8 West End Shows in a Flash: Our Theatrical Adventure in London
I love a well-executed musical, even more than concerts because there's a story. But finding a musical with catchy tunes and non-repeating lyrics is hard.
I'm a person who gets easily get bored, especially when the lyrics don't tell a story and someone is just reiterating their feelings, or dancing around.
I think non-musical shows have a greater chance of being successful, because they only have the storyboard and script to work on.
So my preference goes like this:
- Well-executed non-repeating musical with catchy tunes
- Non-musical theatrical plays
- The rest
From the top of my head, there are only 2 parts of the world with a brimming broadway scene - West End in London and New York.
I was lucky to finally visit one of them!
What I watched and what I thought of them
The theaters are all clumped together around Trafalgar Square and the shows go on for months and years, some even decades. That means they get to decorate the external view of the theatre, and sometimes even find the theatre if you just type the play's name on Google Maps.
Welcome to the West End, I watched 8 shows in the span of 21 days without disappointing my wallet. A lot of the box offices drop the prices on the day of the show, it was exciting to find some great deals at 30-50% off the original price.
Here are the shows I watched from least good to best:
#8 Moulin Rouge
This is probably going to be a very unpopular opinion as a lot of people in the audience loved it and was singing along. Even if you do a quick search online for reviews, everyone loved it so my expectations were high.
I've watched the movie so I was looking forward to hearing the songs in theatrical format.
When we got there, you get hyped up because the curtain was up and the extras were already in their characters. The costumes and set were amazing.
The program started. The cast performed some dances as if you were at the Moulin Rouge yourself.
After a few songs, the story started... then suddenly they were using mash ups of modern songs, which I'm not a fan of because again, I was expecting the story narrated using the lyrics.
Singing songs unrelated that don't narrate the plot and random dancing bores me.
But most people like these... it's like watching Glee. So if you're okay with something like Glee, there's still a high chance you would enjoy this.
#7 Kathy & Stella Solve a Murder
One of the new kids on the block, and it's a comedic musical about 2 girls hosting a true crime podcast.
UK is apparently big on murder mysteries (see my #2) because it all started here, then continued with stories like Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes.
Personally, not much catchy tunes .. yet! And the mystery is not as satisfying as the legit murder mystery stories. So if you're here to solve something, this is not the show.
Still, it's very light, fun to watch and is worth a few laughs.
At the end of the show, we got into a Q&A with the writers and as someone who aspires to write my own musical someday, I felt lucky to have seen a sneak peak into the writing process. Apparently, those that make it to the West End starts from the fringes, and there are a lot more "startups" and trial runs outside of it.
Some day when I go back and run out of mainstream ones, I'll look for these shows that are less popular.
#6 Hadestown
Hadestown is based on the Greek mythical love story of Orpheus and Eurydice, which I still remember 20 years later after school, because of how I felt after reading that story.
So I had high hopes for this, but the lead actor's Irish accent is heavy and sometimes I cannot understand what he's saying.
There's only 1 catchy tune for me, which was their debut - "Wait for Me", you can watch previews of this song on Youtube. It grew on me, after watching the show and researching more about the music. But during the show, I didn't notice it that much.
I feel like there's still a lot of things that can be improved in this musical such as the tunes of the other songs, to make them catchier..
The main song that represents light and hope, could also be better because I didn't felt it.
The set is also a bit static.. and the effects can be better, personally. Or maybe it was really just the tunes that need tweaking.
I feel like the musical can do so much more to make you feel the impact of Orpheus losing Eurydice.
After watching this, I felt like watching Wicked to remind me of what a really good musical feels and sound like. It's still miles away from that caliber.
#5 Witness for the Prosecution (non-musical)
I'm not sure if it was the crappy seats that we got (we got the cheapest seats with 1/2 of the view restricted), or if we analyzed too many murder mysteries and found some repeating patterns.
What's cool about this is that it was set in an actual court room (the government must be getting a lot of rental income with this?). And they're always sold out on the day, so unlike the other shows we watched, I had to book this in advance.
They were selling the 12 jury seats as well, which you'll be briefly part of the set (standing up, sitting down, writing on paper). One of them even gets a blurt out a line (Guilty / not guilty!).
If I was there I imagine myself preparing a paragraph to say to surprise everyone and maybe make some people laugh.. or perhaps I won't do it in reality.
Anyways, the play was written by Agatha Christie in the 1900s and she's an expert with murder mysteries, even wrote Murder on the Orient Express.
As with other murder mysteries, the plot will keep you guessing, and even though I did analyze a lot of other stories I still wasn't able to guess this outcome.
With its unique court room setting, a well-written story and watching it in its home country, it's definitely worth a watch!
And maybe, don't get the super restricted seats.
#4 Book of Mormon
Even though it was my first time seeing this, the tunes were catchy enough and there were a lot of things going on.
It's about religion (and its tendency to be a cult?) but in a comedic musical way.
It was very funny too, somewhat philosophical and smartly written. I can see how this could go on for years to come.
#3 Les Miserables
Les Miserables exceeded my expectations. The only reference I had was the movie, which I found to be sad and depressing.
The melodies were catchy, the main songs were executed well, and the narrative was well integrated with the songs so I was not bored at all and the feelings conveyed by the songs match the scenes very well. I even cried at the end.
The acting and singing of the actors were amazing and they sang all the songs perfectly. Sometimes I wonder if they're pre-recorded..
The main actors were also likeable and perfectly casted, which I couldn't say the same for the other musicals.
Apart from the known catchy tunes, the sets were very elaborate and I felt like I was transported every time. There were so many set changes that I keep wondering how do they keep all of them away from the stage. In terms of the set, I'd say this one had the best one, even better than Wicked's.
The story was more expanded than the movie as well, and just like the movie, I still felt sad right after.. amazed! but sad..
I could watch it again, in the future, when I forget the story line again.
#2 The Mousetrap (non-musical)
One of the longest running shows in the West End (been running since 1952) so it must be good! It's one of the first murder mystery, written by Agatha Christie so there's some historical aspect to it as well.
At the end of the show they tell you not to spoil anyone of the answer so I will keep this brief.
Although the set is the same the whole time, the cast was very entertaining so I didn't notice it. They talk fast and it's full of dialogue (which I like).
Being an old story, I wasn't expecting that much but I still got surprised in the end. It was also light and comedic. I recommend it to anyone visiting the UK!
#1 Wicked
I watched a lot of musicals in the hopes of finding a better musical than Wicked, but it's still the best for me.
If you haven't seen it, and you hate musicals, it's still worth a shot. Because maybe our criteria might be the same - too much singing and dancing, not much happening.
Why you should watch Wicked:
- Almost all the songs are catchy
- The UK cast, especially the main actresses are perfectly casted
- The emotion of the main songs greatly exceeds what it's trying to convey, unlike the other musicals we've watched (and this is very hard to achieve)
- The story itself is like a prelude to the Wizard of Oz, so you get a glimpse into the origin of the characters like the Tin Man, Scarecrow, etc. But if you don't know any of these, it's also fine
- The story is also a bit modern, given that the book was written only in 1995 (but if you really really like Phantom of the Opera because it's old...)
- But the best of all, I've never felt my heart open as much as it did while watching Defying Gravity being performed. Goosebumps everywhere!
Other shows I have yet to watch
I skipped Harry Potter and the Cursed Child because it had 2 parts and you need the whole day (6 hours) to watch it. I just bought the book for now, just to be sure.
I also heard the Lion King was really good, some even said it was better than Wicked? But since I'd like to see a new story, I skipped it too. A lot of people said Moulin Rouge was good and I still didn't like it.
Overall, I feel like I saved a lot of money watching shows in London because there were so many good seats at a good price. You can get them on a discount if you buy the same day!
Unlike with watching a play who's on tour in your home country, the good seats are always sold out and they hardly give out discounts.