You HAVE To See These Musicals
The West End of London is Musical
You sit in the velveted royal circle, row A, seat 17, then the lights dim and the musical + magical stage comes alive with characters and voices that entrance you into the story.
You’re in London, drinking tea by the mini-teapotful daily and getting lost in musicals at nightfall. The West End has theatre night life waiting for you, and there are two that you CANNOT LEAVE LONDON without watching from your cushy red velvet seat.
Lead Me Down The Red Carpet
Emma leads the choices of what musicals to see whenever we’re in New York or London, because she’s read up on the actors, the plot, knows the actors or understudies performing, and what awards it’s received or even rumored to receive. She’s a walking/talking theatre marvel for musicals.
This time, it’s a good thing for you to ‘just follow the crowd’, or follow ‘the Emma’.
Our girls’ trip to London led us to four musicals in three days’ time. There’s never a shortage in the West End. You can look up some of these musicals for Broadway in New York also, if you’re not making it across the pond.
Here is the list of running shows in London.
Two London West End Shows You’ll Rave About
You’ll rave about the music, the acting, the stage, and the humor in two originally tragic stories.
Odd to read “humor” and “tragedy” in the same line, but that’s what turns these musicals into award-winning performances. And the booming, buttery voices of the actors. The only reason not to see these musicals is if you’re not into musicals…But since you’re here, skimming this post I’m guessing you’re not here by mistake.
Surely you didn’t click in here by mistake, right? You‘re here every week catching all the travel ideas, your style-over-40 tips, and grabbing the latest book title to read with our evening wine when you can’t get to a show ;) }
SIX
SIX ranks up there with Wicked and Hamilton {in the Em&Me column review 😉} Maybe I shouldn’t compare it to another show, because it wasn’t set like a “regular” musical. It’s a concert with the six wives of Henry the VIII and how bad each wife had it. Basically a morbid competition of who had it worse, but in a funny way.
This musical/concert tells the story of a dark piece of history, but in a hilariously fresh, engaging way! True, hilarious + ol’ Henry don’t match up, but that’s part of the charm. Like Hamilton, it intrigues us to look into the history books. And maybe, juuuust maybe, a younger generation will get curious enough to look up Henry the VIII and his wives.
Or just watch this London West End show over and over again and enjoy. A pro-shot with the original cast is even in the works, so someday soon, you’ll be able to watch it from the comfort of your couch!
& Juliet
& Juliet is a remix of Romeo & Juliet — a “what if” story. What if Shakespeare’s wife steered his most famous star-crossed tragedy in a different direction?
There were four improved pieces to this Shakespeare play {to my eyes and ears}::
- It was not in Shakespearean lingo {replaying and deciphering in my head takes forever + a day}
- The rifts between Shakespeare and his wife, Anne, give the musical some hilarious banter
- The feel and ending don’t follow the sad, tragic original screenplay
- All of the musical numbers were nostalgic pop songs! {Some examples: I Want It That Way by Backstreet Boys, Confident by Demi Lovato, Since U Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson, and the best rendition of Everybody since the Backstreet Boys put it out.}
If you only have time for two shows, these are THE ONES {or two}! You won’t regret it.
2 More Stage Musicals
Two other West End shows this trip were Back To The Future: The Musical and Bonnie & Clyde.
The DeLorean, skateboard, and plutonium are back on the big screen, stage, to take Marty and Doc back in time musical style. Emma loved it. For this 80’s girl who saw the Michael J Fox original, it was predictable, aside from a few tweaks to properly translate the screen to the stage. (Small note from Emma: I HAVE seen the 1985 movie. I’m not uncultured. I just enjoyed the musical as well!}
The casting, however, was spot-on for Marty, Doc, Biff, and George. There’s a chance I’m solo in this review for the new-millennium babies, but us 80’s hipsters will get what I’m talking about. Back To The Future: The Musical is on the top 10 list for London shows. Might make my top 20…maybeeee
I missed out on To Kill A Mockingbird {a play, not a musical}. This was a trip for Emma, and she’s a staunch musical theatre girl. Maybe it’s a New York ticket next time I’m in the Big Apple.
Have you seen it? What’s your review of this stage performance?
The West End Never Disappoints
London’s West End has no shortage of plays and musicals to entertain you.
While the city of London is not cheap, their shows are much cheaper than New York.
The TKTS booth in Leicester Square always has a list of short-sale tickets to grab-n-go see the day of.
$30 tickets to go back in time and see the DeLorean fly isn’t an awful way to spend a few hours.
Looking For Day-Of Musical Tickets
If TKTS doesn’t have the play or musical you want, try going directly to the theater’s or musical’s site to see if they have seats available for that day’s show. Emma went to the Bonnie & Clyde matinee at a London black box theatre by searching up the musical directly.
If you only pick one of the two shows, then SIX is the pick. And if neither are your cup of tea {it’s a London post, I had to say it ;)}, that list I linked above will have plenty of choices of all the London West End shows for you.
You can’t leave the UK without seeing at least one show — you just can’t. No, REALLY. It’s part of the London experience!
What stage performance do you want to see, or what’s one you’re loving right now?
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