West End Live - 6/17/2023
When Sarah and I made our original plans for our trip to London, we left this day open in order to fill it in with
any new events we discovered at the last minute or things we may have missed earlier on the trip. A couple of
days ago an ad popped up on my phone advertising West End Live. I wasn't sure what this was, so I asked
Sarah. She was very excited. She knew exactly what it was. Free musical theater.
We headed out for the day and found ourselves at Leicester Square where we had breakfast. As we looked for a
place to eat, there was a long line of people gathering. We eventually decided to eat at The Moon Under Water,
a Wetherspoon establishment. Our table was at the front windows of the restaurant and we had a plain view of
the long queue forming. At some point we realized that this was the line to get into West End Live. But
that venue was several blocks away.
We finished our meal, left the restaurant and were amazed by the sheer size of the crowd. We didn't join the
line, but rather we walked in Trafalgar Square in Westminster.
We were correct, this was the queue to get into the event. It was literally blocks long. From Trafalgar,
back to and around Leicester Square and beyond.
We didn't try to get into the venue and simply watched the event over the fencing along one of the side streets
and under the shade of the trees. We saw performers from the casts of Frozen, The Lion King, Wicked, The
Wizard of Oz, Moulin Rouge!, Grease, Tina, Crazy For You, Cabaret, The Book Of Mormon, The Phantom of the Opera and
Les Misérables.
The last song we heard before taking a break for lunch was from Hamilton. At the conclusion of his song,
"You'll be Back", King George III announced to the crowd to look to the sky as we honor King Charles III. There
was wave after wave of military helicopters, planes and jets.
After our break we returned to see performances by The Choir of Man, Six, Divas London, Magic Mike Live and Roles
We'll Never Play. What a great morning and afternoon full of great musical performances.
We wanted to explore a London neighborhood that we had never seen before, so we decided to visit Soho
nearby. The neighborhood featured a variety of dining, nightlife and interesting shopping options. Sarah
and I stopped in for dinner at East Street Restaurant by Tampopo. In addition to a great meal, I was also able
to have a glass of Yuzuade.
This Pan-Asian restaurant offered distinctive dishes and a fun retro atmosphere.
Our week in England was drawing to an end and it was time to go to our hotel to pack up and get ready for our trip
home tomorrow. With tomorrow being Fathers Day, Sarah gave me an early gift. It was a brake pad from the
Big One roller coaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, the tallest coaster in the UK. Sarah had truly found the
perfect gift for me.
Tomorrow will be a long day which will start early, so we were off to bed.
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