West End vs. Broadway?

I saw "Wicked" in New York this past summer. I'd happily see it again in London if I had the chance.

On the other hand, you certainly can find something that is more "British" if that is what you are looking for.

We have always used this site to book our London Theatre tickets: albemarle-london.com The 39 Steps was a very enjoyable play and the Criterion Theatre was beautiful. We have also enjoyed the Mousetrap, if you like Agatha Christie. Yes, the tickets are cheaper than those in NYC. Be sure you buy good tickets for whatever you want to see. Some of the cheaper seats have only partial views of the stage.

OP here...I'd LOVE suggestions for things 'more british'. my husband is a huge theater snob--HUGE--so the show or shows we go to together should be good--we have five nights together in london, so that's going to be something we do. i'm not a theater snob--or even someone who knows anything about it, clearly, and just kind of want to see wicked. but fortunately i can do both! again, all suggestions are welcome!

Hi Tracy, yes London theatre is cheaper then New York. I would suggest if you can get seats in the stalls, which are the best seats. I can recommend The Lion King which I've seen 3 times in London and have loved it each and everytime, Wicked and for a non musical show The Mousetrap which is the longest show in the world it's been running for 58 years. Others shows are great also, Mama Mia, My Fair Lady, etc. If you can go to the theatre acouple of nights.
You could have dinner at Covent Garden then walk to the theatre, makes a fantastic evening.

We have seen We Will Rock You more than a dozen times... hubby is a REAL Queen fan... It is excellent. Mama Mia is also great. If you'll be there in summer there are Shakespear productions in lots of the parks (Regent's Park and others as I recall). I read that Midsummer's Night's Dream will be on this summer- might be really fun for and English teacher. Maybe take in a production at the Globe one afternoon, too. London theatre is very well done generally.

I highly recommend Billy Elliot!

I'd recommend buying the tickets in advance too. Many (not all) of the discount tickets are partial view, or side view, or are in seats so closely packed together you can't turn your feet forward. It's worth it too splurge a little! :)

We loved Chitty, Chitty Bang, Bang too bad it's closed. My Fair Lady was just OK - had some nice moments, but neither here nor there on the rest of it.

Is Spamalot still playing?

Le Misarables is still showing in London. We went and enjoyed it fully as much as in NYC. I would suggest tickets in dress circle (first balcony) for a panaramic view. It was fantastic.

We saw Wicked in both NYC and London. We enjoyed both but liked the one in NYC the best. I think again it was partially due to our seating. In London we were in the stalls while in NYC we had tickets in the first balcony.

If you go see Billy Elliot be ready for in your face language with kids using the f word a lot. Some of our people really didn't like that. It didn't bother me because it fit the setting. We really enjoyed it a lot though. We saw it in NYC by the way.

And yes, tickets are cheaper in London.

One more thing. Look at theatremonkey.com for help choosing seats. In some theatres the floor of the stalls is flat and seats are aligned straight behind each other,making it hard to see.

London theatre is terrific. I enjoy seeing shows there even more than I do in NYC. Last October my wife and I got discounted seats to "Oliver" through tkts. We wanted something somewhat British and what could be better than Dickens? It was a great production.

Tracy - I would highly recommend Billy Elliot.

If there's a show you really want to see but it's sold out, try going to the box office in the morning for that evening's performance. They sometimes have last minute returns.

I've seen a few shows this way and the seats were always great. (Many are what's called "house" seats. They are usually reserved for the actors, agents, publicists, etc.) But if no one wants them, they go up for sale.)

Steves list and mine would be the same for first two and then the half price booth would be a big influence

I have tickets for Wicked in late May. Used the theatremonkey website to research seat selection.

Tracy, you'll definitely be spoilt for choice! There's also plenty of brilliant theatre (British spelling) outside the West End, and tickets to many of the non-West-End venues are often cheaper as some of them are funded by the Arts Council. The Royal National Theatre stages new plays and classics, and has many other programmes such as talks by famous authors, directors, etc. The South Bank Centre (British spelling) proclaims itself to be the "largest single-run arts center in the world" and has theaters for music and performing arts. The Barbican Centre also presents plays and music. The Royal Court is where you'll likely see the best of new British theatre, and Donmar Warehouse near Covent Garden is another good venue for plays. At the Old Vic this summer, director Sam Mendes' "Bridge Project" presents two Shakespearean plays - the production quality, I'm sure, will be astounding, as it's a major British-American co-production. If you like dance, the Sadlers Wells theater (nearest Tube station: Angel) presents some of the top contemporary dance companies in the world. And there's Shakespeare's Globe. just listing these places makes me want to go to London again ... Enjoy!

Along the same line.Has anyone seen Jersey boys? Im not a big theatre person but our friends want to se it.

I really enjoyed Jersey Boys in London. This show was not at the top of my list, but it had excellent reviews and I got a ticket at a discount at the TKTS booth. It was much better than I expected. The language is a bit strong (in case anyone is easily offended), but it fits with the characters. I was surprised by all the music that I recognized in the show.

We've been to the theater a number of times in London, but the last musical we saw there was 2 years ago - Billy Elliot - it is WONDERFUL!

London theater is great! My wife and I have built entire winter trips around it. We are going again in May and have already booked two shows and looking for some more. I like it because the entire experience in the West End is just fun. Theater is London is more casual - you don't need to dress up - and the venues are great. Wicked is fun (saw it twice in London) but last I knew was at the theatre by Victoria - a little out of what I consider the theatre district. Oliver is a new show we are seeing with Kerry Ellis in the role as Nancy (Kerry was a huge hit as Elphaba in Wicked). Les Mis is great. Just pick a show and go.

Definitely go see War Horse. It has moved from the National to Drury Lane. I saw the second production of it last fall at the National and it was incredible.

If you're interested in something aside from theatre, you might want to check out BFI and the BFI Imax in South Bank. The Imax is a fun theatre; expensive because it's Imax and 3D and all that jazz, but not more so than other nice cinemas in London, I don't think.

Tracy -
as far as spelling the word, I learned from my Intro to Theatre prof in college:
theater - the physical building where the performance is
theatre - the performance itself.

I would see anything you can there - I saw The Lion King (twice) and Phantom (as a last minute ticket for about $15) and loved both.

Enjoy!!

Although some of the previous posters had limited view seats when purchased through discounters (like TKTS), don't let this discourage you from using them. Particularly on the night when you go to the theatre by yourself...every time I have bought a single theatre seat through a discounter or a last-minute box office ticket, they've been great. The other posters may have had bad luck as it's harder to get 2 or more discounted seats that are right next to each other that offer a good view.

And if you change your mind, going to a pub alone in London is not a bad idea if you wanted to socialize as long as you don't drink too much and keep your wits about you.