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My top ten for 2024 plus some New Year's Sale recs!

Dec 31, 2024

Another year is coming to an end! It’s definitely been full of highs and lows for me, but I’m happy to be heading into 2025 with much better health and some exciting new theatrical projects to sink my teeth into! Before we run away with the new, I’m taking a quick look back and as usual selecting my favourite shows from the year. After 117 shows seen, 14,395 minutes of theatre watched, more than £3,000 saved on tickets, a return to a childhood favourite, one midnight matinee, and one no-fly show at Wicked (the holy grail of theatre of course), here are my 2024 theatrical highlights!

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Ambassadors Theatre)

I know this one made the top ten last year, but after its transfer to the West End and a few changes, I guess it counts as a new production! And it was my absolute favourite thing I saw this year. Imagine a brilliant sea-shanties-meets-musicals score performed by a wonderful actor-muso cast, packaged up and presented through beautiful and emotional storytelling - you’ve got Benjamin Button! It’s just extended through til April 2025 so if you haven’t booked yet you’ve got a little longer to do it. Just remember to take tissues!

2. Something Rotten in Concert (Theatre Royal Drury Lane)

I have been obsessed with Something Rotten for years now, and I was fuming when the pandemic got in the way of Birmingham Rep’s UK premiere of the musical. I had to make do with a concert version at Drury Lane this summer, but to say I settled would be far from the truth. The recent trend of mostly staged concert performances really did me a favour here - I loved it. Hearing the music live would have been enough for me, but the choreography and costumes on top made it skyrocket to the upper end of this year’s list.

3. The Picture of Dorian Gray (Theatre Royal Haymarket)

I’ll admit this one was completely not on my radar until Sarah Snook won her Olivier award for the incredible one-woman adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s classic novel. With some of the best video design and technical staging I have ever seen, it was a no-brainer to be included. I was on the edge of my seat throughout, craving to see what she would do next. Safe to say by the end I knew her Olivier was well deserved! If you’re on the other side of the pond, you can catch the show in New York from March.

4. Police Cops: The Musical (Southwark Playhouse Elephant)

My boyfriend is to thank for this one as he’d previously seen one of this award-winning team’s shows and knew it would be up my street. This trio knows how to write a hit - it was incredibly well put together while championing the joys of Fringe theatre. It was truly hilarious, just my kind of silly humour.

5. A Chorus Line (Marlowe Theatre)

This one is close to my heart after performing in it twice myself, so I was thrilled to finally see Curve’s version of the Pulitzer-winning musical on tour in September. The combination of Nikolai Foster’s direction and Ellen Kane’s choreography breathed new life into this show and helped me to enjoy it from new perspectives. The lighting was incredible too!

6. Why Am I So Single? (Garrick Theatre)

This one was a surprise winner for me. Of course, I love Six, but I didn’t know quite what to expect from the duo’s follow-up show. What I got was wit, humour, millennial nostalgia and a whole load of feeling ‘seen’. It’s a show that unexpectedly tugs at your heart strings, but you’ve not got long left to see it. The production is sadly closing early on 19 Jan - cheaper seats are harder to come by now so jump on those last few weeks of rush tickets.

7. An Enemy of the People (Duke of York’s Theatre)

I’ve been ticking off my Doctor Who actors this year with David Tennant in Macbeth and John Simm taking on Scrooge in the Old Vic’s legendary A Christmas Carol. But Matt Smith was the one I was most excited by. I was treated to him leading a fantastic production of an Ibsen favourite that really got me thinking, and almost got me covered in paint…

8. The Constituent (Old Vic)

Another politically minded show to make the list - James Corden may have been the big pull for this production, but to me the writing was the star. The script presented a fascinating debate looking at how we treat politicians and how far they should go to help us. It was fresh and well-acted all round, while still keeping some topical humour.

9. Starlight Express (Wembley Park Theatre)

It will be no surprise to those who know me that this childhood favourite features here. It would have been higher if not for some changes that don’t quite come off, and let’s face it the story has always been pretty basic! But just watching people skate around me singing some of my favourite songs just filled me with joy. It’s a fantastic production with a lot of talent involved. And trust me, you’ll be singing new song Hydrogen for months!

10. Machinal (Old Vic)

And to round of my list, another brilliant offering from The Old Vic, who I must say had a cracking selection of shows this year - there wasn’t one I didn’t enjoy! Although the subject matter of Machinal, based on a true story, was harder work than the rest of the season, it was well done. Mental health on stage can be very hit or miss but this was delicately presented and really got its point across. And I can’t forget to mention Rosie Sheehy’s incredible lead performance too!

Happy ticket-buying, and have a happy New Year!

Rochelle 🎭🎫

Carrying the banner

In the news this week…

Best of the sales

Here’s your discounts, offers and cheap seats this week.

The agents are of course well into their Boxing Day/New Year’s sales. There’s some decent deals to be had - try £15 tickets for Fawlty Towers, £20 tickets for The Score and Tina, and £25 front row seats for The Lightning Thief! You can find the same or similar deals across multiple sites - TodayTix, LTD, Love Theatre, Seat Plan, West End Wilma and more. But as always, check against the price directly with the theatre, and also versus…
…See It Live in 2025! Don’t forget about this one, which will likely still be going on for several weeks. You can £10 tickets for London shows on dates throughout the year, depending on the show. Big West End productions are included but most start at £30.
The ATG January Sale is also back! There’s discounted tickets available at ATG venues across the country, including some West End ones as well.
You’ll have to move quick on this one - save 20% on selected festive performances at Birmingham Rep. Use code BOXING20, ends midnight tonight!
Malvern Theatre will be doing its usual January Sale deals on many of its shows including big touring musicals. Check their site throughout the month as the deals change each week.
Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham has boxing day offers available - use code BOXINGDAY24.
And finally, don’t forget to look at booking next year’s panto now! A lot of venues are already announcing their shows and stars, but many also do early bird booking deals. You might save a nice amount, as well as getting the best seats.

Don’t throw away your shot

Competitions, on-sales and announcements.

There’s a few quick updates for you during this quiet news week. First up, the new Wicked film will be available to stream at home from 3 Jan on Amazon Prime.
And as I mentioned above, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button musical has extended - you can now book tickets until April 2025.
And speaking of which, you can win tickets to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button thanks to West End Wilma by signing up to their mailing list.
And finally, here’s a heads up that next week I’ll be running my own competition that singers may be interested in! Keep your eyes peeled.

That’s all for this week. If you enjoyed the newsletter, please tell your friends. I’m also open to suggestions and requests for certain discounts, so do drop into my DMs. Right, time for some New Year’s Eve celebrations! 🎆

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