| The West End is very well regarded for | | | | the Lord Chamberlain's Office. However, the |
| professional stage shows. Together with New | | | | Theatres Act 1968 at long last abolished |
| York's Broadway, Westend entertainment is | | | | censorship of the stage in the UK. |
| frequently considered to deliver many of the | | | | Most of the theatres in the West end are of late |
| very best shows in the world. Seeing a West End | | | | Victorian or Edwardian construction and most are |
| production is exceptionally popular entertainment | | | | privately owned. The bulk of them have great |
| especially among visitors. Many stage shows and | | | | character and the largest and best maintained |
| in particular hit musicals are staged in the great | | | | include grand neo-classical, Romanesque or |
| venues of London's Theatreland. Large numbers | | | | Victorian facades and luxurious detailed interior |
| of people attend a West End theatre show each | | | | design and decoration. Then again, leg space is |
| year. West End Theatre Breaks are also | | | | often cramped and audience amenities like bars |
| extremely common in the UK. Theatre Breaks | | | | and toilets are usually much smaller than in |
| are regularly booked as a short break luxury to | | | | modern venues. The protected status of the |
| celebrate a special occasion. A Westend show is | | | | buildings and their confined urban locations, |
| the focal entertainment but booked together with | | | | together with financial constraints, make it awfully |
| a hotel and often restaurant reservations for a | | | | hard to make extensive enhancements to the |
| special meal. | | | | furnishings, fixtures and fittings. |
| The main theatre region of London consists of | | | | Some of the long running musicals performed in |
| around forty venues and was renamed by | | | | the West End have profitably played to audiences |
| Westminster Council and the Society of London | | | | for many years. A few of the most well-liked |
| Theatre as 'Theatreland'. It is located in the heart | | | | musicals are We Will Rock You that is set in a |
| of the West End of Central London and is | | | | future world where rock music is banned, Les |
| traditionally defined by Oxford Street to the | | | | Miserables which is an international award winning |
| North, The Strand to the South, Regent Street to | | | | musical about an epic story of passion and |
| the West and Kingsway to the East. Prominent | | | | destruction, Chicago is about a young woman |
| theatre streets are Drury Lane, Shaftesbury | | | | who has killed her lover but is acquitted, The Lion |
| Avenue and The Strand. Most of the works | | | | King that is an adaptation of the Disney film, The |
| staged are musical theatre, classic plays and | | | | Phantom of the Opera that tells the tale of the |
| comedy performances. | | | | phantom that terrorises the Paris Opera, Billy Elliot |
| The Westend theatre neighborhood started to be | | | | which is the moving story of a boy who loves |
| established with the opening of numerous small | | | | ballet, Dirty Dancing which is the stage version of |
| theatres about 1806. The development of the | | | | the classic film, Sister Act is another adaptation of |
| Westend entertainment region gained pace with | | | | a hit movie, Mamma Mia is about a mother and |
| the Theatres Act 1843 that relaxed the conditions | | | | daughter and three potential dads, and Stomp |
| for the performance of plays. In the following | | | | which is a fast paced combination of music, tap |
| decades, countless new venues were opened. | | | | dance and percussion. The list is endless as there |
| That development continued until the 1st world | | | | are so many West End stage productions to pick |
| war. For the duration of the 50s and 60s, lots of | | | | from. There really is a show that could appeal to |
| plays were created in theatre clubs in order to | | | | everyone. Attending a theatre show in the |
| dodge the censorship at that time exercised by | | | | Westend is truly rather special. |