Of course, when you visit London you will want to go to a few shows. For the traditional fare (i.e. Les Miserables, Mamma Mia, Phantom of the Opera, etc.), you will probably go to one of the theatres near Leicester (pronounced "Lester") Square.
So how do you get tickets? You can always purchase them ahead of time online directly through the theatre's web site or at the theatre (most will accept credit cards issued in the United States). The advantage of this is that you know what you're getting and can plan the rest of your day around it. The disadvantage is that you pay quite a bit extra, and since most of the time you will go to the theatre with someone else, this extra amount is doubled!
What I like to do is buy tickets at discounted prices on the day of the show. Is this a bit dangerous? Why, yes, but the students have convinced me I need to be more dangerous!
Here's a tip: try to plan your trips to the theatre between Monday and Thursday evenings. There is greater demand for tickets on the weekend for sure, but during the week, it's a buyer's market.
There is only one place to go for day-of-show discount tickets, and that's at the tkts building on the south side of Leicester Square (see picture). The building opens at 10 in the morning and only sells tickets for theatre productions THAT DAY. There are many purveyors of "Half-price tickets" or "The Official Discount Ticket Booth" near Leicester Square. Skip them because they will either charge you more than the prices at tkts, make you wait a long time for your tickets, or not give you the best seats available.
If you really want to tempt fate, you can go to the theatre where you want to see your show an hour before performance and buy your tickets then. This is risky since they may be sold out, or only have the really bad seats (or outrageously expensive front area seats). They tend to give students nice discounts on these last minute seats, but since I'm not a student I don't get as much of a discount. Oh, one interesting tidbit is that they want to encourage people in all situations to enjoy theatre, so they offer discounted tickets to unemployed people as well as students (you have to show your unemployment card).
Cheers, Jim
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