Being a couple of theatre buffs and as a nod to the fact we met on stage, it would be amiss of us not to see a Broadway Show whilst in New York.
As a self proclaimed theatre buff, I suppose I should do a comparison of Broadway to the Westend. It is worth bearing in mind however that not wishing to sell a Kidney, I have not actually seen Lion King in the West End. My comparison therefore is of the experience as opposed to the show.
Maybe that's a good place to start then - cost. At a whacking $330 or £260 the ticket price was certainly vital organ worthy. So far I guess we have a tie.
Usually when I visit London, I look for last minute deals at Leicester Square Box office. The popularity of a show always drives the tickets left over and therefore the price. This is why I have seen Wicked multiple times and Blood Brothers 72,000 times. They are simply not as popular as the Lion King. They have a similar last minute set up in New York where you can buy unsold tickets. The advice we were given however is that Lion King tickets never make it to this pile and we should book 2 months in advance online. So I guess in terms of popularity we still have a stalemate between the West End and Broadway.
Ok so the experience. Both the West End and Broadway are Grand but in completely different ways. The West End is Grand in terms of style, with great architecture and decor. Broadway is Grand in terms of size, all be it perceived size as the Lyceum actually has a larger capacity than the Minskoff.
The size of the actual building is much larger in the Minskoff. A quick search online tells you that it is part of an office tower building. Once you enter, in contrast to the compact historical Westend buildings with tight spiral staircases, you are greeted with two escalators and a double staircase on entry to the foyer of the Minskoff.
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