I love a night at the theatre – the whole experience, from overture to curtain call via over-priced ice cream.
I go as often as I can to see as many different shows as I can – last week I was, in equal measure, baffled and beguiled by Scottish Opera’s production of Nixon in China. The biggest problem, in fact, the only problem, is how much it costs for a dose of live entertainment.
Brochures thud through our letterbox from all our local theatres spelling out the tempting treats, music, drama, comedy, whatever. Then – always – I have to scale my planned outings down because of the price. For one person, it’s not too bad but as soon as you add a couple of kids and a spouse, it becomes heart-stopping.
I was delighted to learn about Best-Tickets.co.uk – you can see more here – which rounds up all of the tickets for all of the shows at all of the prices in one place. So you can see which nights of a run might be best value and where to get the good seats.
If you fancied seeing David Tennant (and let’s face it, who doesn’t?) in Good at The Playhouse Theatre, then you can find out which sites are selling tickets and which are doing it cheapest. Happy days.
Furthermore, the same site has gig tickets – at the best price. If I wanted to, I could revisit my first-ever concert experience with an evening with David Essex in Oxford from £34. Though, on reflection, I don’t. If I was in London and looking for some musical time traveling, I could find Simply Red, Whitesnake, Jeff Lynne, and Foreigner all still touring. Who knew?
If you’re thinking of heading out for a night of something live, here are my top tips:
Double-check the times. Before Christmas, I was somewhat flustered to find that despite carefully planning an evening out at We Will Rock You, the tickets were for a matinee.
Double-check the day. Boy Two and I were very disappointed to discover that there was no one at the theatre the night we had hoped to see Mel Giedroyc. Mel was on the previous week.
Double-check the venue. Super Gran and I had tickets for a show, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf possibly, and so we arrived and took our seats. Luckily we were early because we had just enough time to realise we were in the wrong theatre and to dash to the right one in time for a breathless curtain up.
Accept some facts. The loos will be queued and the drinks costly. It’s just the way it is.
Take a hankie. Theatre will move you more than you anticipate.
Take a fan. Heat rises, cheap seats will be hot seats. Or buy a programme and flap it.
Don’t worry about being in the cheap seats. Any theatre seat is better than none. Go and see a show, make a memory, you won’t regret it.