My final show that I saw in 2018 was my all time favourite show Les Miserables. After day seating for the matinee of Company, my friend Blandine suggested heading next door into the Les Mis box office to see if they had anything available for that night. The standing tickets are only released if a performance is completely sold out of seats and what with it being a 7:30pm performance on New Year’s Eve, it’s not surprising that there were no seats left. Luckily Blandine and I managed to grab two standing tickets situated in the back of the dress circle ahead of that night’s performance. We absolutely loved the show and it was a truly wonderful way to end the year. So I thought I would share some of my experience of what it was like standing for the entire 3 hour run time of Les Miserables from the back of the dress circle.

The tickets were £15 and the view was really good. 

£15!! Which is pretty much what I spend on a meal at Nando’s. It is, what my mum would call, a right bargain considering some of the cheaper dress circle seats at the Queen’s are within the £35-£50 range. There will be a few heads in the way but I found this didn’t impact the overall view and most of the stage was clear to see. The only real issue with the view was the overhang of the grand circle did get in the way at some moments. For example, Enjolras and Marius didn’t seem to have heads at the start of the Paris scene as they were high up on the set. But it was only for a quick moment or so.

Lots of space 

Annoyingly, I have a really weird dodgy knee that stiffens up if I stay in the same position for too long. Luckily there is enough space at the back of the dress circle to move about without being too distracting. There will be moments where the ushers will need to get past but other than that, you can freely move about in the space that you’re in.

Quick access to the loos and exit

We were stood just by the door to the ladies loos which was super convenient when the time came to use it. However, because of the long queues, we were often mistaken for being in the queue which did get a bit tedious after a while. But on a more positive note, we were also first out of the exit which allowed us to grab a seat in the bar during the interval!

Those were the positive aspects of standing throughout a performance of Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre in it’s current renovation. It is worth noting that the only time I couldn’t see anything was at the curtain call due to everybody standing up at the end but even then, who could be mad at that? It was recently announced that Les Miserables will be moving next door into the Gielgud Theatre from July to December while the Queen’s Theatre is given a modern renovation. I first saw Les Miserables back in 2010 so I always have a soft spot for the Queen’s Theatre, but I am excited to see how the theatre will be updated. Also worth a note that the entire company were incredible at this performance, particularly Elena Skye as Eponine and Amara Okereke as Cosette. If you can get yourself down to the Queen’s Theatre, definitely go and check out this cast (whether your ticket is a seated or standing one!).

For tickets and more information please visit https://www.lesmis.com/london

Until next time,