West end ticket prices?

[JsnWse]

Posted: 4/15/07 at 6:46pm

Are they anywhere near the price of New York tickets?

[Weez]

Posted: 4/15/07 at 6:54pm

They're not massively dissimilar, tbh. Highest priced tickets for major musicals are usually around £50-£55, which works out not far off the $110 you'd pay for major Broadway musicals. Plays are cheaper, highest priced tickets not usually going above £40 at most. Of course, there's TKTS, and there's discounts on BroadwayBox.com... like I said, not massively dissimilar. Have a bash around Theatre.com (but DO NOT book through there!), Ticketmaster.co.uk, or individual show sites if you'd like specifics. :3

Although as far as I can tell - and I may be massively wrong so won't mind being corrected - Broadway does premium tickets where the best stalls/orchestra seats cost way more. I've never come across that in the West End. So London works out a little cheaper on average, I'd say, thanks to lack of premium tickets, and the fact that the West End deals more heavily in plays and Broadway deals more heavily in musicals. ^_^

Updated On: 4/15/07 at 06:54 PM

[JsnWse]

Posted: 4/15/07 at 6:55pm

Thank you so much! and i LOVE your avatar by the way.

[jo]

Posted: 4/15/07 at 9:59pm

Yes, they haven't discovered premium seats pricing at the West End yet

While West End ticket prices are generally slightly cheaper ( I have recently bought tickets for Billy Elliot for a matinee in June - matinees are sometimes priced differently, especially mid-week), shows which are revived or staged in non-typical West End theatres could be much cheaper (such as in the Royal National Theatre) or more expensive ( such as the revival of KISMET at the English National Opera - I also have tickets for this one and they cost around GBP 83 top per ticket, which is about US $165 before charges).

There is a London version of TKTS on Leicester Square ( not sure but I think it is called HalfPrice Ticket Booth or something similar). Also, you will find many of the small stores dotting the West End selling discounted tickets openly ( advertised on boards outside the store) from current shows. You could get good seats from this source.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 4/15/07 at 10:33pm

If you are a student I found that London student tickets are more easily accessible than in NYC (and esp. Chicago), and then if you go from like Jan-March there is a thing called Get Into London Theatre (type that in as one word + .com) and you can get uber cheap tickets that way too.


and their TKTS is better than NYC if you ask me too. I didn't even use it in NYC the two times I was there, but I saw a crap load of shows for cheap cheap cheap while I stayed in London.

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 4/16/07 at 5:53am

We're also lucky in that there is a greater range of ticket prices over here, so even if you can't afford top price you can still usually see the show for a lot less (though from 'worse' seats).

[Weez]

Posted: 4/16/07 at 1:29pm

There is a London version of TKTS on Leicester Square ( not sure but I think it is called HalfPrice Ticket Booth or something similar).

Yeah, it's called TKTS. There are lots of little booths around the Leicester Square area selling cut-price tickets, but I've never used them and would prefer not to, because it's not always easy to see which are kosher and which aren't (although TheatreMonkey.co.uk can be helpful in that regard). I travel quite a way in when hitting the West End so like to have things all planned in advance anyway, so I prefer advance discounts to on-the-day ones.

[Paulyd]

Posted: 4/16/07 at 3:08pm

For shows in London that are in their preview stage always check on whatsonstage.com. I managed to get two upper circle tickets for Wicked and a two course meal in a nearby resturant for £20 each(40 dollars approx)

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 4/17/07 at 4:34am

"There are lots of little booths around the Leicester Square area selling cut-price tickets"

As you say, many aren't that cheap, but the only other one that I've used (besides tkts) is located in the foyer of the Hippodrome by Leicester Square Tube station as they had a better selection for the show I wanted. However, if you wanted to book in advance, theatremonkey lists the main offers currently doing the rounds:
http://www.theatremonkey.com/CURRENTSPECIALOFFERS.htm

[NS]

Posted: 4/17/07 at 5:37am

The West End has discovered premium tickets, but its not taken off, as yet. Porgy and Bess had them, im pretty sure Hayfever did them (maybe Lady from Dubuque as well) and I think Grease is doing them.

Not common place but they do exist.