Checkout www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk and Time Out London for the latest listings. Musicals are more popular than dramas or comedies. Off-season November you should be able to get tickets to most all performances after you arrive in London, either at the theater box office or or the discount tkts ticket booth in Leicester Square. If you must purchase in advance you can use Ticketmaster UK.

If I were there right now I'd be going for Ivanov with Kenneth Brannagh, and then Twelfth Night at the start of December with Derek Jacobi (both at Wyndham's).

hi richard, we went to see Wicked in september while in London, the theater is just across Victoria station, we just went to the theater ticket booth and bought almost the cheapest tickets and the seats we're good and the show amazing. if you are a fan of the Sound of Music, it is playing in London too, I saw it a week ago in Toronto and it was excellent. You can not buy these tickets at the discount tickets booth, you will have to either call the theater, go in person or reserve on line.

Hi Richard, I would suggest either or both~~Wicked and The Lion King. Go to the box office of each theater and purchase the tickets. The Lion King is playing at the Lyceum Theatre, Wellington St., which is two blocks from Covent Gardens. Best seats for the Lion King would be Stalls, middle section rows A-P. Wicked in playing at Apollo Victoria Theatre, Wilton Road, best seats stalls middle section rows A-P seats 18-31.

We saw Wicked and Les Miserables and loved both. We arrived at the Apollo Theatre (Wicked) at 9:30am and lined up for the box office which opened at 10 and were able to buy tickets for the centre front row (right behind the conductor) for that evening. Amazing experience. Perfect view. Some people don't like being that close but we loved it. This was in July and the tickets were only GBP25 each. The following week we arrived at the Les Miz box office at noon and bought front row side tickets for that afternoon's matinee, also for GBP25 each. The view was slightly restricted (couldn't see the stage floor at the back) but amazing with the wrap around stage. Even knowing the story, the experience was incredibly emotional. I can't rave enough about the London theatre experience.

We were in Britain for two weeks with seven days in London and the two theatre performances were probably the highlight of our trip, even more fulfilling than walking on 800 year old city walls and viewing crown jewels and castles.

We found that going to the box offices upon opening was the best way to get the best seats at the best price. The half price ticket booths do not always offer the best seats.

I don't think there is a bad show in London. Enjoy!

We have seen Sound of Music in London and it was well worth it. We Will Rock You is awesome! (we've seen it in London 15 times). We've also seen Mama Mia (the play- not the movie) many times and really enjoyed it. I've heard great things about Wicked as well. Check out Albemarle's of London. They have good diagrams of the seating in the theatres so you can see where you will be in relation to the stage. They are reliable for tickets or you can try the TKTS booth in Leciester square or the theatre itself on the day of the play for day returns if you want to try for discounts. ENJOY!!!

I personally love the National Theatre as the tickets are cheaper than the West End and you see the best of contemporary and classic theatre.

A great web site is http://www.theatremonkey.com/ as it provides reviews of each theatre and the seating etc. What I love about it is it even talks about current productions and tells you what are the best value seats in terms of sight-lines and legroom etc.

If you are short of cash try the half-price ticket booth in Leicester Square. You can usually get tickets for the Woman in Black which is great if you like an old-fashioned ghost story.

We just returned from London last week. We saw Wicked and bought the tics right there at Apollo Victoria Theater. They cost 25 bp each and were great seats. Wicked tics were not available at Leicester Square and the plays available listed were 28.50 bp.The people at the theater ticket office were very good at finding the best seats.

As Rick says sometimes it's easier to find tickets for last years show this year instead of looking for tickets for this years show this year. It you really want to see something from this year, go directly to the ticket booth at the theatre or call them. Remember what he says about half price ticket sellers (NOT the one in Liecester Sq.) They're just robbers with an address.

My kid sister and I went to see Wicked early October 2008. We bought tickets at Leicster Square from the Half Price tkt Booth. We paid £30 (ticket stub says £65) for really good seats. Just make sure that the seats you get are unobstructed views of the stage. "Wicked" was really entertaining. I've seen Les Mis, The Lion King and Billy Elliot in past trips and all are recommended by me (and my sister, who was mesmerized by Wicked!). Like one of the posters said, it is tough to find a bad show (although I am sure there are some, and the bad ones are quickly off the stage hehe).

Enjoy!
- Joel

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Billy Elliott I have seen about half the plays on the west end . Just opened in NYC not sure of reviews