London musicals and plays are coming back.
Until Jul 19 2021 the theatres are limited to 50 per cent of seats filled up to 1000 people.
From Jul 19, 2021 there won’t be any limits.
The return dates of London musicals in 2021:
From May and continue to run – Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Six and the staged concert of Les Miserables.
From Jun – The Play That Goes Wrong and new productions of Hairspray
From July – The Lion King, The Prince of Egypt, Pretty Woman, Come From Away, The Tina Turner Musical, Joseph, The Mousetrap and the new musical Cinderella
From August – Mamma Mia! , Back to The Future (new musical) Mary Poppins and the play Witness for the Prosecution
From September – & Juliet, Matilda and Wicked
If you are looking for something diffrent, there is an new theatrical experience Doctor Who: Time Fracture – Allready running.
If you want to give someone a musical ticket as a present, It could be a great idea to send them an E-Gift Voucher with London Theatre Direct
Tourist sites/attractions reopened on May 17, 2021, More about attractions in London on our London tourist attractions page.
London Theatre 2021
London is a city of culture with a wide variety of Musicals and Theatre Plays, some of which are new for 2021 and many that have been running for a long time.
Below we listed the shows we loved most and the tickets website we recommend.
We will regularly keep this page updated with new musicals.
Classic theatre Plays and Musicals
Let’s begin with the most successful and recommended theatre plays and musicals that are running for several years in London by the time they are coming back:
– Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is an original musical – Won the best new musical and won our hearts.
Links to the musical page on the ticketing site:
London Theatre Direct – LOVEtheatre
– On sale for show dates on May 20, 2021.
– Les Miserables
“Les Miserables” is a classic musical that runs more than 30th year is now at the renew Sondheim Theatre.
Spacially for this time the staged concert of the musical song is coming back from 20 May 2021 to 5 September – Tickets on London Theatre Direct.
And right after that the new musical production will start from Sep 25, 2021 – Tickets on London Theatre Direct.
– The Play That Goes Wrong
“The Play That Goes Wrong” is a very silly play but in a funny way.
Run in the West End at the Duchess Theatre
Links to the play page on ticketing sites:
London Theatre Direct – LOVEtheatre
– On sale for show dates starting Jun 18, 2021.
– The Lion King the musical
– The Mousetrap
The Mousetrap is the longest-run play in the world, based on the Agatha Christie novel.
Links to the play page on the ticketing site:
LOVEtheatre – London Theatre Direct
– On sale for show dates starting Jul 20, 2021.
“The Lion King” is Disney’s most popular musical and great for all the family.
Good for non-English speakers as well.
Links to the play page on the ticketing site:
ATG – London Theatre Direct – LOVEthetre
At the Lyceum Theatre from July 29, 2021 till April 2022
– Showstopper! The Improvised Musical
“Showstopper!” is an improvised musical that creates on stage with the audience’s help.
Links to the show page on ticketing sites:
London Theatre Direct – LOVEtheatre
– On sale for show dates starting July 2021
– Mamma Mia! the musical and the party
“Mamma Mia! the musical” is a good feeling musical and great for those who like ABBA songs.
In addition, if you are looking for a special experience you should look at Mama mia! the party.
The musical runs in Novello Theatre in the Coven Garden area,
Tickets to the musical: London Theatre Direct – LOVEtheatre
– The Musical tickets are on sale for show dates starting Aug 25, 2021.
– The party is next to the O2 arena and will come back in October 2021.
– Matilda
Matilda is a smart and witty musical, great for children that speak good English and for adults as well.
The musical runs in the Covent Garden area in Cambridge Theatre.
Links to the Matilda page on ticketing sites:
London Theatre Direct – LOVEtheatre
– On sale for show dates starting Sep 16 2021 till January 2022
– Wicked
“Wicked” musical is a Spectacle show, Great for teenagers and adults as well.
Run near Victoria station at the Apollo Victoria Theatre
Links to the Wicked page on ticketing sites:
London Theatre Direct – LOVEtheatre
– On sale from may 17 for show dates starting Sep 2021.
– The Book of Mormon
“The Book of Mormon” is a very funny musical with cynical jokes and political satire, therefore It best suits open-minded people.
Not suitable for kids below 15 y/o.
The musical home is Prince of Wales Theatre next to Piccadilly Circus Station.
Links to the musical page on ticketing sites:
London Theatre Direct
– On sale for show dates starting Nov 15 2021.
New Musicals in London
The musicals below run in London for less than 3 years on the west end and are recommended by us:
– Six The Musical
“SIX” is a pop musical telling the story of Henry VIII’s six wives.
The six wives are on the stage together and competing with each other on who is the most miserable.
In other words, this musical is like a spice girl show meets the history class.
We know many people that think that this is the best musical in London right now, we love it but for modern musicals, we prefer Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and & Juliet and then Six.
“Six” will perform in a larger hall (Lyric Theatre) at first, to maintain social distancing and it will return to the Arts Theatre starting Aug 2021.
Links to “Six” on ticketing sites:
London Theatre Direct – LOVEtheatre
– On sale for show dates starting on May 23, 2021.
– The Tina Turner Musical
“The Tina Turner Musical” is a hit musical that gets a great review from everyone, we really like it too.
Links to “Tina” page on ticketing sites:
LondonTheatreDirect – LOVEtheatre
– On sale for show dates starting July 28, 2021 to June 2022
– The Prince of Egypt The Musical
The Prince of Egypt is a spectacular New musical with a huge cast and orchestra of almost 60 artists.
Tickets: London Theatre Direct – LOVEtheatre
On sale for show dates starting July 1, 2021.
– Pretty Woman The Musical
“Pretty woman” is a new Musical base on the famous movie.
It started to run just before the coronavirus arrived and got some great reviews.
Links to the musical page on ticketing sites:
LondonTheatreDirect – LOVEtheatre – ATG
On sale for show dates from July 20,2021 to December 2021
– Come From Away
Come From Away is a musical of the true story about 7000 people that force to land in Canada on 11/9.
Emotional personal stories that come together.
More a play than a musical in a good way.
Links to the musical page on ticketing sites:
LOVEtheatre – LondonTheatreDirect
– On sale for show dates starting July 22, 2021.
– & Juliet
“& Juliet” is one of the best musicals of this year.
The musical is about what happens to Juliet if she had decided to choose her own fate without Romeo.
Links to “& Juliet” on ticketing sites:
LondonTheatreDirect – LOVEtheatre
– On sale for show dates starting Sep 24, 2021.
Last year, Won three Olivier awards.
– Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is One of the best theatre plays in London, base on the last book of Harry Potter, be sure to buy tickets for both parts.
Tickets: ATG
– On sale for show dates starting October 14, 2021.
We strongly recommend not to miss the Harry_Potter studio experience that will be open from May 17, 2021.
– Mary Poppins The Musical
Mary Poppins is Disney’s pyrotechnical entertainment musical for all the family.
Links to “Mary poppins” on ticketing sites:
LondonTheatreDirect – LOVEtheatre
– Will run again from Aug 7, 2021
– Hamilton
Hamilton is the biggest Broadway hit in London right now.
– Will run again from Aug 18, 2021
– Dear Evan Hansen
Dear Evan Hansen is a big hit in NYC that just starts to run in London with an emotional story.
Links to “Dear Evan Hansen” on ticketing sites:
LondonTheatreDirect – LOVEtheatre
– Will run again from Ocober 26, 2021
Won the best new musical in London.
New Musicals in London 2021
– Hairspray The Musical
Hairspray The Musical is coming back to London with Michael Ball in the London Coliseum.
Tickets: LOVEtheatre – London Theatre Direct
– On sale for show dates starting June 21, 2021 to september 2021
– Cinderella
The musical “Cinderella” is a new production by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Links to “Cinderella” on ticketing sites:
London Theatre Direct – LOVEtheatre
– On sale for show dates from July 21, 2021 to February 2022.
– Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” is a huge staging musical, which had great success in London last summer’s and it is coming back in 2021 to the London Palladium.
Links to the musical page on ticketing sites:
London theatre direct – Lovethetre
– Will run for a limited time from July 20, 2021 until September 2021
The Phantom Of The Opera
The Phantom Of The Opera is a classic musical that runs in London for many years.
Links to the musical page on ticketing sites:
LondonTheatreDirect – LOVEtheatre
– On sale for show dates from July 27, 2021 to February 2022.
– Back to The Future The Musical
Back to the future – the musical is the musical we have been waiting for is coming to London after a successful run in Manchester, further, We wrote about Back to the future and some more new musical in London on the page “Back to the future – Musical in London 2021“
Links to the musical page on ticketing sites:
London Theatre Direct – LoveTheatre
– on sale for show dates starting from August 20, 2021 to Febuary 2022.
– Frozen
Frozen the musical is base on the Disney movie and set for a West End transfer from Broadway from the end of August 2021.
Get Up Stand Up! – The Bob Marley Musical
Brand new musical that tells the story of Bob Marley with his famous songs.
Links to the musical page on ticketing sites:
London Theatre Direct – LoveTheatre
– on sale for show dates starting from October 2021 to April 2022.
The musical Moulin Rouge
An extravagant musical that succeeded on Broadway and will be released for the first time in London in 2021.
Moulin Rouge will start in Lonodn on November 12. 2021
Tickets available in ATG site
– Sister Act
“Sister act” is a great classic musical that is coming back to London.
Links to “Sister Act” on ticketing sites:
LondonTheatreDirect – LOVEtheatre
– will run only a few weeks on July-August 2022
More about new musicals in London in 2021 can be found on our page Back to the future – London musicals in 2021.
More Theatre Play in London (not musicals)
– Witness for the Prosecution
“Witness for the Prosecution” is a play based on Agatha Christie’s book.
The theatre is located in County Hall and looks like a courtroom in the old London City Hall.
We really liked it, the show is a great success.
Tickets: London theatre direct
– on sale for show dates starting from August 3, 2021 to March 2022.
The woman in black
The woman in black
Intimate theater performance of 2 actors, horror story combined with humor.
Returns September 7, 2021
Tickets until April 2022 can be found at London Theatre Direct
– The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night-Time
“The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night-Time” is Suppose to come back to London on November 20, 2021 untill January 11, 2022.
A list of London theatre performances currently running can be found on the website: https://aal.londontheatredirect.com/plays
Immersive Theatre in London
– The War of the Worlds – A combination of theatre technology and music.
Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds is a great new experience combining theater technology and music.
The experience has several different rooms in a building in the city of London, in each of the rooms you will have a different section of the story “War of the Worlds”. Some of the segments are with VR glasses and impressive virtual reality and some are performed by actors.
Tickets: GetYourGuide Expedia
Running now
– Doctor Who: Time Fracture
Another theatrical experience based on the science fiction series that ran for many years on the BBC.
Expected to be an extraordinary experience.
– Tickets for show dates from 26 May 2021 to 17 April 2022:
London Theatre Direct
– The Great Gatsby
An immersive theatre shows that is also a kind of a party.
There are no marked seats, the audience stands or sits around the actors, and occasionally splits into different rooms where the plot continues in all sorts of directions.
Admission is restricted to ages 14 and up.
This is definitely not a routine theatre play but we really enjoy the Immersive experience.
The show has moved from south London to the West End to a new space near Bond Street Station in Gatsby’s Mansion.
– Tickets are now not on sale.
More in Ask a Local – London:
– Where to get tickets for shows in London.
– London tourist attraction page
– Football in London page
– The London Deal page
– Recommended Hotels and Apartments in London page
– Public transport in London and more information pages about transportation tickets in London and bikes in London.
Recommended Theatre Ticketing Sites
Buying online in advance will find you a better seat and in most cases will be cheaper Therefore we recommend you buy your theatre tickets online.
Our favorite tickets websites are:
London Theatre Direct – One of the most reliable and popular ticket websites for musicals.
You can find dedicated pages by type of shows:
- Musicals page
- Theatre Plays page
- Opera page
- Concerts page
- Dance and Ballet page
- Last Minutes / the same day tickets page
- Combinations of musical and dinner.
LOVETheatre – This site is especially good for deals combining theatre/musicals and dinner
More Reliable ticketing sites that have good deals are: ATG Tickets, Expedia and Groupon UK
More information about the tickets website you can find on our page London Show and Concert Tickets.
List of Musicals that Used to Run in London and Not Currently Running
School of Rock
School of Rock – Fun musical with kids playing live on stage. Based on the film with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Glenn Slater.
The story of a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school who dreams of becoming a rock star, and when he realizes his students have musical talent he forms a rock group to win the battle of the bands. (Not Currently Running)
Waitress
Waitress is a big hit on Broadway that arrived on London west end. – Not Currently Running in London, however, it supposes to start a UK tour in late 2020
Funny Girl
Funny Girl opens at the Savoy Theatre following a very successful run at the Menier Chocolate Factory.
This is a remake of the famous and successful musical in the 60s and later made into an Oscar-winning movie both starring Barbara Streisand. It is the story of Fanny Brice, who rose from the Lower East Side of New York to become one of Broadway’s biggest stars. She enjoyed great acclaim on stage as a comedienne but offstage she faced a doomed relationship with the man she loved. Some of the songs you can expect to hear are “People”, “You Are Woman, I Am Man” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade”.
Sunset Boulevard opens for a limited run at the London Coliseum run by the ENO.
Off West End theatre -In addition to the many popular theatre plays and musicals in London’s West End, there were be a number of smaller productions off-West End.
Groundhog Day – The Musical – Groundhog Day is a musical written by Tim Minchin (who also wrote the Mathilda musical), based on thi great movie.
Jesus Christ Superstar, Running Wild, Pride, and Prejudice in Regent’s Park – Jesus Christ Superstar the musical will be at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park The Open Air Theatre will also be showing Running Wild, Henry V by William Shakespeare, and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
Mrs. Henderson Presents – A true-life story of Mrs. Henderson who ran the Windmill Theatre in London’s Soho before the outbreak of World War II and refused to close it during the bombings.
Kinky Boots use to be our most favourite – Smart funny and great cast
Young Frankenstein Musical – Funny – Mel brooks style
Dreamgirls – Great big voices
42nd street – One of our favorites- huge cast
Motown
Motown – The musical portrays the true-life story of Berry Gordon, the founder of Motown, who helped propel the careers of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, and so many other famous names. The musical includes 50 of the greatest songs, including ‘Dancing In’, ‘My Girl’, ‘I heard It Through The Grapevine’, ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’, ‘The Street’ and so many more.
Aladdin
The musical Aladdin is base on Disney’s famous movie is remade into a thrilling and bright musical that is a must-see.
Aladdin falls in love with the princess Jasmine but they cannot be married as he is not a prince.
The musical includes some of the famous songs from the movie as well as a few new songs written specifically for the musical by Alan Menken.
Aladdin played in London until the end of Aug 2019 and was replaced by Mary Poppins.
The Wedding Singer – A new musical base on the movie with the same name.
More musicals that are not currently running in London
Cats
We Will Rock You – Queen songs
Beetlejuice
Heathers
Billy Elliot
Bad Jews
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Sunny Afternoon
Miss Saigon
War Horse
Wonder.land
Bend It Like Beckham – The Musical
Jersey Boys
Guys and Dolls
In the Heights
Beautiful Musical – The Carole King Musical
Stomp
Annie – Great Happy musical