Musicals!

We didn't see Hamilton in London but it is fantastic if you haven't seen it.

Abba was very fun and different. Very enthusiastic crowd, many dressing in sequins. We were doubtful going to it that we would think it was believable, but it really was. It is not in the theater district, but it is an easy tube ride to the stadium with many fellow concert goers on board, and staff there to help direct you in the right direction. Enjoy!

We saw Six and Wicked in May and enjoyed both. Purchased front row balcony seats for wicked on morning of the show. Pre purchased balcony tickets for Six and were delighted to attend a sing a long performance. We love attending plays in London.

It was in 2022, but we saw Hamilton, Come From Away and Jersey Boys. They were all great, but Hamilton was really special.

I saw Starlight Express as a child and I see it's opened again. Not in the west end, but in Wembley. Would probably be a great show for youngsters. It got a decent review in The Guardian this week.

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/article/2024/jun/30/starlight-express-review-andrew-lloyd-webber-troubadour-wembley-park-theatre-london

Saw Hamilton in 2022. Excellent.

You might also read reviews for Wicked, Mrs Doubtfire and Moulin Rouge…

In 2022 we saw Hamilton, The Lion King (I had seen, but my sister in law hadn’t) and Get up Stand Up.
In 2023 we saw Mamma Mia and Moulin Rouge
They were all great.

This year we are going to see Tina.

We’ve seen Wicked, Lion King and Six in London (as well as Hamilton and Moulin Rouge in the US). Definitely would recommend them all. Would also suggest heading to the TKTS booth in Leicester Square—we were able to buy discounted tickets for the above listed London shows (NYC has a TKTS booth as well where we’ve bought tickets). London is a great place to see shows…enjoy!

We got tickets to Abba a few months before our May trip. I second what Sunny said---fun, enthusiastic crowd before and after concert. Would go again.

We also saw Hamilton and Tina Turner, getting last minute tickets online. We had decided to not purchase other theatre tickets beforehand as we didn't know our energy levels and wanted some flexibility for day trips. So, we were somewhat limited in what we were able to see (one of our last available nights was a Monday and many theatres go dark on Mondays). We went to the three shows during our last 4 nights. We thought about doing another show the last night but instead opted for a quiet dinner before heading to the airport hotel.

Wow, there are some great replies on here! Now I want to see all the suggestions. I think we will purchase tickets for one from home, and try our luck at. the TKTS booth for a second one. Maybe serendipity will choose for us! :-)

Two years ago I saw "Back to the Future: The Musical" and had a great time. The guy behind me in line at the souvenir stand afterward kept saying, "I'm definitely seeing that again! It took me right back to 1985!" I think it's still playing at the Adelphi.

I heard it is good, and is definitely my era! :-)

In 2017 I saw "Everybody's Talking about Jamie" and I LOVED it! I pulled it up online and the main actor is different now, but that may not make any difference. The music was great and I laughed and cried.

I bet you will love whatever you see - enjoy!

Just back from London where I saw the Bridge Theatre's production of Guys and Dolls. That era of musical is not my favorite, but I'll see nearly anything that the Bridge stages. It was remarkable! I don't know how they did it, but they managed to make an old standard seem so fresh.

Highly recommended.

I think we will purchase tickets for one from home, and try our luck at. the TKTS booth for a second one.

You no longer have to wait in line at the TKTS booth to buy discount tickets. They now have a website where you can buy tickets online for the day of the show:
https://officiallondontheatre.com/tkts/

You will notice that some of the tickets they sell are not discounted.

If you are going to see Hamilton, I’d suggest buying those tickets in advance for the best seats as I have never seen them discounted.

Thanks for that tip Laura! And Julie, that is good information about Guys and Dolls as I was looking at that one. I saw a video on instagram and the energy was great. I now must look up the Bridge theatre!

I did what Laura has suggested and bought our Hamilton tickets in advance. The others I used the website she recommended.

I also saw “Everyone’s Talking about Jamie”.
It was fantastic, and I had known nothing about it beforehand……just saw it advertised in the onboard magazine on my flight to London.
I don’t know it’s still playing.

These haven't been listed, so thought I'd weigh in. Last year we saw Ain't Too Proud, re The Temptations and it was pretty good. Latest trip saw Book of Morman and while I get it's humor isn't for everyone (my bff thought it was too crass), we found it hilarious, clever with a wonderfully talented cast and thoroughly enjoyed it.

i saw wicked in june. it was excellent.

RandR, the stockier of the two main actors in The Book of Mormon is my daughter's good friend from university. They were drama majors together. We saw him in the show in Portland, OR several years ago. She saw him in the London show last fall.

I surprised my partner on his birthday with the best seats for "Hamilton". We've seen several productions in the states but really liked London's best. It was a great birthday idea. Of course by that point we knew the lyrics by heart.

We were in London in April 2022 and saw 4 musicals! We went to Matilda (childhood favourite movie), Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen, and Wicked (3rd time overall, 1st in UK).

Every single one was amazing! We found that the prices for tickets were much cheaper than similar seats in NYC, so we took advantage to see more shows while we could.

Wicked is my favorite of all; it's powerful and not to be missed, especially if you know some of the back story.

Enjoy your trip!

PQ

So many people love Hamilton, and The Planning Queen- your response definitely makes me want to check out Wicked!

OP London theatre is always well done. Over decades of enjoying stage productions it still pleases me to enjoy an ice cream cup at intermission.

As the British have been known to say; “ bloody brilliant!”

Have a great time!

We've enjoyed Wicked in several US productions - I'd try it!

We were in London in October and went to see Six! We enjoyed it very much. The audience was quite enthusiastic, and we got the sense that many of them see it somewhat regularly.

Another big vote for Wicked, it was great! My husband loved Book of Mormon, I enjoyed the first half and thought is was clever, but thought it quickly evolved into a very crass production, by the end, I was not a fan. I have heard Tina and MJ are fantastic!

Some smaller scale but very well reviewed musicals on at the moment: Operation Mincemeat, Next to Normal, Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder. A new production of Kiss Me Kate is also on at the Barbican.

Oh I love this topic. I love going to musicals esp in London where the theaters are smaller and tickets are cheaper compared to US prices. I don’t know where you’re from and if you have access to shows where you live so if you have been to lots of theater at home then I recommend seeing musicals you can only see in London at this time. I was there last month and saw Choir of Man and Operation Mincemeat. I highly recommend both. Choir of Man is a jukebox musical in a tiny theater and they encourage audience participation. If you’re shy, don’t get a seat in the aisle because you may be asked to go onstage during the show. It is hilarious and since its a jukebox musical, the songs are very familiar. Operation Mincemeat is based on a historical event. It’s also great and funny. A bit unusual because the actors play both male and female roles so it’s a bit confusing until you figure out who is who. Everybody’s Talking About Jaime is wonderful and I think the show is re-opening in London.

Now if you haven’t seen a lot of shows then by all means go and see Wicked, Hamilton, Six, Book of Mormon, Hamilton, Moulin Rouge, Come From Away…are wonderful! And yes I have seen all of them lol, some more than once!

CamamCherie tell your daughter to tell her friend we loved him! Isn't it fun to find a connection!

I'll add a second 'vote' for The Choir of Man. I did a theater-intensive weekend in London last winter, and it was my favorite performance of the weekend. SIX is also great. If you happen to be there when it's playing, Showstoppers! is a hoot. It's an improve musical, and it only plays in London about once a month.

You didn't mention plays, but in case you are also interested in them, The Play That Goes Wrong is the funniest thing I've ever seen. I've seen it four times, and I laughed as hard the last time I saw it as I did the first time.

We saw Hamilton last month. Bought first row balcony seats which were fabulous. I had never seen Hamilton and watched the Disney Plus version which was worthwhile. I think we enjoyed the production more being able to follow it more easily.

I did not care much for Six (saw it in the US), but that's because I was not very familiar with the six singers that the wives are modeled after so a lot of the humor went past me. I'm the wrong generation (older), but I know so many younger people that loved it, so I just recommend reading up before choosing that show if you only have two nights.

We've seen most of those that everyone else has mentioned, so I won't repeat, but all worth seeing. But we also saw Le Mis when we were in London. Also, we saw in NYC... Beautiful, The Carole King Musical...wonderful! (I believe both are playing in London.)