London West End Plays
Theatreland – Discover Entertainment at the West End!
Theatrical tradition in Britain was introduced by Romans. During the medieval period, Mystery plays and Miracle plays were the two popular forms and both are solely focused on Biblical stories and legends on saints. This medieval theatrical tradition was stretched from 10th century to 16th century reaching the height of popularity in the 15th century. After 16th century the medieval theatrical tradition was marred by the rise of professional theatres.
During the reign of Elizabeth I, British theatres had seen a great revolution with revelation of playwrights like Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and John Webster. Since then British theatres have been changed a lot. British Theatrical Tradition has not been overshadowed under the growing influence of movie and television shows. This has been evident from the growing popularity of big late Victorian or Edwardian architecturally made theatre buildings and crowded evening roads at London’s main theatre district (located in the heart of the West End of the city centre.)Theatre lovers from all over the world are largely influenced by some of these largest and best maintained theatres.
Most of the theatres in West End run show for several weeks, although show running mostly depends on the popularity of the show and ticket selling. As per the tradition it has been found that musicals tend to have longer runs than dramas. Les Miserables is the longest ever running musicals in the West End history till date. “It overtook Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats, which closed in 2002 after running for 8,949 performances and 21 years, as the longest running West End musical of all time on 8 October 2006. Other long-runners include Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, still running after 21 years, and Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers, currently in its 20th year. However the non-musical Agatha Christie play The Mousetrap is the longest running show in the world, and has been showing since 1952 (Courtesy: WikiPedia.org).” All the theatres in West Land are privately owned and they are considered as highly commercial theatres.
Theatre tourism policy has been a boom for West End London’s economic growth. Tourists from various parts of the worldly largely visit West End London just to have a feel of entertainment in theatres. Both theatre entertainment industry and tourism sector in West End London has created several opportunities for both locals as well as tourists to make the most out of West End London. For tourists although the name would suggest that the West End includes absolutely all of west London, it is actually a quite specific district lying to the west of The City. In its true definition, the area is quite small stretching from Tottenham Court Road in the east to Park Lane in the west.
Notes for Readers:
Of the 40 commercial theatres in London’s West End, 30 are in Westminster and the remainder are in Camden. Overall the theatres contribute £1.5billion a year to London’s economy and more than half of all overseas visitors cite the prospect of going to the theatre as one of the deciding factors in coming to London.
Westminster City Council launched the Theatreland Initiative in 2005 to strengthen the identity of the theatre district.
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Chicago The Musical West End Live 2010 on Stage in Leicester Square London
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Zach Braff “All New People” Play Flyer! West End, London, Duke of York’s, 2012! $1.56 |
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London Palladium programme for Photo Mugs London Palladium programme for London Rhapsody. A George Black production. Cover illustration with statue of Eros….. |
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Chess in Concert $12.69 Josh Groban, Idina Menzel, and Adam Pascal take the stage of London’s Royal Albert Hall for this concert version of “Chess,” the acclaimed musical by lyricist Tim Rice and composers Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. A score that includes “Where I Want to Be,” “One Night in Bangkok,” and “I Know Him So Well” tells the story of a Cold War showdown between American and Soviet chess players who becom… |
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Billy Elliot: The Musical (Original Cast Recording) $10.07 Original Cast UPC: Description: |
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Les Miserables – The Dream Cast in Concert $27.95 The 10th anniversary concert video of the international musical sensation Les Misérables might be the best thing to appease fans until a full-fledged movie comes along. Or it might be even better, as feature films are often subject to extramusical casting considerations and this 1995 dream cast is superb. Reprising their roles from the original London company are Colm Wilkinson (Valjean), M… |
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Monster Of London City $2.99 … |
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Photo Jigsaw Puzzle of London Palladium programme for from Lebrecht Music a Arts Photo Library $24.99 Photo Puzzle, London Palladium programme for. London Palladium programme for London Rhapsody. A George Black production. Cover illustration with statue of Eros. Chosen by Lebrecht Music a Arts Photo Library. 10×14 Photo Puzzle with 252 pieces. Packed in black cardboard box of dimensions 5 5/8 x 7 5/8 x 1 1/5. Puzzle image 5×7 affixed to box top. Puzzle pieces printed on RA4 paper at 300 dpi. This … |
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The Blue Fence $3.25 Danny Ballard was a child music prodigy. Her father was London’s most notorious gangster. Now she plays cocktail piano in a West End nightclub, where a chance encounter entangles her in a criminal conspiracy linked to the Olympic Park for the 2012 Games. Murder, corruption, and the International drugs trade. Danny is forced to confront her half-buried past as well as the lethal dangers of the pres… |
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West End Women: Women and the London Stage 1918 – 1962 (Gender in Performance) $1.49 Maggie Gale’s West End Women uncovers groundbreaking material about women playwrights and the staging of their performances between the years 1918 and 1962. It documents a dynamic era of social and theatrical history, analysing the transformations that occurred in the theatre and the lives of British women in relation to specific plays of the period. Focusing on the work of playwrights such as Dod… |
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The Making of the West End Stage: Marriage, Management and the Mapping of Gender in London, 1830-1870 $75.84 All roads lead to London – and to the West End theater. This book presents a new history of the beginnings of the modern world of London entertainment. Putting female-centered, gender-challenging managements and styles at the center, it redraws the map of performance history in the Victorian capital of the world. Bratton argues for the importance in Victorian culture of venues like the little Stra… |
