London Theatreland on a budget

Getting a steal for Grease. Photo Credit: Katharina Kruppa

London is famous not only for Tower Bridge or Oxford Street, but also for its theatreland. In the West End, dazzling shows indulge visitors seven days a week and it is home to one of the world‘s greatest composers, Andrew Lloyd Webber. It was here that many musicals we know today had their debuts, for example Les Misérables at the Palace Theatre or The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty‘s Theatre. Many West End shows are a must-see.

On a student budget, paying for full price tickets is an impossible task but there are a few ways to find cheap tickets.

Box office

The first show in the West End to use a ticket lottery is Legally Blonde. If you arrive two hours before the show at the Box Office, you can take part in the lottery. If your name is drawn, you get the best available seats for £25 each. Before each performance, seven pairs of tickets are drawn, so the chances are not too bad.

Wicked releases 24 front row Stalls seats every morning at 10 am for £25. Anyone can buy up to two tickets on a first come, first serve basis. They also offer student tickets on the day of the performance at the Box Office, also for £25. The tickets are released together with the front row day seats and you need a student ID in order to claim your seat.

Online

Legally blode is the first show to use a theatre lottery. Photo: Kathrine Anker

The website Studentbeans offers great deals on musical tickets. You can register for free to access the site featuring different offers. The deals vary daily, but if you watch out, you might get lucky. For example, they sell Legally Blonde stalls seats for Thursday matinees for £28.50. They also have We Will Rock You tickets from £28.75 and several other shows starting at £32.50, such as Thriller, Grease and Phantom of the Opera.

The International Student House also offers tickets at a reduced price for its theatre club.

They have a very limited amount of tickets available and visit one show per month.

You can also sign up with the Hot Tickets newsletter. It is run by aka promotions, a marketing agency that covers all major shows in the West End. Via their mailing list, they sometimes offer great theatre deals.

Leicester Square

The ticket booth on the South side of Leicester Square sells daily show tickets. However, the offers do not often include high-profile shows where ticket demand is high. Still, it‘s worth checking out if you are in the area anyways.
There are several ticket shops around Leicester Square offering seemingly cheap show tickets; mostly, these offers do not beat the prices you can get on ticket websites when you book in advance.

Vouchers

Some newspapers have two-for-one show vouchers in them on an irregular basis.

You can also grab some two-for-one vouchers at the musical shop Dresscircle (59 Goodge St) in Covent Garden. Most of the time they have so-called show pair vouchers in stock. If you call the number on the voucher (020 7907 7077), you will get two tickets for the price of one. Currently the offer is available for Grease (£55 until 30 April).

Back-Row Seats

Many theatres offer seats in the back rows pretty cheaply. Les Misérables offers tickets in the Upper Circle for £15 or £20, Oliver for £17.50 or £25 and Chicago for £25. Most of the seats are restricted view.