West End stars launch Get Into London Theatre

London theatre stars including Daniel Boys, Louise Dearman, Alex Gaumond, Ray Meagher, Ben Richards and the cast of Jersey Boys were among the theatre fans who celebrated the launch of Get Into London Theatre yesterday.

Former Any Dream Will Do contestant and Avenue Q star Boys hosted the event, which was held at the Royal Festival Hall and featured performances from Jersey Boys and Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical, along with dance workshops from Mamma Mia! and Legally Blonde The Musical, and a West End sing along.

Dearman, who is currently entertaining audiences as Glinda the Good in long-running musical Wicked, said:

It’s stressful times right now and to be able to sit down and have a bit of escapism is really important. To give people this opportunity for cheaper tickets is really great.”

The annual Get Into London Theatre promotion is proving hugely popular and has already sold more than 43,000 cut price tickets to a host of the West End’s most popular shows. Tickets are still available at just £10, £15, £25 and £35 for productions ranging from Shakespearean comedy As You Like It to 60s jukebox musical Dreamboats And Petticoats or English National Opera‘s world premiere of Lucrezia Borgia.

Legally Blonde star Gaumond, who plays leading man Emmett in one of 2010’s biggest successes, tore himself away from the Mamma Mia! dance workshop :

With discounts like this, it gives people a chance to see more shows or possibly take a gamble on a show they wouldn’t have tried to see; it broadens people’s horizons. Hopefully you get a different kind of audience that might not normally consider the theatre, then they’ll build a love of theatre so you have a growing audience for the future. It’s a great idea and quite important, I think.”

Gramilano Editor

Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Italian ballerina Carla Fracci.

Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.

He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.