Packing for your theatre break photo credit Dwight Sipler via flickr

Theatre Breaks Suitcase Panic

First time I went on a theatre break I  hauled out the suitcases and stared at them for a long time. I was thrilled  we were off to London for a romantic weekend to see a show. I’d been looking forward to it for ages but then I started to worry.

” What do people wear to the theatre in London these days? Do we need to dress up? What do I need to take? Oh dear, what if I pack the wrong stuff and end up looking silly?”

If you’re feeling like I did then let’s see if I can help sort out those nasty ‘what ifs?’ about what to wear on your theatre breaks.

Do we need to dress up?

Not unless you want to! There is no strict dress code for any of the theatres in London. If you like to dress up and make it more of an occasion, that’s fine.

Most people wear ‘smart/casual’, some people may even be wearing jeans, few will be in full evening dress.

Do wear something comfortable, that won’t crease and is not too hot. The theatres are warm places even in winter.

If you do want to dress up

• For women a day dress is fine. If you do want to wear an evening dress think cocktail dress rather than gown. It’s hard to beat a *LBD, ideally in something that doesn’t crease too badly.
• A shawl, pashmina, or short embroidered cardi is usually enough to keep you warm outside.
• Shoes should be comfortable enough to allow for a stroll round theatreland after the show. Heels should not be too high unless you are used to them.
• Take a small handbag and don’t feel you always need a raincoat and umbrella. (It took me about 18 months after moving here to realise that I rarely needed my umbrella!)
• On a cold night add a warmish coat but leave it at the cloakroom. It’s a real pain for you, and those around you, when you have to juggle it inside the theatre.
• For gents a suit or smart jacket and trousers will be perfect. Ties are definitely optional. There’s no need for an evening suit unless you really want to make an impression.

*LBD =little black dress

5 ‘must haves’ for your theatre break

1. Comfortable flat shoes for traveling and for sightseeing.
2. Smart shoes for the theatre, still fairly comfy.
3. A smallish handbag that you can wear crosswise – handy, leaves both hands free and easy to manage. This will also be more secure on crowded tube trains or buses. Needs to hold purse, keys, camera, tube map, bottle of water (optional) & not much else.
4. Double points if your evening bag meets the same criteria!
5. Dark glasses,  look glam even in winter and are vital in case of a slight case of morning after syndrome!

Final Word on What to Pack for Your Theatre Break

What ever you decide to take and wear remember this is your theatre break. London is a very anonymous place and mostly no one will notice or care about your choice of clothes. Wear the kind of clothes you feel happy and comfortable in. If you like to dress up for social occasions then do so, if not you can still enjoy your casual style theatre break.

Today we are looking at the issue of how you get your hands on the actual physical printed cardboard tickets so you know after all the anticipation that you will be let into the theatre and are definitely going to see the show!

How do I get my theatre break tickets?

Theatre breaks agencies do vary a little, some send your tickets out by post, but most will have them left at the theatre box office for you to collect on the day. It may depend how far in advance you book your theatre break, but there’s really nothing to worry about. Once you’ve confirmed your booking and authorised payment there will be a seat with your name on it. Well, it’s easy for me to say that I know, because part of the excitement of going to see a big show is the tingling anxiety that builds up in the hours before the big day. One way to help with this is to turn up as soon as the box office opens, which is usually about an hour before the show, when the queue should be fairly short still, present your booking voucher or just tell them your name and booking reference and collect your tickets. Phew! You’ve now got an hour to enjoy a pre-theatre drink or a stroll around theatreland and you can keep getting your tickets out to look at them as often as you like. You might want to memorise your seat numbers as this will aid negotiating your way around the various entrances once inside the theatre and after your tickets have been torn in half by the usherette. In any case you should really collect your tickets at least 30 mins before the performance starts.

What about the Hotel?

Hotels don’t issue tickets but you may receive something called a “Hotel Voucher” as part of the email confirmation you get back stright away when you book theatre breaks online. There’s no need to print this out if you don’t want to though, you can just quote the booking reference and your name when you arrive at the hotel. Earliest check in time is usually about 2pm so if you arrive early in London on the day of the start of your theatre break it’s best to take advantage of the opportunity to settle in, dump your luggage and then go out again for the afternoon or early evening.

Rail tickets booked with theatre breaks

Show and Stay is one theatre breaks agency that offers discount rail tickets when booked in advance with a theatre break. It’s a good deal because you can save up to 40% on the travel costs and arriving in central London by rail is really the best way to do it in most circumstances. These rail tickets will be sent out separately by first class post in plenty of time before you travel.

London Eye Tickets

The London Eye is the most popular add-on attraction booked with theatre breaks packages so how do you get your ‘flight’ tickets? This can get a bit complicated so please read your email confirmation carefully. If you book the London Eye River Cruise option, which is a lovely thing to do, then there’s a telephone number you need to ring to tell them when you want to go and arrange the booking. Do so as soon as you have decided upon your itinerary in order to be sure of getting your ideal flight times, and at least 72 hours in advance. You’ll also get a “London Eye Flight Only” voucher and in both cases you are asked to retain this section of confirmation to give to the London Eye people as proof of pre-booking, so in this case you probably will need to print it all out. For the Fast Track and Champagne flights, you still need to book in advance but you can turn up only 15 minutes before your flight at the fast track check-in desk and exchange your voucher for tickets there and then.

This is the second of Theatre Breaks Magazine’s FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) which each deal with a topic that might get in the way of planning, booking and enjoying theatre breaks.

Mr Notsure’s Dilemma

Mr Notsure and his partner were off to London for a romantic weekend to see Phantom of the Opera. He’d found a web site that promised good value. He booked right away, dismissing the idea of going by train without a thought. Later that night he started to worry. “What if the taking the car means I get stressed out driving there? What about parking in London? Oh dear, and what about that congestion charge too?

Let’s see if I can help  Mr Notsure’s  sort out those ‘what ifs?’ about theatre breaks by car.

What if the taking the car means I get stressed out driving in London?

To avoid getting stressed out on the journey:

• Allow yourself lots of extra time. Use the AA online route planner if you don’t have Sat Nav.
• Try to avoid arriving anywhere near London at peak times. These last longer than you might assume as people try to spread their travel times. Aim to arrive and leave after 10am, before 3pm or after 7pm.
• Check for any known road works on your route before you set off.

Theatre Breaks by Car

Congestion Charging

The congestion charge applies in Central London between 7.00am and 6.30pm, Monday to Friday

• Basic fee- £8 per day if you pay the charge on the day of travel.

• Pay on the first charging day after travel you pay £10.

• If you do not pay the charge by the end of the first charging day after your journey you will be subject to a  penalty charge which is a whopping £120 !

Ideally you should pay in advance, either online or by post.

You can download a free map of the Congestion Charge Zone from Transport for London

What if I get lost in London?

It can happen to anyone, including Londoners! Even if you have sat.nav and a current A-Z you will inevitably take a wrong turn, encounter unexpected road works or meet some other problem that takes you off your planned route. If you decide you are hopelessly lost, and London signage isn’t always terribly helpful if you are, then according to a new web service, The Knowledge , there is an answer. You can ask a cabbie!

The Knowledge is a  24 hour helpline  manned by licensed London taxi  drivers and provided by Knowledge Capital Limited. By calling 0906 265 6565 you will be connected directly to a licensed London taxi driver.

The promise you the assistance of an off duty cab driver. The calls cost £1 per minute from a BT landline and are likely to be much more from your mobile. I cannot imagine you’ll be ringing from your landline so expect it to be expensive!  I’ve never used the service but it might just be worth it if you are driving round lost and in a panic.

DON’T CALL WHILE YOU ARE DRIVING!

Pull over somewhere safe and make the call.

What about parking in London?

If the hotel offers parking it is always mentioned in the description. Often it will mean an extra charge, usually between £15 and £20 per day. You need to arrange this with the hotel. Give them a ring and they’ll usually be quite happy to sort it out for you.

Parking in Central London, especially near theatreland is very difficult. To be quite honest I simply would not recommend you even attempt it!

Choosing Your Hotel for Theatre Breaks by Car

Traffic near theatreland can be heavy. Park your car at the hotel

One good solution can be to drive to your hotel, park the car and use black cabs or the tube to travel around the city.

For this to work best you should choose a hotel outside the congestion charge and use the tube or black cabs to get into and out of the centre. That way you can avoid the worst of the central London traffic and still have the comfort of your own car for the journey home. This gives you  much more flexibility and means that you don’t have the stress of driving in the worst of the city traffic.

Theatre Break Magazine FAQ

This was the second post of Theatre Breaks Magazine’s FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) each of which  deals with a specific topic that might come up when you are planning, booking and enjoying theatre breaks.

(Photo Credit – Archangeli cc image via flickr)

Flaming June comes around just after Spring has well and truly sprung, but before the main Summer holidays, which is in some ways ideal for theatre breaks with outdoor things to do in London. The river trips and topless bus tours come into their own at this time of year, as do the green spaces and parks.

West End Live

For the West End, there’s one special event which comes around each year usually around the third week and that’s West End Live. It’s a free entertainment festival put on in central London’s Leicester Square, right in the heart of theatreland, which serves to promote individual shows which take part and the West End as a whole. Participation varies, for example with Hairspray sending a full cast in costume to perform one number to kick of the show in 2009, and others such as Oliver and Wicked sending along one star to do a big number solo.

West End Live takes place over one weekend towards the end of June and I’m not suggesting anybody hangs around for the whole thing from start to finish, especially if your time in London is limited. Standing up for that length of time is exhausting enough and there’s a certain amount of waiting about between acts. It’s not really worth arriving early and queuing up to get inside the square for the start either, as the queues do build up to quite a length with people wanting to bag a place near the front but it definitely is worth dropping in for an hour or as proceedings get going and the crowds stabilise , and catching any shows you particularly want to see by keeping an eye on the programme of events. This will be found each year on the London Theatre Breaks blog in the West End Live section and they do stick very closely to the times stated because the singers and dancers need to know exactly when they will be on so they can schedule it in amongst rehearsals and even matinee performances on the Saturday.

To give a sample of the happy atmosphere and the kind of performances to expect live in the square here are a few crowd videos from theatre breaks youTube.

Wicked

Alexia Khadime from Wicked sings The Wizard and I.

Priscilla Queen of The Desert

All singing All dancing All camp Priscilla

We Will Rock You

Every year the cast from We Will Rock You put on a big show with a full cast in costume doing several numbers

Oliver!

Jodie Prenger from Oliver sings As Long as He Needs Me

Chicago

In 2009 the cast of Chicago included none other than Jerry Springer

Other Things to do in June

Long light evenings are conducive to wandering about outdoors and pavement cafe meals in interesting side streets. Hyde Park and Regents Park are best known but the smaller St James Park is close by Victoria and Westminster and features a bandstand with live music sometimes, an airy Inn The Park with beautiful roof terrace, and a lake with exotic ducks geese and pelicans.

In the heart of the West End of London is an area sometimes called ‘Theatreland’. Traditionally it is bordered by The Strand to the south, Oxford Street to the north, Regent Street to the west, and Kingsway to the east.
Important streets with theatres include :

• Drury Lane,
• Shaftesbury Avenue,
• The Strand.

The area contains around forty of London’s largest theatres.They tend to show mostly musicals, with a few classics, new plays,and comedy performances.

West End Guide to the Theatres

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Most of the theatres were built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. All of them are privately owned.
All of the older theatres have great architectural character and range in style from the grand neo-classical to the very ornate rococo. They usually have luxurious, detailed interior design and decoration, with lots of gold and plush.
Occasionally the older theatres have limited leg room and restricted views from some parts of the theatre. Tickets for these areas are usually sold cheaper and are not usually offered as part of theatre breaks.
Audience facilities such as bars and toilets are often much smaller than in modern theatres.
The buildings are all listed and this can make it hard to make improvements. However several theatres have introduced modern comforts such as air conditioning and new sound systems.

The Largest Theatres in The West End

The largest theatres in the West End seat over 2,000 theatre-goers.

• The Palladium – currently about to show Sister Act – 2286 seats
• The Apollo, Vcctoria – Wicked – 2208
• The Theatre Royal – Oliver!- 2196 seats
• The Dominion – We Will Rock You – 2163 seats
• The Lyceum – Lion King – 2100 seats

I’ll be posting more soon on our West End Guide