We know summer’s the perfect time to get everyone together and enjoy a fantastic show in the West End. Though what is there to see?
Have you ever looked a bit further than Matilda, The Lion King or Aladdin? If not, we have the perfect guide for you to explore the many show London West End has to offer. This will bring a smile to your face and make your kids happy.
This is our list of fabulous summer treats for the whole family. WARNING! Spontaneous outbursts of joy and laughter might happen during reading.
(images: https://www.windinthewillowsthemusical.com/gallery)
LITTLE BEASTS are taking over The Other Palace theatre every Thursday, Friday and Saturday for July and August. The dark and imaginatively comic musical follows a selfish little girl who runs away from home and discovers a magical menagerie filled with animals that used to be children before their naughtiness brought them to untimely ends. When the menagerie’s menacing proprietor tasks her to choose one animal to set free, she must decide which one, if any, has learned its lesson. But things are not what they seem, and is any child truly naughty? Age recommendation 7+ yrs.
(image: www.theotherpalace.co.uk)
WHAT THE LADYBIRD HEARD lands this summer at the Lyric theatre. Two crafty robbers, one tiny ladybird, and a whole farmyard of fun! Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len have a cunning plan to steal the farmer’s fine prize cow. But they reckon without the tiniest, quietest creature of all: The Ladybird has a plan of her own!
With live music, puppetry, plenty of audience participation and lots of laughs! A glittering treat for all the family. Recommended 3+ yrs.
(images: Twitter @LiveLadybird)
The Garrick theatre has two fabulous show on this summer. Gangsta Granny and Horrible Histories. Both promise heaps of delicious fun for all ages.
GANGSTA GRANNY
Ben is bored beyond belief after he is made to stay at his grandma’s house. She’s the boringest grandma ever: all she wants to do is play Scrabble and eat cabbage soup. But there are two things Ben doesn’t know about his grandma.
1) She was once an international jewel thief.
2) All her life, she has been plotting to steal the Crown Jewels, and now she needs Ben’s help…
(images: google)
HORRIBLE HISTORIES : BARMY BRITAIN TWO
So it’s time to prepare yourselves for Horrible Histories live on stage with the all-new production of BARMY BRITAIN – PART TWO!
Can you beat battling Boudicca? Has William Wallace met his match? Can evil Elizabeth entertain England? Will King Charles keep his head? Would you stand and deliver to dastardly Dick Turpin? Escape the clutches of Burke and Hare and move to the groove with party Queen Victoria! Don’t miss this horrible history of Britain with the nasty bits left in!
After the sell-out success of Barmy Britain comes the return of BARMY BRITAIN – PART TWO for a special summer season!
Running time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Recommended age 6 to 106!
(images: google)
And for more grown-up kids, there are;
DISCO PIGS
Marking the 20th anniversary of its explosive British debut, Enda Walsh’s Disco Pigs comes to Trafalgar Studios starring Evanna Lynch and Colin Campbell. Born at the same time on the same day in the same hospital, Pig and Runt have been inseparable ever since. They speak in their own language, play by their own rules, and create a world for themselves in which boundaries blur between truth and illusion. Until, on their seventeenth birthday, they discover something more. As night falls, and the disco and drink take hold, they spiral violently out of control. As we follow these two extraordinary teenagers through the streets of Cork City, drinking and dancing their way into the night, we witness with startling clarity how the nature of friendship can be changed forever.
IMPORTANT INFO: stroking lights during the show. Age recommendation 14+yrs.
(image: google)
OUR LADIES OF PERPETUAL SUCCOUR
Its story takes us to Edinburgh and it is set over the course of one day. We are introduced to a group of six Catholic girls whose world has so far been confined to a small Scottish town. Now they find themselves in a large city and they go through all of the emotions that life can throw at them. It is a coming of age story about friendship that has captured imaginations and left audience members with smiles on their faces.
Along the way there are also musical numbers, many of which from the back catalogue of Electric Light Orchestra, but also pieces by Mendelssohn, Bach and Bob Marley.
IMPORTANT INFO: rude language, flashing lights, pyrotechnics, sexual references, excessive drinking, and extensive use of the smoke machine.
(images: google)
HALF A SIXPENCE
A fresh new perspective for an old classic. At the beginning of Half A Sixpence Arthur Kipps is an orphan who works a draining job and by the end of it he has been through many ups and downs as he is granted a major change that brings some big decisions.
An inheritance grants him a huge windfall and this new wealth brings him into contact with Helen Walsingham, who is providing him with a new look, whilst someone from his old life, Anna Pornick looks on.
A beautiful production and charming coming of age story who casts its magic over audience and cast alike. Not to be missed as it closes its doors September 2nd. Age recommendation: 8+ yrs 
(images: google)
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN
Another smash hit at the Garrick theatre this year. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN is opening its doors at the beginning of September. The story introduces us to New York City-dweller Frederick Frankenstein, a man often annoyed at people asking about his more famous grandfather Victor Von Frankenstein. But whilst he tries to escape this aspect of his family’s legacy he soon finds his life turned around by it as he inherits his grandfather’s Transylvania property and heads out to Europe to investigate. Soon he realises that he has a bigger passion for his grandfather’s work than he ever realised!
The parody horror musical also contains some memorable songs that range from He’s Loose to Transylvania Mania, which are certain to bring the house down.
Age recommendation: 16+ yrs.
(image: google)
Classic summer shows are also always a hit. Take THE LION KING, the story of Simba and his friends. Who overcome all obsticales to make him the true ruler of the jungle. Age recommendation: 3+ yrs.
ALADDIN. The story of love, friendship and a flying carpet. Agrabar is now in the heart of the West End. Beautiful songs, full of colours and a genius Genie. A recipe for success. Age recommendation: 3+yrs.
Both Disney productions enchant thousands of theatre goers every year around the globe.
As well as ANNIE. Miranda Hart stars as Ms Hannigan in the new production until September 17th. Annie with the heart of gold who in search for her lost parents encounters friendship and a new parent in a cold-hearted billionaire.
Age recommendation: 5+ yrs.
WICKED got two new witches this summer and it is still a joy to see. The two witches from The Wizard of Oz. In Wicked, we learn how these two characters came to be. One of them is Glinda, a beautiful and popular girl with high ambitions, whilst the other is Elphaba – cursed with pearl green skin, shunned by her classmates and full of intelligence. Pretty soon their relationship develops into a bitter playground rivalry, one that will mirror the battle between the two later in their lives as they both grow up to become figures we recognise from Dorothy’s adventure – Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West. Age recommendation: 7+, under 5 year-olds will not be permitted.
MATILDA tells the story of the title character – a girl that has been bestowed with extraordinary intellect from an early age. Having read all of the books in her house before the age of 5 she proceeds to the local library and reads all the children’s books there, before moving on to school where her intellect continues to give her advantages and disadvantages. Then she happens upon another gift – psychokinetic powers – which she is able to use to punish all of those that deserve it. Age recommendation: 6+yrs. Under 6 year-olds will not be permitted.
You can book really easy with on our website or by calling us on 02070872920 (10.00am-7.00pm). Why not try our new ‘book now’ feature button on our facebook page. www.facebook.com/theatrebookings.com
The 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:
Juliette 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.
We’re in for a treat this year and this is just the beginning.
