Experience West End Musicals on Your Trip to London

Attending a production at one of the many West End theatres is a must when visiting London. West End The best in musicals, opera, ballet, and repertory productions are the mainstay of this district with musicals outnumbering all the other types of venues. The musicals this season are a mix of fantasy, romance, comedy and suspense plus long-running and short term productions.

The best way to purchase tickets is online, but is also available through telephone ordering from the theatre box offices, such as LSBO travel agencies and the concierge service at the nearby hotels. Some hotels offer free tickets for two to the West End theatres.

Whatever way you choose to attend a production, a musical at a West End theatre is an experience of a lifetime. West End theatre district, known as Theatreland, has nearly forty theatres. This area is bordered by the Strand to the south, Regent Street to the west, Oxford Street on the north side and Kingsway on the east. The main streets include the Strand, Shaftesbury Avenue and Drury Lane.

Musical productions at West End theatres have been drawing patrons for decades with long-running productions. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats” ran nearly 21 years at the New London Theatre and “Phantom of the Opera” at Her Majesty’s Theatre is in its 24th year. Currently the following shows are presented for theatre goers in the West End Theatreland:

Adelphi Theatre – Love Never Dies

Apollo Victoria Theatre – Wicked

Cambridge Theatre – Chicago

Fortune Theatre –The Woman in Black

Noel Coward Theatre – Million Dollar Quartet

Queen’s Theatre – Les Misérables

Trafalgar Studios – End of the Rainbow

Victoria Palace Theatre – Billy Eliot

The theatres of the West End are privately owned and are maintained to preserve their Edwardian and Victorian era characteristics. A tour of the district will delight the beholder with a view of the opulence and neo-classical designs not present anywhere else in the world. Seating and amenities are sparse due to interior design constraints, but the trade-off in ambience and history is well worth it. The cost of modernization was estimated at 250 million pounds in 2004, but tax concessions necessary for the owners to financially bear this burden have not been conceded by the British government.

The future of theatre in the West End looks promising, too. New productions slated for opening in 2012 include Ghost: The Musical, Lend Me a Tenor, Rock of Ages, The Flying Karamazov Brothers and Yes, Prime Minister.

Night and day, the West End offers many other tourist attractions, financial services, and shopping opportunities with plenty of mass and private transits. Other tourist attractions include art galleries and museums, cinemas, dance clubs, pubs and restaurants.