Theatre News

West End Live Takes Over Leicester Square in Jun

Dates for the 2010 West End Live, the world’s largest free theatre festival, are set for Saturday 19 June and Sunday 20 June in Leicester Square. Whatsonstage.com is media partner for the event, which, now in its sixth year, has become a major highlight in the annual Theatreland calendar, attracting more than 200,000 people over the two days.

The event is organised by Westminster City Council and supported by the Society of London Theatre (SOLT), whose president Nica Burns said: “London has the best theatre in the world and West End Live is a fantastic opportunity for people to sample some of the West End’s most popular shows for free.”

The 2010 line-up of live open-air performances has not yet been finalised, but it is likely to feature, as usual, all of the West End’s major musicals. More than 15 productions took part in 2009, including Oliver!, Avenue Q, Dirty Dancing, Jersey Boys, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Sister Act, Thriller – Live, We Will Rock You, Wicked, Stomp and Chicago.

The two-day event also offers street entertainment, live broadcasts, arts workshops and interactive exhibitions from some of London’s top museums and tourist attractions. For more information, visit www.westendlive.co.uk.

The Whatsonstage.com team will be alive and kicking in Leicester Square on both days of the event – running a theatre prize draw and manning our own stand with the help of a team of theatregoer volunteers. If you’d like to help out, please contact Laura Norman on laura@whatsonstage.com or call her on 020 7317 9100.