| LondonTheatreVenues.co.uk |
 |
|
 |
|
West End Theatre |
|
The West End of London is regarded as the main theatre district in the city.
It is traditionally considered to lie within an area with The Strand to the south,
Oxford Street to the north, Regent Street to the west, and Kingsway to the east.
Important West End theatre addresses include Shaftesbury Avenue, Drury Lane, and The Strand.
The area consists of approximately forty large theatres and is commonly known as
Theatreland. The acts staged are predominantly musicals, classic or middle brow plays,
and comedies.
West End theatres mainly put on big commercial productions. A lot of money is spent on them
and prices can be high, sometimes as much as £60 for top price tickets, and sometimes much
more if bought through an agency. However, the cheapest can be as low as £9 depending on
the day of the week (and the view). The West End shows a lot of musicals. However there are
also many excellent plays featuring superb actors/actresses. You probably won't find as much diversity
anywhere else in the world.
West End shows can run for any number of weeks, or even years, depending on ticket sales.
Typically musicals will run for longer than dramas. The longest running musical in West
End history was Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, which ran for 9000 performances, before closing
in 2000, while the longest running current musical is Les Misérables.
This however eclipsed by the non-musical Agatha Christie play The Mousetrap, which is the
longest running show in the world, and has been showing since 1953.
Current favourites in West End Theatre include Wicked and Legally Blonde with futre productions
including Butley, starring Dominic West. |
|
|
|