Wicked, London

The cool thing about being in London is access to the theater, much like New York City. So I decided to take the older kiddos to see Wicked!

They have never heard of or have listened to any of the songs from Wicked before, but both have seen the Wizard of Oz. The only information I told them about Wicked was that it’s based on a book about what really happened in Oz. They both seemed vaguely interested, which was my cue that we were going to see it!

Overall verdict: both loved it! And they much preferred Wicked to Hamilton! Yes, you read that right–they enjoyed Wicked more than Hamilton (sorry Lin-Manuel Miranda). So that was a very nice treat for the three of us.

Some things I recommend to make this a great inexpensive, experience:

• Every Wednesday at 10am, you can book tickets for the first 24 rows for £29.50 a ticket for the following week’s shows. So if you want to risk it and wait, that might be a good option for you.
• You can also book tickets through TKTS London. If you’re familiar with the TKTS booth in NYC, you can book day of tickets for really cheap. Unlike the NYC version, the London one you can book online starting at midnight the day you want to go. So if you’re totally looking for a last minute adventure (or not sure how your plans are going to pan out, like us), this is a good option.
• Before I took my kids to Wicked (and Hamilton two years ago in NYC), I took my children to local productions of other musicals that were inexpensive (like <$50 a ticket). If they couldn’t last through that show, at least I wasn’t wasting $200+ a ticket to Hamilton. So try that out if you think your kiddos may be ready.
• Double check the rules of the theater regarding children. Wicked would not let anyone under 5 years old to enter. But other shows geared towards children, like Lion King, would have a younger minimum age.
• All theaters should have booster seats. You can ask an usher to help you find them. But it is essential for children (even my 9 and 11 year old) to see over adult heads in an older theater.
• Splurge on the candy and popcorn to make it special for kids. It’s worth it to make them feel more comfortable.
• I also make my children dress up for the theater. I’m a snob like that. But the theater is not an every day thing and it is expensive. As such, it should be treated as a special event.