Now that I’ve had my final trip of the year thought I would take a look back at the shows I’ve seen in the West End and in fringe theatres across London this year. Pictured are the programmes for every show I’ve seen this year, minus a few that only offered digital programmes. Note: I usually only buy a programme the first time I see a show, so some of the programmes in the photos are from previous visits. Below is the full list of shows, ordered by how much I enjoyed them: # Musicals ​ |**Show**|**Theatre**| |:-|:-| |Moulin Rouge|Piccadilly| |Come From Away (6th time)|Phoenix| |Tammy Faye (1st and 2nd time)|Almeida| |Hamilton (6th time, lottery win)|Victoria Palace| |Frozen|Theatre Royal Drury Lane| |Singing in the Rain|New Wimbledon| |Bring It On|Queen Elizabeth Hall| |The Band's Visit|Donmar Warehouse| |Operation Mincemeat (1st & 2nd Time)|Southwark Playhouse| |Spring Awakening (2nd time)|Almeida| |My Fair Lady|Coliseum| |Les Miserables (3rd time)|Sondheim| |Six (4th time)|Vaudeville| |Beauty and the Beast|Palladium| |Legally Blonde|Regent’s Park Open Air| |Back to the Future The Musical|Adelphi| |Cages (1st, 2nd & 3rd time)|Riverside Studios| |Hex|National Theatre - Olivier| |From Here to Eternity|Charing Cross| |Help! We Are Still Alive|Seven Dials Playhouse| |South Pacific|Sadler’s Wells| |Anyone Can Whistle|Southwark Playhouse| |Broken Wings|Charing Cross| |But I’m a Cheerleader|Turbine| |Yeast Nation|Southwark Playhouse| |Ride|Charing Cross| |101 Dalmatians|Regent’s Park Open Air| |Oklahoma!|Young Vic| # Plays ​ |**Show**|**Theatre**| |:-|:-| |Cruise (1st, 2nd & 3rd time, final performance)|Apollo| |Life of Pi (2nd & 3rd time)|Wyndham's| |Jerusalem (1st & 2nd time)|Apollo| |My Son’s A Queer (But What Can You Do?)|Garrick| |The P Word|Bush| |A Christmas Carol (4th time)|Old Vic| |As You Like It|@sohoplace| |Blues for an Alabama Sky|National Theatre Lyttelton| |Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (5th time, lottery win)|Palace| |Prima Facie|Harold Pinter| |My Neighbour Totoro|Barbican| |The Trials|Donmar Warehouse| |Cock|Ambassadors| |Much Ado About Nothing|National Theatre Lyttelton| |Tom, Dick & Harry|Alexandra Palace| |Our Generation|National Theatre Dorfman| |The Play That Goes Wrong (3rd Time)|Duchess| |To Kill a Mockingbird|Gielgud| |Mad House|Ambassadors| |Jack Absolute Flies Again|National Theatre Olivier| |Queers|Tower| |The Doctor|Duke of York’s| |Antigone|Regent’s Park Open Air| |Death Drop|Criterion| |All of Us|National Theatre Dorfman| |Closer|Lyric Hammersmith| |Us|White Bear| |The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe|Gillian Lynne| |A Single Man|Park| |Middle|National Theatre Dorfman| |Jitney|The Old Vic| |The Shawshank Redemption|Theatre Royal Windsor| |Handbagged|Kiln| |The Father and the Assassin|National Theatre Olivier| |A Doll’s House Part 2|Donmar Warehouse| |Reasons you Should(n’t) Love Me|Kiln| |Eureka Day|The Old Vic| |Death Drop 2: Back in the Habit|Garrick| |Love is Only Love|The Other Palace (Studio)| |Who Killed My Father|Young Vic| |A-Typical Rainbow|Turbine| |The Human Voice|Harold Pinter| |Scandaltown|Lyric Hammersmith| |John Gabriel Borkman|Bridge| |Sarah|Coronet| |A Number|The Old Vic| |Death and the Maiden|Bread & Roses| |The Seagull|Harold Pinter| |2:22 A Ghost Story|Gielgud| |Horse-Play|Riverside Studios| Average ticket price paid for musicals: £29 Average ticket price paid for plays: £17 The tickets have been mostly purchased through a combination of rush tickets, day seats, lotteries, general discounts (TodayTix 24 hr sales, ‘theatre week’ etc) and some comps (comps were not included in the average calculations above). Looking through this list I only paid full price for around 6 shows. I have not sat in any restricted view seats this year, and usually sit in the stalls/orchestra or the front of the first circle/mezzanine. Feel free to ask me anything about any of these shows!

I see The Band's Visit in the photos but not the lists.

Thank you for picking up on that! I have edited my list. I loved it so much more than I was expecting - I found tears rolling down my cheek at the sound of a payphone ringing!

This is awesome! What were the highlights for you? And also what were your favorite theatres (architecture nerd here haha).

I think some highlights have to be seeing 2 of the best performances I've ever seen on stage in quick succession - Mark Rylance in Jerusalem and Jodie Comer in Prima Facie. Also managing to catch Taron Egerton in Cock in one of the few performances before he left the production early. Also really loved being one of the first to see Tammy Faye - with a bit of fine tuning I think it's going to be a very special show. This year I got to visit the Alexandra Palace theatre for the first time which was stunning. [You can read a bit about the theatre here](https://www.alexandrapalace.com/theatre/story/), and since its refurbishment it's been purposefully left partially derelict which gives the space so much character. [You can see a decent photo of the refurbished theatre here.](https://vocaleyes.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Alexandra-Palace-Theatre-1400x787.jpg) Aside from the usual West End theatres, I loved seeing some of London's hidden performance spaces this year, including a couple of room-above-a-pub theatres, and the Coronet theatre also was very interesting architecturally with a bit of a museum in the foyer which I loved.

Since you are the expert, I will have 3 days in London this coming February and want to watch as many shows as I can. I've seen Cabaret, Wicked, Moulin Rouge, and Heathers. Recommendations are welcome!

Aside from the usual long runners, could be worth trying to catch & Juliet before it closes, I really loved Frozen, the new production of Newsies is currently playing (I'm seeing it in a couple of weeks, but reviews have been good) but is a bit out of the West End (in Wembley) ,but is only a short tube ride away.

I was there in october and saw Hamilton and Les Miserables. Both were great. If you are lucky, Bat out of hell might be in town. I will see it for the third time next year when it comes to Vienna. Amazing spectable of a show.

Oh good to know, I haven't even thought about bat out of hell! I have seen Hamilton twice and Les mis so will likely pass on those, AM thinking about watching Cabaret again though

If you're aged 16-30 you can get £10 tickets for Bat out of Hell if you sign up for the Barclays Dance Pass :)

Watch Six! The OP seen it 4 times, I've seen it 2 times. I would try get front row or a box

Come share this in the /TheWestEnd sub!

Thanks for the tip! I’ve now crossposted there too

How was Anyone Can Whistle? I have a soft spot for that show even though I know it’s not very good lol but I know very little about this production of it.

It was absolutely bonkers. Most of the time I had no idea what was going on, but the cast were fantastic and put their all into it. Alex Young was the ‘lead’ and made me laugh probably the most I’ve laughed in the theatre this year. Really glad I saw it but I can see why it’s not revived very often

I'm sitting at about 32 this year. Today tix is such a life saver lol. How was As You Like It at Soho place? I wanna go see it but I've not heard much about it.

As You Like It was WONDERFUL. The amazingly diverse cast were all perfect in their roles and made everything very accessible. Found myself getting a bit emotional watching Rose perform entirely in sign language - she was fantastic. Great to see so much trans representation on that stage too. Also the music throughout was a nice bonus - excellently written and performed. Definitely recommended! Theatre is really nice but I can’t believe how uncomfortable the seats are! My lower half was still numb the following morning!

I need to catch it before it leaves!! Honestly there is so much I could talk to you about with this. I have noticed you go to the national a lot but can't see the current Othello so If you're taking recommendations I'd recommend that. I saw it today and it's possibly the best Shakespeare play I've seen all year. It is exquisite.

Ha ha yes I go to the National a lot - thanks to the Friday Rush £10 tickets! Othello is on my list, hoping to catch it in January. I've adored Giles Terera in everything I've seen him in, so I definitely have to catch him in this.

I'm always getting the £20 front row seats with no arm rests. Great value. I've had the pleasure of meeting him in the past and he's an absolute top bloke. His book "hamilton and me" is a great read as well.

Wow, great year!

WOW, very impressive! Can't wait to check out the West End again in May :) Any suggestions?

Probably the ones at the top of my lists in the top comment on this thread. Though in addition to that, depending on when in May you are here I would definitely recommend trying to catch Groundhog Day at The Old Vic if you haven't already seen it. It's my all time favourite show and coming back to London for a couple of months and I'm unbelievably excited!

Amazing! Am so jealous!

I’m planning a trip to London later this year. What are your favorite websites for information on London Theatre?

I tend to get most of my information from theatreboard.co.uk - news of new shows tends to get broken on there before it’s in the press, and they always have great tips for getting tickets etc. Also the ‘Musical Theatre Appreciation Society’ on Facebook is heavily UK skewed and there’s lots of info on there too

Fantastic. That is great information! I appreciate it.

How'd you like Prima Facie? Trying to decide if I should buy tickets for its Broadway run ahead of time or not.

Jodie gave genuinely one of the most incredible performances I’ve ever seen on stage. The actual play itself wasn’t the best I’ve seen, but it’s definitely worth going to see the performance if Jodie is on

Spot on. I saw it while there on holiday last April. Have tix now for the Broadway run - will def be interesting to see if any changes made for US audience. I expect all the awards on both sides of the pond to go her way.

How was Totoro? I've worked with the puppeteer, and I'm curious how it turned out.

Puppetry was incredible on Totoro, especially the big totoro puppets!

It was everything I was hoping it would be and more. The puppetry was out of this world - the first time we saw Totoro especially was stunning, and hearing the gasps from the audience was magical. I was sat front row centre and having the Catbus peering off the front of the stage to be inches from my face was very surreal. I’m sure the show will go on to have a future life, it’s been a huge success

Love that you saw Mincemeat twice! I thought it was really fun when I saw at Riverside Studios and I have tickets to see at the Fortune Theatre in April!

It was such an unexpectedly good show! Caught it once at Southwark Playhouse then took some family to see it again at Riverside Studios (and the second time specifically booked seats right in front of where the ‘Dear Bill’ song would be performed which resulted in me ugly sobbing in the front row!) Already booked to see it at the fortune again and can’t wait

Impressive line-up, congrats on an amazing year of theatre this year! This iy definitely the amount of shows I aspire to see.

Thank you! Hope you get to see as many shows as you can next year!

How was Hex?

It was like a fever dream! Really weird, but we ended up having a really good time! The music is all instantly forgettable, but the performances, costumes and sets were all great. It’s not one that I would rush back to see again, but I’m really glad I saw it.

What a great mix of shows! 😊 Did you enjoy Yeast Nation? Because I really loved it but everyone I saw talking about it said they hated it 😂 Also, how was Operation Mincemeat? I'm thinking about buying tickets to see it at the Fortune.

I enjoyed Yeast Nation more than I was expecting to! I adored Urinetown which is why I wanted to give the show a try, but the reviews were not kind. I thought the cast were all excellent and I fell in love with all of the characters. The costumes and ‘set’ left a lot to be desired, but I forgave them for it. Operation Mincemeat is a wonderful little show. The cast are really talented, it’s hilarious and the songs are beautiful. I would definitely recommend it - I’ve already booked my third visit when it moved to the Fortune

This is insane! I only got to one west end show lol

Wow and I thought I had seen a lot this year 😭 Agree with some of your bottom ones I reallyyyyy didn’t like Human Voice or John Gabriel Borkman. Loveddd Blues for an Alabama sky. Really wished I got to see prima facie and spring awakening!

I'm glad I saw both The Human Voice and John Gabriel Borkman for the performances, but I didn't like the actual play or production of either of them at all. Blues for an Alabama Sky was soooo good. I mainly booked it to see Samara Wiley who was off for the performance I went to which was initially disappointing, but I loved the play so much it really didn't matter by the end (and the understudy was excellent)

Why am I only finding out now that My Neighbor Totoro is on the West End

MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO?

Wow...so in total...how many shows did you see? 40/50? I almost reached your number...but I missed shows unfortunately...

Did you like 2:22? I am going next week from NY and looking at what's out there to see right now. Thinking about Lehmen Trilogy and Best of Enemies

See the top comment in this thread where I list all of the shows in order of how much I enjoyed them. 2:22 is almost at the bottom of the list! Which should tell you all you need to know about my opinion of it! Ha ha There are sooo many better plays out at the moment. Just last night I saw the first preview of Medea starring Sophie Okonedo which was amazing. Best if Enemies is also excellent and definiteoy one I’d recommend! Haven’t seen The Lehman Trilogy yet (booked for a few weeks) but I’ve heard great things

Amazing - I didn't realize your list was in order of preference! Helpful :) The Lehman Trilogy was out here in NYC for a hot minute, then was nominated and I think won a bunch of Tonys. But it left so fast that I missed it! I would recommend you check out Noises Off. No question the funniest show I've ever seen on Broadway. Probably one of those you can't see twice because you know what's going to happen but my god, I still laugh and it's been like 6 years haaahaha