At any one moment, up to a dozen or more musicals are running on London stages, mainly in the West End.
Even if your interests as a songwriter do not lie in the direction of the musical stage, seeing a live
performance of one of the top shows is an experience no songwriter should miss.

Although it is not always easy to obtain tickets at very short notice for the best-selling musicals,
agencies like Ticketmaster can often help when all fruit fails.

Prices range from £20 to £80 per seat, but tickets for several of the shows (although not usually hits
such as "Les Miserables" or "The Phantom"), can be obtained at half-price plus £2.00 booking fee,
on the day of the performance, from the Half-Price Ticket Office in Leicester Square.

That building is positioned in front of the red-bricked Radisson Hampshire Hotel (see picture above).

The queue forms around 10.30am (but the office is open until late afternoon), and once they open,
they service purchasers very speedily. If you want to see what shows are available for that day,
simply look at the black notive-boards in front of the booking office.

In mid-summer, the queue can be quite long, but if you turn up around 11am, you should be
the proud possessor of half-price tickets for that day's performance, by at latest, noon.

One word of warning - the charming gentlemen who wander up and down in front of the booth
offering tickets, do not necessarily have any connection with the Half-Price Booking Office.

Their tickets are (usually) genuine, but you may find yourself paying £50 to sit sixty rows
back, or else behind a large pillar!

Most of the theatres lie within easy walking distance of each other, and restaurants of all types, prices
and styles abound in Theatreland, so it is possible to dine out cheaply on the evening of your theatre visit.

Keep in mind that evening musicals start at 7.30pm, but very few of the main theatres are more than a ten-
minute stroll from Leicester Square anyway.

Remember, if you do not wish to overnight in London, then each of the musicals have one (or two) afternoon
shows each week, starting around 2.30pm in mid-week, and in some cases, as late as 5.30pm on weekends.

To know which shows offer afternoon performances, look up any local newspaper, or one of the theatre sites.

For an excellent update on what is happening - go to the

London Theatre Guide