New Shows in the West End


November is busy this year. The list of shows opening are quite a sight over the next two months. So buckle up, sit back and let us show you what’s in store for the last two months of 2018.

November is being ruled by plays. The good stagy kind. We all dreamt of saving the world some day, or at least that piece of greenery around the trees next to the tube. So we’re calling all of you proud eccentric life lovers out there; come and check out how it’s done with the RSC’s new production of Don Quixote. Let us all head off on a rumbustious quest, on a hilarious journey across medieval Spain, defending the helpless and vanquishing the wicked. Chivalry has never been funnier. Join our two heroes on their quest while hopelessly unprepared and increasingly losing their grip on reality, with each calamitous adventure the two hapless heroes experience, the romantic ideal of QuixoteÍ›s books seems further away than ever. Based on the book by Miguel Servantes, this brilliant stage adaptation will tickle your peach and have you see windmills in a completely different light. Prices start from as little as £12.50. So grab your lance and sword, we’ll see you there.

The Pinter season keeps going and with it’s third and fourth part is introducing great names to the stage. Penelope Wilson will you the cast of THREE for a limited time of performances and she is joined by tour de force ladies Temsin Greig and Meera Syal while Lee Evans is coming out of retirement specifically to play some of his favourite monologues by Harold Pinter.

Phyllis Logan (Downton Abby) is coming back to the West End in a spellbinding thriller. Switzerland is all what you need for a chilling night out this autumn and winter. 1995, the Swiss Alps. Patricia Highsmith, the queen of the thriller, now ageing and ailing, hides away in her study, surrounded by her collection of books and antique weaponry. She’s finding solace in her seclusion, her cats and cigarettes. Vitriolic, bigoted and alcoholic, her eccentricities are the stuff of legend. A polished young man turns up, sent by her New York publisher to persuade the great writer to pen one final instalment of her best-selling series featuring the master manipulator, Tom Ripley. But as day breaks over the mountains, it becomes clear that the charming stranger is set on a far more sinister mission. Filled with razor-sharp dialogue, this chilling and sometimes hilarious two-hander unfolds into a gripping psychological thriller.

Caroline, or Change is the long anticipated musical the West End has been waiting for. Written by Tony Kushner, author of legendary play Angels in America, and with an exceptional, soaring score from Tony Award-winning Jeanine Tesori, Caroline, Or Change stars Sharon D. Clarke in an astonishing ‘virtuoso performance. To watch her seems a privilege’ (The Times).

Louisiana, 1963. Revolution is in the air, though not so much for Caroline, the poorly paid maid toiling endlessly in the sweltering basement of the Gellman household. It’s a fantastical, magical place amidst the piles of laundry and singing washing machines, especially for eight-year-old Noah Gellman who sneaks downstairs to see her whenever he can. Yet a simple gesture to leave more money in Caroline’s pocket is about to test who and how far the winds of change can ever really reach… opening for a strictly limited season at the Playhouse Theatre late November 2018.

Tennessee Williams’ rarely staged classic Summer And Smoke transfers to the West End due to popular demand. The production played a widely lauded run at the Almeida Theatre earlier in 2018, and now makes the move to the West End’s Duke of York’s Theatre. The full original cast reprise their roles. Set in small-town Mississippi, Summer And Smoke is an absorbing classic about love, loneliness and self-destruction, in which Alma, seemingly under the wings of an angel, meets John – and their worlds are turned upside down. Evoking the simmering passions of a sweltering summer, the duo soon find themselves trapped between fear, obligation – and their own sheer desire.

Guess who’s back in the West End? Kit Harington is back this winter, playing at the Vaudeville Theatre. He and Johnny Flynn star as warring brothers Austin and Lee in the West End Premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winner Sam Shepard’s ferociously funny, modern classic, True West. Austin is working on a movie script that he has sold to producer Saul Kimmer when Lee stumbles back in to his life. Never content to watch from the sidelines he pitches his own idea to Kimmer, an action which has far reaching consequences… Set in the searing heat of the Californian desert this critically acclaimed drama pits brother against brother as a family tears itself apart, exposing the cracks in the American Dream.

A hearty ‘Welcome Home’ to The Curious incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. The phenomenal play is back in the West End for a limited run at the Piccadilly Theatre, following an acclaimed UK and International tour. The play is based on Mark Haddon’s best-selling novel under the same title. Christopher, fifteen years old, stands beside Mrs Shears’ dead dog. It has been speared with a garden fork, it is seven minutes after midnight and Christopher is under suspicion. He records each fact in the book he is writing to solve the mystery of who murdered Wellington. He has an extraordinary brain, exceptional at maths while ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched and he distrusts strangers. But his detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a frightening journey that upturns his world.

We have an autumn/ winter full of plays and we couldn’t be happier.

This is only the beginning.

Happy November, see you next month.


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Sneaky Peaks and Teary Farewells in October 2018


There’s a fresh new wind blowing through the West End. Time to take a look into the future. 2019, what’s in store for the musical theatre lover? Let’s kick off 2019 with some new shows. Starting with Come From Away. In case you missed it, or have been living under a rock, Come From Away was the first to announce it’s opening in the west End late January next year and they will be kicking of a great season 2019/20. On September 11 2001, when 38 planes have to land, due to security reasons, in a remote community, the small town of Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, the residents suddenly find themselves in a mass of people and even bigger struggle to accommodate those nearly 7,000 ‘plane-people’ as they and the world are reeling in the days following the attacks.

October is the month. We have had the utmost luck at the end of September to witness the official launch of Waitress The Musical in the West End. Heading into the velvety soft hues of sultry red at Ronnie Scott’s in Soho, we were swept away by a life performance of singer/ songwriter extraordinare Sara Bareilles.

Waitress is the highly anticipated and long awaited Broadway hit we have been waiting for.

Jenna doesn’t have much, she doesn’t mind her job as a waitress at the local diner but it isn’t going anywhere. Her husband Earl is abusive, their marriage at the end. To escape it all she bakes, but soon her pies aren’t the only thing the town’s talking about. Shortly after discovering she is pregnant, the very last thing she wants to be, Jenna begins an affair with her new OBGYN, Dr Pomatter, who is also married. Jenna needs a way out and a pie baking contest might be exactly that but things don’t go exactly as planned. The musical made history as the first show with an all-female creative team.

We simply cannot wait until it opens it’s door early February next year, still tickets are already on sale, so book them while they’re hot.

Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 musical is hitting London next year in late January. The girls around Doralee are moving into the Savoy Theatre. Consolidated Industries is managed by the sexist and self-important Franklin Hart Jr. Violet, a long time employee, she’s always on top of things, Doralee is Mr Hart’s secretary, he makes advances to her which she constantly rebuffs while Judy has just started working at Consolidated but is struggling as she has no work experience. The women come together to teach Mr Hart a lesson and improve the company all around, so naturally they leave him hanging at home and decide to run the office their way! We think a worthy follow up to it’s pre-successor smash hit for over two years; Dreamgirls.

And can we please talk about the reopening of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Mary Poppins? Ah, we’re already making notes in our diaries, old and new, so we won’t miss a thing.

The Curious Incident is back for a limited 12 week run at the Piccadilly Theatre in late November 2018 after coming abck from a fantastic World Tour.

Another lady’s coming home. Mary Poppins will be back in autumn 2019. After years of being away from the West End, the revival of the popular musical will hit town early October next year in perfect sync with the new movie coming out Mary Poppins 2. It will move back into it’s old home at the Prince Edward theatre.

Last week only it has been confirmed that Dear Evan Hansen will jump over the big pond and will land in the West End November 2019. Well, Waitress had us ecstatic, this one leaves us near catatonic. The season 2019/20 is waiting with many a gem for the theatregoer.

Still, with so many new shows opening it is also a time of heartfelt fare wells and teary goodbyes. The earliest one is strictly Ballroom which closes its doors at the end of this month as well as Eugenius. This gem of a show got sadly cancelled last minute for their West End run as an investor pulled out. Crowdfund or Kickstarter anyone? There is something we could do, is there not?

So hurry if you want to see them both.

Meanwhile the Royal Drury Lane theatre will close for a bit after 42nd Street ends early January 2019. They will undergo a beauty makeover, you can apply for their lottery to give one or more of the old theatre seats a new home from late November onwards. Others will swap in and out in true West End fashion.

 Let us tell you a few shows you should catch before it’s too late;

 Eugenius

 Strictly Ballroom

 Foxfinder

 The Importance of Being Earnest

 Heathers The Musical

42nd Street

Chicago

Dreamgirls

Kinky Boots

Motown

Just a hint for all play lovers; The Pinter at the Pinter season is progressing nicely. David Suchet and Russell Tovey are filling the house and we will expect nothing less of Tamsin Greig, Meera Syal and Penelope Wilson for the next instalment. A note to all Martin Freeman fans out there; hurry. His Pinter at the Pinter part sells fast, and there are only so many days in a month. Book now to see him in February 2019.

We’ll see you next month and then we will see what the new season 2019/20 has in store for us on the play side of the West End. Gillian Anderson anyone? Oh yes please.

Until then.


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Starting the New Season in the West End


 

 

Summer’s nearly over and we’re jumping right in into the new season.

We’re seeing shows go, casts changing and new exciting plays and musicals opening.

 

Eugenius for example is back at The Other Palace for its now second re-run. For us there is nothing better than fighting crime with your best friends and getting the girl at the end. This high energy, laughing-out-loud, feel-good musical should have been on your list ages ago. It’s the perfect first date show as well as a great night out with friends. This time you can watch it until 07/10/2018. Always Tuesdays-Sundays. Ages 12 and older.

 

It has been 10 years since Harold Pinter passed away, for the Jamie Lloyd Company a perfect reason to celebrate this extraordinary man. Last week opened for a six month period of Pinter at the Pinter. All 21 of his one act plays are going to be staged in a course of six months. This is a star-struck season with a fresh new concept bring Pinter’s dark humour and excellent social criticism to a newer and younger crowd while celebrating him for everything we was famous for. Cast includes: Tamsin Greig, Meera Syal, Martin Freeman, Russell Tovey, David Suchet and at certain performances Penelope Wilson. The company was lucky enough to raid his personal belongings and so they produced a fabulous exhibition throughout the whole theatre of private and unseen pictures of Pinter and his work. From 06/09/2018

 

 

Following its sold-out run at the Bush Theatre, Arinzé Kene’s acclaimed, “big popular hit” (Evening Standard) MISTY transfers to London’s Trafalgar Studios for six weeks only.

 

In a playful, profound and unique take on modern life in London, Arinzé, known for Girl from the North Country, Lion King and EastEnders delivers a powerhouse performance blending theatre and song, on a constantly shifting stage, with live music. Book it now before it’s too late. 08/09-20/10/2018

 

 

 

This is what we’re excited for in September. Stay tuned for more in October or if you can’t wait, call us to get all the info you need and book your tickets with us while you’re at it.

 

Happy September.


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Aladdin is making Your June Unforgeable


Everyone’s making plans for the summer. Holidays are booked, sunscreens are applied and books are sorted through to be read at the beach.  We’re all waiting for July to be finally here.

Let us show you a great way to pass the time and make your dreams come true.

Aladdin Image 1

Not only is June 1st International Children’s Day; it also marks the start of Aladdin’s No Booking Fee period. So, come along for the ride.

Throughout the whole of June, you can watch Aladdin’s epic tales of friendship, bravery and love from as little as £25 pp. Who says you can’t go see it twice? It makes a great gift for the youngsters, a last spurt to give it their all before summer rolls around.

The adults enjoy the magical moments, woven into colourful costumes and the secure knowledge that magic does exist. Dream yourself way to warm Arabian Nights, walk the streets of Argrabar with Aladdin and his friends.

Watch Jasmine and Aladdin overcome it all to find each other. Dance with the Genie and discover the depths of the magical cave.

Aladdin Image 3Plus with our great prices you can see it way before everyone else does over the summer holidays. You’d be too busy enjoying the sun and telling everyone what a great show it is and what amazing seats you had.

The best thing is; you can book already for June. Seats and prices are subject to availability, but with 30 days ahead of you, everyone will find their perfect time to see this magical tale.

Book now on our website to join in on this colourful magical spectacle of Arabian nights and so you can finally say; #MyWishWasGranted.

Aladdin Image 5


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Easter 2018


It is March. Spring is almost here. You can see it, feel it and smell it. This year that means Easter is just around the corner. We want to share with you our hidden gems in this year’s Easter basket. Here are our top picks to see over the Easter Holiday period:
The Best Man: Two opposing presidential party candidates are neck and neck in an unscrupulous battle for the nomination. The only thing that separates the ex-Secretary of State and his populist opponent is an endorsement from a respected ex-President. But where does compromise end and corruption begin? And who in the end will be proved to be ‘the best man’?
One of the UK’s best loved actors, Martin Shaw leads a star-studded cast.

Best ManFor all you dance romance fans out there, if you liked Dirty Dancing, you’ll love Strictly Ballroom; a spirited place of hot-blooded passion, hard-won dreams and vibrant self-expression. Based on Baz Luhrmann’s legendary movie Strictly Ballroom, the soul-stirring musical stars the popular newcomer Jonny Labey (Winner ITV’s Dance Dance Dance) and Zizi Strallen (Mary Poppins) as the star-crossed, dance-crazed lovers Scott and Fran. When maverick championship ballroom dancer Scott defies all the rules of competition to follow his heart, he teams up with left-footed partner Fran to win the Pan Pacifics his way. The musical features the film’s classic break-into-song numbers such as Love is in the Air, Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps and Time After Time alongside electrifying new songs.

SBFor you fun lovers out there; Ruthless! Is back. Some people will do anything to get their chance at the spotlight. Tina Demark is dying, or killing rather, to be in her school play. Will a star be born or will everything go wrong? A cult classic that pokes fun at Broadway musicals like Gypsy and Fame, Ruthless! Has been winning awards and catching the attention of audiences since the 90s. This wickedly funny musical is coming to London’s Arts Theatre for a strictly limited 14 week run starting March 16th. Age: 10+

artsA bit more drama to the West End will add the return of Chicago to the Phoenix theatre. This classic will show up with polished moves and revamped style, following male lead CUBA GOODING JR. into a flapping and scandalous season in the West End. Not only will it be here in time for Easter, Chicago will also celebrate its 21st Birthday this year.

chicagoOr try QUIZ; THE COUGHING MAJOR MILLIONAIRE SCANDAL
For the real chill drama, there’s always Quiz. Following a sold out run at Chichester Festival Theatre, QUIZ – the sensational new comedy from James Graham (This House, Ink, Labour of Love) – transfers to the West End for a limited 12-week run at the Noël Coward Theatre.
A provocative re-examination of the case against Charles Ingram, the ‘coughing Major’, for cheating on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, QUIZ ‘highlights the dangerous blending of entertainment, politics and justice today.’ (Sunday Times).

QUIZ is a fictional imagination based on real events which took place in 2001 following an episode of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? It is not in any way connected with the makers of the programme or any of the individuals portrayed.QUIZ is a fictional imagination based on real events which took place in 2001 following an episode of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? It is not in any way connected with the makers of the programme or any of the individuals portrayed.

quizOur two sure fire crackers this Easter are:
The Play that Goes Wrong
Is stumbling into its 4th disastrous year. The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society has decided to perform a murder mystery play. However, it soon becomes apparent that the cast are incredibly hopeless as mishap follows mishap. The only thing being murdered here is the play they are valiantly trying to stage. Everything that can go wrong, as the title of the comedy suggests, does go wrong. The show has been a resounding success wherever it as played and has left audiences in helpless fits of laughter.

Play That Goes WrongOr their other gem;
The Comedy about a Bank Robbery
From the creators of The Play That Goes Wrong comes The Comedy about a Bank Robbery, a new West End comedy about one enormous diamond, eight incompetent crooks and a snoozing security guard. What could possibly go right?

Bank RobberyAlso, don’t forget our monthly giveaway. Just check our social media for updates and more info on those.

www.facebook.com/TheatreBookingsUK
 @TheatreBookings

Happy Easter Egg Hunting.

 

 


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Celebrate Valentine’s Day in Style


January is done and Valentine’s Day is upon us. For all you big planners out there who have counted all their eggs already, kudos to you. Anyone else who likes to live a bit more adventurous, we have a last minute list of shows you could surprise your better half with this Valentine’s.

Oldies but Goldies,

The phantom of the opera is one of the classics and does fit with it’s dramatic story and concept of undying love beautifully into your loved up day. It recently celebrated it’s 31st Birthday in the West End and has still not lost any of it’s charm, beauty and magic. The story is concerned with the entwined fortunes of an opera company and a ghostly phantom that haunts the show – seemingly determined to rid the production of its leading soprano and to supplant her with talented chorus girl Christine Daae.

Christine could become a star in her own right if she had the right training. Now she is actually being tutored by the Phantom who has fallen in love with her, only to see her old childhood sweetheart, Raoul, arrive on the scene and capture her heart.

 

PhantomLes Miserables is the second longest running play in the West End and with good reason. It cleverly weaves several interlocking stories and yet at the defining centre is the tale of Jean Valjean (prisoner 24601), the reformed criminal, previously convicted and sentenced for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread.

This stunning musical is set against the June Rebellion of the 1830’s and the Student Uprising in Paris. The absolute poverty and deplorable conditions suffered by the citizens of the city are witnessed through the eyes of such desperate souls as Fantine and of course Valjean, who is embarked on a heroic struggle for redemption and also to evade capture after he breaks the conditions of his parole.

Les Mis

If you want to dance the night away to upbeat music, so come and meet those dancing feet on 42nd Street.

Young Peggy Sawyer is fresh off the bus from small-town America and just another face in the chorus line on Broadway’s newest show. But when the leading lady gets injured, Peggy might just have the shot at stardom she’s always dreamed of…

42nd Street

Would you like to woo the love of your life with a play, these are a sure hit;

Lady Windermere’s Fan, is the second in the Vaudeville’s Oscar Wilde season. This romantic comedy is the perfect treat for Valentine’s, a great story and a cast to boost. A strictly limited run. You gave me this fan today; it was your birthday present. If that woman crosses my threshold, I shall strike her across the face with it.’ The day of Lady Windermere’s birthday party, and all is perfectly in order. Until her friend Lord Darlington plants a seed of suspicion. Is her husband having an affair? And will the other woman really attend the party?

LAdy

A classic, with a second run now in the West End. Girl From The North Country is set in 1934, and, in the midst of the Great Depression, a Duluth, Minnesota family sits on a knife edge, their future indeterminate. Lost and lonely people drift through the rooms of their guesthouse, as the future of the community teeters on a knife-edge. The owner of the guesthouse, Nick, owes more money than he can ever repay, his wife Elizabeth is losing her mind and their daughter Marianne is carrying a child no-one will account for. And, when a preacher selling bibles and a boxer looking for a comeback show up in the middle of the night, things start to spiral beyond the point of no return… But Nick thinks he’s seen a way out.

Girl North

If you want to cry laughing, then we have this one for you; The Play that Goes Wrong. Now in it’s 4th disastrous year. The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society has decided to perform a murder mystery play. However, it soon becomes apparent that the cast are incredibly hopeless as mishap follows mishap. The only thing being murdered here is the play they are valiantly trying to stage.

Everything that can go wrong, as the title of the comedy suggests, does go wrong. The show has been a resounding success wherever it as played and has left audiences in helpless fits of laughter.

Play That Goes WrongWe hope this gives you some ideas on what to do on that special night. These are our picks and there’s more where they came from. We can offer tickets to all major West End shows. So have a browse and if you’d like to talk to us in person, feel free to call us on 02070872920. Monday to Saturday. 10.00-19.00.

Happy Valentine’s Day.


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WELCOME BACK!


2018 has just started and we’re already in for a treat. After the holidays with all its glorious food and family traditions, granny snoring softly on the sofa and Uncle Kyle telling us what exactly is wrong with the world, the tube and our mum’s bread sauce. We’re finally ready to embrace the New Year.
Just like a family reunion at Christmas, this year will bring us back some gems into the west end, we’ve missed dearly.

First off is CHICAGO! That baby’s turning 21 this year and what a better way to celebrate this with a revival in the West End. The host this time is the Phoenix Theatre right in the heart of the West End. Pre-sales are already on and we cannot wait for it to start.

CHICAGO_DEC17_AMAZON_440x200px

After they dug their toes into Australia’s sandy beaches and got an eyeful of the beauty of Canada BAT OUT OF HELL is coming back to London. This Meatloaf and John Steinbeck love-child was years in the making and is now ready for its second run in the West End. This time, the Dominion Theatre will provide the perfect backdrop for this dark, fast paced Rock’n’Roll homage.

bat-out-of-hell-1

And like every family party, they all brought their better halves. If 2017 was the year of the plays, 2018 will carry on with this dynamic legacy.
Harold Pinter’s’ Birthday Party is going first and opening 9th Jan at the Harold Pinter Theatre. A star struck cast will help us transition into the New Year and it is going to be a blast. The setting of a rundown seaside boarding-house, a little birthday party is turned into a nightmare on the unexpected arrival of two sinister strangers. The play has been classified as a comedy of menace, characterised by Pinteresque elements such as ambiguous identity, confusions of time and place, and dark political symbolism.

38968_fullThe Vaudville is going straight on with its third play in their Oscar Wilde year, Lady Windermere’s Fan is opening on Friday (12th Jan) with a spectacular cast and just in time to beat that winter blues with some well-crafted dialogue and mean pointers. The story concerns Lady Windermere, who suspects that her husband is having an affair with another woman. She confronts him with it but although he denies it, he invites the other woman, Mrs Erlynne, to his wife’s birthday ball. Angered by her husband’s supposed unfaithfulness, Lady Windermere decides to leave her husband for another lover. After discovering what has transpired, Mrs Erlynne follows Lady Windermere and attempts to persuade her to return to her husband and in the course of this, Mrs Erlynne is discovered in a compromising position. The best-known line of the play sums up the central theme:
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
— Lord Darlington

lady-windermeres-fanJuliette Stevenson and Lia Williams are both back in the West End with another classic. After a sold out run at the Almeida, they are on for a limited run in the West End at the Duke of York’s Theatre. Mary Stuart by Friedrich Schiller, next to Goethe the most influential writer of the Weimar classicism, is bound to make our winter months unforgettable. Imagining the meeting of Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots during her imprisonment in the Tower. Watch those two powerful women circle each other in a tug of war that hasn’t yet met its match. Juliette Stevenson and Lia Williams are going to be spell bounding.

37127_fullWe’re in for a treat this year and this is just the beginning.
So go on, call us or check our website for more info on tickets.

Happy January.

 


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