London Shows: Choosing One and Making an Evening of It
A West End show is the easiest good evening in London: a fixed start time, two and a half hours of something to talk about, and forty theatres within ten minutes of each other.
A West End show is the easiest good evening in London: a fixed start time, two and a half hours of something to talk about afterwards, and forty theatres within a ten-minute walk of each other. The hard part is not choosing the show. It is the booking, the timing and where you go when the curtain falls.
Choosing by the evening you want
The big musicals
Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King, Wicked and Hamilton are the long-runners for a reason: they are spectacular, everyone knows them, and nobody leaves disappointed. They are also the hardest to get good seats for at short notice.
Plays and limited runs
The straight plays, usually with a well-known name in the cast, run for twelve to sixteen weeks and sell out faster than the musicals. If a particular run matters, book it the week it is announced. The Old Vic, the Almeida and the Donmar sit just outside the West End proper and are worth the short walk.
Something lighter
Comedies, long-running whodunnits and the immersive shows suit an evening where nobody wants to concentrate too hard. The Mousetrap has been running since 1952 and still does the job.
Getting seats
- Book direct with the theatre where you can. Resale sites add fees that can double a ticket.
- The stalls are not always best. For a big musical the front of the dress circle often gives the better view, and costs less.
- Day seats and lotteries. Most long-runners release cheap seats on the morning of the performance, and several run digital lotteries the day before.
- TKTS in Leicester Square sells same-day tickets at a discount, which is the honest version of the booths that surround it.
- Matinees are easier. Wednesday and Saturday afternoons have availability when the evening does not.
Making it an evening rather than a ticket
Curtain-up is usually half past seven, which is the wrong time for dinner. Two arrangements work:
- Early dinner, then the show. Book a table for half past five in Covent Garden or Soho and tell the restaurant you are going to the theatre; they will pace it properly.
- Drinks first, dinner after. A cocktail at six, the show, then a late table. Soho and Chinatown serve latest, and this is the more relaxed version.
Our guides to the best restaurants in London and cocktail bars cover both ends of that. For the theatre itself, arrive twenty minutes early: most houses stop admitting latecomers until a suitable break.
Going with company
A show is one of the easier ways to spend an evening with someone you have just met: you are side by side rather than across a table, and the interval gives you something to talk about. Several of our high class escorts go to the theatre regularly, and a dinner date of three or four hours covers dinner and the performance comfortably.
From the concierge: casts change, runs close and prices move with demand. Check the theatre’s own website before you book anything.
Where to next
Questions
The long-running musicals, Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King, Wicked and Hamilton, are the safe choices. Straight plays with a known name in the cast run for a few months and sell out faster, so book those as soon as they are announced.
Book direct rather than through resale sites, try the day seats and digital lotteries most long-runners release, use TKTS in Leicester Square for same-day discounts, and take a Wednesday or Saturday matinee.
Either works. Book dinner for half past five and tell the restaurant you are going to the theatre, or have drinks at six and eat afterwards in Soho or Chinatown, which serve latest.
Usually half past seven in the evening, with matinees at half past two on Wednesday and Saturday. Arrive twenty minutes early, as most theatres hold latecomers until a break.