r/TheWestEnd

Went to the Hamilton matinee recently and the show itself was brilliant, but some of the audience completely ruined parts of the experience.

The people behind us talked through huge chunks of the performance. Not whispering the odd comment here and there, but full-on conversations while people were trying to watch. It's baffling that people will spend that much on theatre tickets and then behave like they're watching TV in their living room.

The icing on the cake was a group of American ladies nearby who seemed determined to provide their own running commentary. Every few minutes it was, "Well that's not historically accurate," followed by complaints about how expensive everything was—the drinks, the programmes, the merch... pretty much everything. We get it, theatre isn't cheap, but did we really need to hear about it throughout the show?

I know Hamilton takes artistic licence. That's hardly a secret and it's not pretending to be a documentary. If historical accuracy is your biggest concern, maybe a musical isn't the place to nitpick every scene while everyone else is trying to enjoy it.

Maybe it's because it was a matinee and people felt more relaxed, but the lack of basic theatre etiquette was really disappointing. Is this becoming more common, or was I just unlucky? I can't imagine paying that much for a ticket only to spend the afternoon chatting over the performers.

I haven’t seen a post yet so wanted to create one to solicit thoughts from people that have seen Hamilton 7/3 or 7/4. I’m planning on going later this month but curious from people that have already went if they enjoyed it?

Hi everyone, i have two tickets to Hamilton in July, and my sister and I are travelling the evening the day before the show. Post around here is notoriously bad government letters have a long time to post), and i noticed on the DMT membership site (where i bought the tickets), it said they would be delivered the previous day. I have also changed addresses since I claimed them. To those who have already been through using dmt tickets for Hamilton (or just those that figure they might know), would booking confirmation and id be confirmation just in case? I am really stressing about this so any advice would be appreciated, thank you and have a lovely day :)

Has she appeared at all in the past few weeks? No shade to Tate but it seems like seriously false advertising for the theatre to continue marketing her while still offering no refunds.

I’m watching the pro shot they did of the Barbican production on bbc Iplayer starring Stephanie J Block and Adrian Dunbar. I don’t know if it’s just me but I’m struggling with it cause I’m finding the acting in the cast really weak.

I feel like Stephanie J Block and Adrian Dunbar, have very little chemistry. The punch lines and the comedic beats are really not landing. And honestly I think it’s Adrian Dunbar.

Because Stephanie J Block is an INCREDIBLE actress and that’s very clear here she is acting the songs and making character choices in the dialogue. Her experience is clear. and oh her own or in other scenes she SHINES. But it feels like Adrian Dunbar is just singing the songs and going through the motion. It doesn’t feel like an equal match of sparring partners which is central to the show. She is EATING him alive. Even in his own songs it doesn’t work. You can feel the ensemble really trying to pull him to their energy. He’s really miscast.

And it really really hurts me to say this as a woman of colour about another Georgina Onuorah as Lois is not fantastic. Again the vocals are strong but there’s little chemistry with Charlie Stemp. It doesn’t look like she’s listening or reacting you can see shots of her just standing looking at what’s happening blankly.

and the ensemble is hit and miss.

And I’m someone who’s not particularly precious about Kiss Me Kate it’s not one of my favourite shows or anything but the lack of energy and lack of chemistry it’s so glaringly obvious, I’m shocked it wasn’t spoken of more.

Especially having recently seen High Society, another Cole Porter show at the Barbican recently and the difference is night and day. All the cast is are on it, all the punchlines land the chemistry is there with everyone. Helen George has BRILLIANT chemistry with Julian Ovenden they truly shine as the two leads.

does anyone else who’s watched the pro shot or saw it live agree?

I am so sad that I won’t be able to see Simon stone’s version of the orestia because I live nowhere near London. for people that have seen it-what do we think? I know it’s in previews right now but I’m impatiently waiting for reviews and need to know what it’s like

Having adored Arcadia at The Old Vic in March, I saw it at the Duke of York's last week. I didn't really notice any difference, but it made me wonder how you decide a home for a production, especially for a West End transfer?

I don't know if this is the right sub, but I had a question :

I saw "Cabaret" on the West End on the seventh of August 2025.

The performer playing Sally Bowles was an understudy who was INCREDIBLE and moved me from start to finish.

So I was wondering if anyone knows who that actress is because I can't find anything

If anyone was there that night or knows of to find this, I'd be very happy (because JESUS CHRIST was she phenomenal)

Thank you !!

Hello!

In town visiting for the week from California (staying with friends, but aim to go solo or with a fellow theatre lover) and would love to check out a show or two at West End. What’s something unique or local you’d recommend to see?

Love musicals and theatre, so anything goes. Give me bold, give me hauntingly beautiful, give me audacious.

I love Hamilton, Hadestown, Book of Mormon, Maybe Happy Ending to give an idea, but would also love to see other things that are a little less known/ available outside of London.

Thanks for any recs!

I thought the play was kind of non-sensical and anticlimactic but setting that aside, how is the reveal of the actress a surprise or spoiler? It has nothing to do with the plot or story. It has no bearing on the mystery. Is it supposed to show the voices are all in his head or something complicated like that? And if it is, what in the play would lead to that - the reveal was staged in a very meta way, entirely to highlight the actress, and she even goes and hugs Russell seemingly out of character. So please ELI5 if I’m dumb.

I also didn’t think she did a very convincing little girl but that’s neither here nor there.

On wednesday this week I've booked to see both cabaret matinee and ride the cylone evening performances, I'm going with different people and have never seen either. Does anyone have any advice/recommendations of what to do before and after the matinee to make sure I'm ready for the full day. Thank you to anyone who takes the time to reply!

In a few weeks I'm going to London and I've booked the following west end shows:

Hamilton on Tuesday

Phantom of the Opera om Wednesday afternoon

War Horse on Wednesday night

The Play That Goes Wrong on Thursday

Les Misérables on Friday

What do you think, is this too much, or easily doable?

Late to booking a musical for our trip to London in about 3 weeks. Would like to take our 5 year old daughter to a musical, thinking Lion King since Paddington is sold out. Or is Totoro better?

What seats would be good if we pick Lion King? It seems like people recommend the stalls and we would go for aisle -- but is that too immersive for the potentially scary parts?

Long pause middle of first act. We had no clue why until they said it was an unwell actor who is being swapped out. Really unfortunate. Hope she’s well and the show finds its momentum back. The opening was superb.

Hi, I’m going to London at the end of July and will go see Hamilton, but they will send me the tickets only the day before and I will already be in London.
My tickets are print at home tickets and I don’t feel safe printing them anywhere else than the theatre, in case someone copies my tickets and use them.
Do you know if the Victoria Palace Theatre will accept to print my print-at-home tickets?
I’m a bit stressed out because of this, for all the other shows I bought I have the tickets with QR Code but these ones they specifically say on my email that I will receive print-at-home tickets 24 hours before the show…
Thanks a lot in avance for anyone that lived this situation or knows how I can deal with that.

Hello, did anyone see Hamilton last night and could say if they did ID checks or not? Friend has a ticket she could give me as she can't make it but I don't want to travel just to not get in. Thanks so much

Hi all,

International musical theatre fan visiting London for the next several weeks, and I like to collect the poster for every show I see. I tried just buying them online to save myself the hassle, but they are not shipping to the US at the moment. So, does anyone know how easy it is to roll up the posters for shipping?

Just got out of the matinee and she was lead. She was amazing throughout. One of the best acting performances I’ve seen live in a very long time.

Audience was fully into it, despite not being sold out (I scored last minute discount seats).

Glad I saw her performance.

As the title says, I'm a frequent, London based theatregoer. I've seen most everything in the west end that I've got any interest in seeing (or I've got plans to see it already), I'm looking for anything a bit different. I like fringe theatres and I usually try to catch new musicals or one off concerts in west end venues, but I can't seem to find many of those around at the moment.

I've recently seen and enjoyed: 'Are you watching?', 'Slaughterhouse Five', 'Driftwood', I also saw 'Care' but didn't feel too strongly about it either way. I like most things I watch but I wasn't crazy about 'Manic street creature', 'Equus', or 'Flyby'.

I'm a bit curious about 'Dark of the moon', unsure if it's worth the time. If anyone has any recommendations, please do share!!