A West End musical: when to go, where to book and what it costs

A West End musical does not have to be an expensive night out. Book for today or tomorrow through the Society of London Theatre's own box office and seats start at £23 to £30. Here is how it works and what it costs right now.

Prices for today, 12 November

Every figure below is the lowest ticket price for the next performance, as listed by the official ticket booth on 12 November 2026. They change daily, so treat them as a guide rather than a price list.

Franz & Marie at the Charing Cross Theatre, from £23, up to 66% off. Beetlejuice The Musical at the Prince Edward Theatre, from £28, up to 41% off. The Devil Wears Prada at the Dominion Theatre, from £28, up to 43% off. Hadestown at the Lyric Theatre, from £28. Jesus Christ Superstar at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, from £28. Mamma Mia! at the Novello Theatre, from £30.50. Matilda The Musical at the Cambridge Theatre, from £30.50. Into The Woods at the Noël Coward Theatre, from £33, up to 41% off. Disney's The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre, from £43. Hamilton at the Victoria Palace Theatre, from £49.50, up to 40% off. Cabaret at the Playhouse Theatre, from £58.50.

Where to buy without paying over the odds

The Society of London Theatre's own ticket booth sits on the south side of Leicester Square, in the Clocktower Building. It is the only not-for-profit theatre ticket booth in the city, it has been there since 1980, and its tickets come direct from theatre box offices.

Opening hours are Monday to Saturday from 10.30am to 6pm, and Sunday from 11am to 4pm. The nearest tube stations are Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus and Charing Cross.

The same tickets at the same prices are sold on the booth's website, with no booking fee stacked on top. That matters: resale platforms routinely add 15 to 25% in fees, and sometimes sell seats for twice what the theatre itself charges.

How to pay less

First rule: go on a weekday afternoon. A Wednesday or Thursday matinee is almost always cheaper than a Friday or Saturday evening.

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Second: book on the day. Same-day and next-day seats carry the deepest discounts — in the sample above they reached 66%.

Third: do not chase the stalls. The upper circle in the older West End houses often costs a third of the price, and the sound up there is usually no worse.

Fourth: watch the special offers and seasonal sales on the official booth's site. A winter sale runs there in January as a matter of routine.

Before you go

Every show carries an age guidance note, and some theatres will not admit children below a certain age at all. For family shows every member of the audience needs a ticket regardless of age — at the Lyceum for The Lion King, for instance, everyone in the auditorium must hold one.

Most musicals run about two and a half hours including the interval. Arrive twenty minutes early: West End foyers are narrow and the queues to get in are real.