot;Blow Gabriel Blow&quot;, &quot;All Through the Night&quot;, &quot;You're the Top&quot;, &quot;It's De-lovely&quot;, and many more. Although Act I is fairly light on dance, Act II is practically all big dance numbers. Takes place on an ocean liner in the 30's. You'd love it. And you really should see something at the National Theatre on the South Bank, which is where it is. This production is a Trevor Nunn spectacular -- he's the new artistic director of the National.<BR><BR>I wouldn't call Contact upbeat. It is essentially three dance pieces. The whole last half, &quot;The Girl in the Yellow Dress&quot; has to do with a guy committing suicide and his obsessions.<BR>The one before that has to do with a wife in a New York restaurant with an abusive husband and her imaginary escapes from him. The first one is the cleverest in my opinion -- a period piece about a guy pushing a girl in a swing -- but the relationship is not what you'd think.<BR><BR>As to Chicago, no I didn't see it in London, but have several times including the original and the most recent in New York. To be honest -- go see the movie and you'll never enjoy the stage version as much again!!!

OK Leslie &amp; Patrick, I'm definitely intrigued by Contact now!! Patrick, what show is playing at the National? Do you know? Tell me more about this place if you would please! Are you saying the location is beautiful, is that what makes it a must? Also, now you have me worried about your comment about seeing Chicago at the movies. I have seen it (three times actually -- can you tell I'm a bit obsessed!) Although the movie is fabulous, I'm thinking that seeing it &quot;live&quot; again on stage will be spectacular too. Yikes! Maybe I'm getting my hopes up too high!

OK, I would also love to get your opinion on how to get the best seats. In NY, I've had good luck going to the theatre in person -- particularly because I'm usually buying single seats. But, I hate to NOT take advantage of the current special the Mayor of London is offering for discounted tickets -- but it appears you don't know which exact seats you're getting before you purchase them. I prefer to set on the ground floor in the first/front section, somewhere in the first 15 rows. Anything further back and I'm disappointed. With these requirements, I think it's best to call the London theatres directly and paying full price. Do you agree? I've had very good luck with that so far.

We Will Rock You was great.<BR>We got 1/2 price tickets and had really good seats on Jan 14th.<BR>To be clear,the play is not based on the band Queen. The music and songs are all Queen but you don't have to be a huge fan to enjoy the show. Its about a time in the future when rock and roll has been band by the ruling power &quot;Globalsoft&quot;.<BR>It is done very tounge in cheek and you can tell by the laughter in the theatre that it works. <BR>The plot IMHO is something that every modern music fan will get.<BR>The sound and high tech special effects are incredible.

Guess I didn't make myself clear. Anything Goes is playing at the National. The National is actually three theatres in a very modern building on the south bank just to the east of Waterloo Bridge. In the largest theatre (where they're doing Anything Goes, the seats are very large and spacious -- the most comfortable in London) with great elevation and good viewing and acoustics from any seat in the house. You can also do a very interesting theatre tour there -- the backstage tour at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane is also very interesting -- hydraulics under the stage that used to work by the tides in the Thames!<BR><BR>I've always been lucky with half price tickets in London(from the Official half price booth). They generally sell only the top priced tickets (and although sometimes they are the very first two rows, most are excellent seats). I haven't done the Mayor's special, because it never coincides with my June stay in London, but it sounds like people have been getting excellent seats there.<BR>You can print off a theatre seating chart for each theatre by going to www.albemarle-london.com and then calling the theatre so you know what they are discussing. Yes, that's what I do when I'm concerned about a specific show I want to see. You can also go to www.theatremonkey.com which discusses at length which seats are the best in each theatre. You may end up paying full price for shows that you could get just as good seats for at half price, but look at it this way -- if you really want to see it, it's worth it, and still a bargain compared to Broadway ticket prices.<BR>Have a ball at the theatre in London, Jenson!!<BR><BR>

Don't know if it's still playing, but we saw The Full Monty there in May 2002. It was a high-energy, upbeat, FUN show. We enjoyed it very much and hope to see it again. Also saw The Lion King - too kid-oriented for us, but we don't regret having seen us. Stick with something more adult. Enjoy whatever you see.

THANKS TO ALL!!! Thanks to your help, I'm sure to enjoy theatre in London!