West End shows take centre stage

Mar 30 2008 by Roger Domeneghetti, Sunday Sun

ETTRICK SCOTT discovers a taste for West End musicals

I HAVE to say that, before I went on this trip, I never really thought big West End musical productions would be my sort of thing.

Too much over-acting and too many characters liable to break into stirring song at the drop of a hat instead of just talking things through . . . or so I thought.

However, I hugely enjoyed the two — very different — shows I visited. In fact, I’d even go as far as to say that one of them actually made me feel good to be alive and restored my faith in humanity . . . and it doesn’t get much better than that.

I stayed at the Radisson Edwardian Hampshire Hotel in Leicester Square . . . probably the handiest location there is if you’re visiting London to take in the shows, as practically every West End Theatre is within a 10-minute walk.

Also, the official ticket booth selling half-price bargains for that night’s shows is just outside the hotel entrance, so it’s a great place to pick up unsold bargains.

I’ve stayed in quite a few hotels in the Radisson chain now, and I genuinely have only good things to say about them all, the Edwardian Hampshire included.

The rooms are comfortable and pleasantly furnished in a classic modern style, with nothing over-stuffed or needlessly flash. They also do a very good breakfast service, so definitely get my vote.

My favourite thing that Radisson do is offer free wireless internet access in every room . . . something a lot of big hotel chains still charge excessive rates for.

It’s a common trick for hotels to charge cheap room rates and then make money on extras, but I’d imagine a lot of people would resent being charged up to £5 an hour for something that can cost as little as £15 for a month’s worth at home.

After dropping my bags off, I set off on a short walking tour of the theatres in the area, accompanied by an incredibly knowledgeable Blue Badge Guide.

For the uninitiated, The Guild of Blue Badge Guides is a nationwide network of self-employed tour guides who really know their stuff, and my theatre lady was no exception, being as she was a veritable mine of useful information and interesting snippets of Theatreland history.

Having a guidebook to an area is all well and good, but I thoroughly recommend the guides’ service if you want to find out the bits that the books don’t tell you.

After a quick, pre-theatre dinner at Joe Allen’s in Covent Garden — a cozy little place with great, mid-priced food and an excellent collection of original theatre and musical posters from the 1950s onwards — I headed to the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane for my first West End musical experience . . . The Lord Of The Rings.

In terms of sheer spectacle, LOTR is pretty hard to beat . . . it’s the most expensive production ever to hit the West End and the theatre has been transformed into a magical forest, with huge creepers snaking from the stage and wrapping themselves around the auditorium.

The ever-changing, computer-controlled stage floor alone weighs a staggering 40 tons and has 17 concealed elevators in it.

It’s an incredibly physical show, with actors and acrobats alike spending much of their time on stilts or flying on high- wires, and the showpiece battle scenes would satisfy even the most ardent Tolkien fan, I’m sure. Unfortunately — and crucially for a musical — LOTR doesn’t have much in the way of memorable show tunes that really engage an audience.

The next morning, I took a short tube ride to the V&A museum in Kensington, currently showcasing the best British theatre designs of the last four years.

There are dozens of incredibly detailed miniature sets to marvel at, along with costumes, props and sketches. It runs until November and really is worth a couple of hours of any theatre lover’s time.

Accurately depicting the intense emotions that shrouded communities such as Easington, County Durham, during the 1984/5 miners’ strike using song and dance might seem like a very tall order, but Billy Elliot The Musical — the second show I took in on this trip — pulls it off magnificently, and then some. If you liked the film, you’ll love the musical.

The rollicking tunes are by Elton John, with lyrics and an hilarious script from Lee Hall, who wrote the original screenplay.

Billy Elliot has been running in London, and also in Sydney, for three years and opens in New York in September, where it looks set to go down a storm, if the audience reaction that I saw at the Victoria Palace Theatre is anything to go by.

Any show that’s still getting standing ovations three years into a run is obviously doing something very right.

If you’re looking for a new way of treating a loved one this year or just fancy a quick city break doing something different, then this recently converted lover of musicals would strongly recommend a trip to London’s Theatreland in 2008.

VISIT the V&A’s excellent exhibition devoted to recent British theatre.

TAKE a behind the scenes tour of the Royal Opera House . . . you’ll be dwarfed by the sheer scale of the place.

STROLL around Covent Garden, always a magnet for the best street performers in town.

SPLASH out on lunch at the famous Ivy restaurant . . . as long as you’re famous or have booked months in advance!

WHEREVER you are in London, book a Blue Badge guided tour and find out more about the area’s history. See the website at www.blue-badge-guides.com

FOR more information about London’s Theatreland and other attractions in the capital, see the website at www.visitlondon.com

ETTRICK travelled to London courtesy of National Express Trains. Ticket prices start from £11.50 one way when booked online. Visit www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com for prices and reservations.

HE stayed as a guest of the five-star Radisson Edwardian Hampshire Hotel on Leicester Square.

Their best deals and offers for room rates can be found online. The hotel is currently offering spring breaks from £109 per room per night, including breakfast. Visit the website at www.radissonedwardian.com