The London Theater Experience
If you've been reading this blog for any time you know we are frequent patrons of London's "West End" theater scene. (At the time when many of the theatres were established they were at the west end of London, where the city was relatively less developed and land was available -- now, of course, the city extends westward well beyond the theater area, but it's still called the West End). This is a great city to be living in if you like live theater.
The first great thing is that ticket prices are still well below Broadway -- though the difference isn't nearly as large as it used to be. Secondly, there is an official (sponsored by the London Theater Guild) "half-price ticket" booth in Leicester (pronounced Lester) Square, in the heart of the West End. (In recent years a number of commercial booths selling tickets (some at reduced prices) have sprung up in the area as well.) The policy at the half-price booth is that you can only buy tickets for that day -- either matinee or evening; and you must take tickets for a given show as they are offered. So, if you say you want 2 tickets to a show, the clerk will tell you "I have two tickets in the 3rd row of the upper circle" -- and he'll show you where the seats are. But you must then take them or ask about another show. You cannot say "I don't want those seats, what else have you got?" This, no doubt, is to permit the line to keep moving, which it does -- and there is almost always a line. But, when you have your half price tickets you have a pretty good entertainment bargain.
We frequently arrive at the booth shortly after it opens on a Saturday morning (at 10) and get tickets for a matinee (we always have 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices of shows ready). Then it's off to the British Museum, or the National Gallery or Covent Garden or any one of dozens of other great London attractions. A couple of hours of that sort of thing is followed by lunch -- then off to the theater for the matinee, which typically starts at 2:30 or 3:00. After the show, it's home for dinner (or occasionally a second meal out), having enjoyed another great London theater experience.
The theater buildings themselves are an integral part of the pleasure of it -- most of them are well over a hundred years old, though some are newer. Many of them have fantastic interiors of the kind typical in the 19th century -- statuary, scrolls, stained glass domes, intricate plaster ceilings and more. (The picture is of the ceiling and dome in the Coliseum theatre, just off Trafalgar Square.) All London theaters are equipped with bars. The typical drill is to visit the bar before the show to place an order for one's "interval (intermission) drinks". These are ordered and paid for and are awaiting the customer at the interval. Many patrons, of course, enjoy some liquid refreshment at the bar before the show and while ordering those interval drinks.
When we first arrived in London, we thought that after a few months we'd have seen every show that interested us and we'd then only rarely go to the theater. But, there are so many available, and many of the shows open for only limited runs, meaning that there is almost always a choice of several shows we'd like to see. And when, temporarily, there isn't -- well there are about 94,754 other interesting things to see in this fascinating city.
In our minds, the whole experience greatly beats a movie -- and, with the half price tickets (and the incredibly high prices of London movie tickets) the live theater only costs about one-and-a-half times as much as the movie. We think it's worth it.
By the way, our most recent play was on Friday night, 27 May -- we saw "On the Town" at the Coliseum Theatre, the home of the English National Opera. You may be familiar with the movie version, with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra. The movie was made several years after war had ended -- the stage show was a wartime production, opening at Christmas of 1943. There are only 3 songs that are in both versions; and the stage version contains many more dance ensemble numbers. In fact, the dancing was one of the best things in the show, which we thought very highly of overall. (The singing by a cast which is actually an opera company was, of course, magnificent.) An incredible thing about the show is that when the stage version was first produced the five key creative people involved were all in their 20s -- Leonard Bernstein (music), Jerome Robbins (choreographer), Betty Comden and Adolph Green (book and lyrics) and Oliver Smith (design). For several of them it was their first broadway experience.
They created a pretty great show that remains interesting and poignant while being a great example of musical and dancing excellence.
The first great thing is that ticket prices are still well below Broadway -- though the difference isn't nearly as large as it used to be. Secondly, there is an official (sponsored by the London Theater Guild) "half-price ticket" booth in Leicester (pronounced Lester) Square, in the heart of the West End. (In recent years a number of commercial booths selling tickets (some at reduced prices) have sprung up in the area as well.) The policy at the half-price booth is that you can only buy tickets for that day -- either matinee or evening; and you must take tickets for a given show as they are offered. So, if you say you want 2 tickets to a show, the clerk will tell you "I have two tickets in the 3rd row of the upper circle" -- and he'll show you where the seats are. But you must then take them or ask about another show. You cannot say "I don't want those seats, what else have you got?" This, no doubt, is to permit the line to keep moving, which it does -- and there is almost always a line. But, when you have your half price tickets you have a pretty good entertainment bargain.
We frequently arrive at the booth shortly after it opens on a Saturday morning (at 10) and get tickets for a matinee (we always have 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices of shows ready). Then it's off to the British Museum, or the National Gallery or Covent Garden or any one of dozens of other great London attractions. A couple of hours of that sort of thing is followed by lunch -- then off to the theater for the matinee, which typically starts at 2:30 or 3:00. After the show, it's home for dinner (or occasionally a second meal out), having enjoyed another great London theater experience.
The theater buildings themselves are an integral part of the pleasure of it -- most of them are well over a hundred years old, though some are newer. Many of them have fantastic interiors of the kind typical in the 19th century -- statuary, scrolls, stained glass domes, intricate plaster ceilings and more. (The picture is of the ceiling and dome in the Coliseum theatre, just off Trafalgar Square.) All London theaters are equipped with bars. The typical drill is to visit the bar before the show to place an order for one's "interval (intermission) drinks". These are ordered and paid for and are awaiting the customer at the interval. Many patrons, of course, enjoy some liquid refreshment at the bar before the show and while ordering those interval drinks.
When we first arrived in London, we thought that after a few months we'd have seen every show that interested us and we'd then only rarely go to the theater. But, there are so many available, and many of the shows open for only limited runs, meaning that there is almost always a choice of several shows we'd like to see. And when, temporarily, there isn't -- well there are about 94,754 other interesting things to see in this fascinating city.
In our minds, the whole experience greatly beats a movie -- and, with the half price tickets (and the incredibly high prices of London movie tickets) the live theater only costs about one-and-a-half times as much as the movie. We think it's worth it.
By the way, our most recent play was on Friday night, 27 May -- we saw "On the Town" at the Coliseum Theatre, the home of the English National Opera. You may be familiar with the movie version, with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra. The movie was made several years after war had ended -- the stage show was a wartime production, opening at Christmas of 1943. There are only 3 songs that are in both versions; and the stage version contains many more dance ensemble numbers. In fact, the dancing was one of the best things in the show, which we thought very highly of overall. (The singing by a cast which is actually an opera company was, of course, magnificent.) An incredible thing about the show is that when the stage version was first produced the five key creative people involved were all in their 20s -- Leonard Bernstein (music), Jerome Robbins (choreographer), Betty Comden and Adolph Green (book and lyrics) and Oliver Smith (design). For several of them it was their first broadway experience.
They created a pretty great show that remains interesting and poignant while being a great example of musical and dancing excellence.
posted by Chuck and Kathi Calvano @ 4:33 PM
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