London Nightlife Tips by Dabs

Nightlife Spot: We Will Rock You

I debated whether I wanted to see this one or not, I had heard both rave reviews and people saying that they hated it. I was a big fan of Queen's music back in my youth and actually still listen to it on occasion today so I decided to give it a go when they had tickets at the 1/2 price booth in Leicester Square.

Turns out of the 5 plays I saw on this trip, I enjoyed this one the most. Yes, the story line is a bit cheesy but the performers were top notch and had oustanding voices, the music is terrific and everyone around you is having a good time.

This may not be for you a) if you don't like Queen's music or b) don't like interactive theatre where you may be required to clap, sing along or have a good time. But I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

I picked up the tickets towards the middle of the day on a Tuesday and ended up with 1st row balcony seats which still provided decent viewing although I did have to lean forward a bit.

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Theme: Theater
Dress Code: Most theatre in London is come as you are. I saw people in jeans, shorts, dresses, etc., the crowd for this one was perhaps the most relaxed on the dress code.
Address: Tottenham Court tube
Directions: You can see the theatre once you get out of the tube station

Nightlife Spot: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

On my last night in London, I headed back over to the 1/2 price Leicester Square booth to see what I could get. After swimming through the crowd gathered for the premiere of Will Smith's new movie "I Robot", I finally ended up at the ticket booth, narrowed it down to CCBB and Anything Goes, the better seats were for CCBB and that's what decided it.

I ended up with a 15th row seat, not bad for getting there after 6 pm although it was a single seat.

I think I may have been a bit cranky from the heat (no that's not a typo) and didn't enjoy this production nearly as much as the folks around me, the audience, filled with mostly kids and their parents, was clapping along to the title tune and hissing at the villian.

It is a well staged production, complete with a flying car and a brief canine appearance. I thought the performances were all good but no truly outstanding individual performances.

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Theme: Theater
Address: London Palladium
Directions: Closest tube: Oxford Circus

Nightlife Spot: Blood Brothers

This was my husband's pick, I booked the tickets in advance on www.lastminute.com for the same price I would have paid at the 1/2 price ticket booth. We ended up with 3rd row seats, close enough to see the actor's spit which there was quite a lot of.

I'm not giving away the story by telling you that the Blood Brothers both end up dead as that is the first scene of the play. The play recounts how they get there, one brother raised in a well off family, the other in a poor family.

The performances and staging were solid and although I am not a theatre or movie weeper, I saw several women doing just that as I was leaving.

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Theme: Theater
Address: Phoenix Theater
Directions: Closest tube: Tottenham Court Road

Nightlife Spot: Sweeney Todd

We asked the woman at the TKTS booth whether she would recommend Sweeney Todd or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (how's that for two very different plays) and she overwhelmingly recommended this one.

I had never seen Stephen Sondheim's play about the demon barber of Fleet Street so I wasn't quite sure what to expect nor am I sure how it stacks up to other versions. The cast of this one alternate between playing instruments and acting and singing and the blood flows freely throughout the performance.

I can still hear the "Ballad of Sweeney Todd" in my head.....

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Theme: Theater
Address: Trafalgar Studios at Whitehall
Directions: Closest Tube: Charing Cross or Embankment

we walked from Trafalgar Square

Nightlife Spot: Woman in Black

I've always enjoyed classy mysteries like the ones written by Poe so I got a ticket for me for this one in advance via www.lastminute.com. My seat was in the 16th row and was fine.

I didn't really know the plot before I came, it's basically a 2 man play with a few twists and turns along the way. I was afraid that I wouldn't want to return to my hotel by myself afterward but it's more of a classic gothic thriller than a horror story.

For reviews and information, you can click on the link below

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Theme: Theater
Address: Fortune Theatre
Directions: Closest tube: Covent Garden

It's a couple of blocks from the tube, grab a theater map or a theater guide for directions
Website: www.womaninblack.com

Nightlife Spot: Jerry Springer the Opera

We saw this one on our previous trip in June 2004. I hadn't done any research into what to see so being a Chicagoan (where the show is filmed) I thought what the heck, Jerry Springer should be good for a few laughs.

Although I don't watch the show on TV, I have paused momentarily while flipping channels until I can suspend belief no more (really, how many people in America are sleeping with their wife's best friend/sister/mother/grandmother or all of the above????) and the actors have the characters and audience dead on. But Jerry Springer's character is now being played by David Soul (was he Starsky or Hutch?), I think that would be a bit distracting.

This is not a show for the prudish or those easily offended by profanity and sacrilegious comments. The 1st 1/2 of the show was laugh out loud funny, the 2nd 1/2 lagged a bit.

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Theme: Theater
Address: Cambridge Theatre, Covent Garden
Website: http://www.jerryspringertheopera.com/jerry_opera.html

Nightlife Spot: Les Miserables

The first time I saw Les Miserables was in Chicago, we had dreadful seats way up in the balcony and by the end of the 3 hour production we were rooting for the rest of the cast to die so we could go home.

But I thought, I'm in London, it's been about 10 years since I saw it in Chicago and the TKTS booth had a good seat so I gave it another try and was very glad I did.

The production started off a little weak, the sound didn't seem loud enough and the actress playing Fatine seemed to be a little weak. But as the play progressed, I found that I was really enjoying the production-the actor playing Jean Valjean was outstanding as was the actress playing Eponine and by the end I was a converted Les Mis fan, humming the shows unforgettable tunes all the way back to my hotel.

My seat was in row P, 16 rows from the stage, and I noticed that the balcony was probably only about 8 or 10 rows from the stage so if you have an option for 1st or 2nd row balcony seats, they might be better than main floor seats further back.

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Theme: Theater
Address: Queen's Theater, Shaftsbury Avenue
Directions: The closest tube is Piccadilly Circus or Leicester Square is about as close.

Nightlife Spot: Various

As I was searching the web I found this terrific website that lists pubs in London by a number of different searchable options, by tube station, by ranking, by area. They even have pub crawls listed for many of the different neighborhoods. A true must see for fans of the pint!

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Theme: Eating and Drinking
Website: http://www.fancyapint.com/

Nightlife Spot: Mary Poppins

Fans of the Disney movie "Mary Poppins" will enjoy this musical, produced by Disney and Cameron Mackintosh, which includes the memorable songs from the Julie Andrews movie such as "A Spoon Full of Sugar" and "Supercalifragilisticexpialidious". The staging includes some terrific special effects such as Mary Poppins flying and Bert walking on the ceiling and the acting was solid. The actress who played Mary Poppins was more prim and proper than Julie Andrews if you can imagine that.

Obviously a light weight enjoyable evening out at the theater, this one should appeal to both children and those adults who haven't quite managed to grow up yet :-)

You will not find tickets for Mary Poppins at the 1/2 price TKTS booth in Leicester Square but I did mangage to find a deal on the Official London Theatre website as part of their 2006 "Get into Theatre" promotion that runs through March 24, 2006. My excellent stalls seat (L1) was only L30 and row L happens to be the row with the aisle in front of it.

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Theme: Theater
Address: Prince Edward Theatre
Directions: Tube: Leicester Square
Website: http://www.marypoppinsthemusical.co.uk/

Nightlife Spot: Phantom of the Opera

As part of the "Katnapping" of keida84, I arranged for tickets for the "Phantom of the Opera" when she came to town for the big VT meet in January 2006. I got the tickets through lastminute.com for L37 per ticket, roughly the same amount that they go for at the TKTS booth if they have them (only 25% off face value), this was the highest price ticket in the theatre. We had 3rd row seats in the balcony and had a terrific view of the stage.

I have seen Phantom before in New York and Kat had actually seen Phantom with the ultimate phantom, Michael Crawford so I was a bit worried that the performance would be a bit disappointing for her. But she claims that she really enjoyed it, we both thought that the actor playing the Phantom and the actress playing Christine were terrific.

Lots of restaurant choices in the area for before or after the theatre since you are in central London near Piccadilly Circus. We ate at Galileo's which is just across the street from the theatre.

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Theme: Theater
Address: Her Majesty's Theatre
Directions: Tube: Piccadilly Circus