London’s West End is located in central London, west of the City of London and generally makes up the areas around Leicester Square and Covent Garden. There are over 39 theatres in the West End, located on various streets across the city.
The most famous street is Shaftesbury Avenue, with the Apollo Theatre, Lyric Theatre, Gielgud Theatre, Sondheim Theatre, home to Les Misérables, and Magic Mike Live’s Hippodrome Casino Theatre all on one street, with the Piccadilly Theatre and Criterion Theatre nearby at Piccadilly Circus.
In Covent Garden is the Duke of York’s Theatre, Noël Coward Theatre, Gillian Lynne Theatre, the Lyceum Theatre, which is home to Disney’s The Lion King, plus TINA’s Aldwych Theatre and the Novello Theatre with MAMMA MIA!. Further theatres include the London Coliseum, Fortune Theatre, Duchess Theatre, Trafalgar Theatre, and the West End’s oldest theatre, the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, which houses Disney’s Frozen The Musical until September 2024. Matilda The Musical also plays at Cambridge Theatre in Seven Dials.
In Leicester Square you can find the Prince of Wales Theatre, home to The Book of Mormon, the Garrick Theatre, the Arts Theatre, Wyndham’s Theatre, St Martin’s Theatre, the Ambassadors Theatre and Palace Theatre, hosting Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
There are also multiple theatres on The Strand, which is close by to Charing Cross and Embankment. SIX The Musical plays at the Vaudeville Theatre, with the Adelphi Theatre and Savoy Theatre nearby. The Playhouse Theatre, currently The Kit Kat Club, is located on Embankment.
Further afield you can find Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre and Hamilton at Victoria Palace Theatre, near to Victoria Station, and The London Palladium on Argyll Street, close to Oxford Circus. Haymarket features The Phantom of the Opera’s His Majesty’s Theatre, plus Theatre Royal Haymarket and the Harold Pinter Theatre.
More theatre just outside of the West End include the Barbican Theatre at Barbican, the National Theatre and The Old Vic near Waterloo, plus Phoenix Theatre, Prince Edward Theatre, Dominion Theatre, Shaftesbury Theatre and @sohoplace near Soho and Tottenham Court Road. The Bridge Theatre is located at London Bridge.