It’s a boom year for London theatre

Recession? What recession? Despite all the doom and gloom news for the UK economy we’ve heard almost nothing but good news about our nation’s theatres. Now official figures show that despite the economic downturn this has been a boom year for London Theatre.

There has been over 7.5 million visits to London theatre up to 18 July according to fugures released recently by the Society of London Theatre (SOLT). The research indicates that spectator attendances for 2009 so far are up by 2.5% on the same period in 2008. Claims that this is the result of increasingly cheap deals have also been quashed with news that there has been an increase at the box office by 3.5%

One of the biggest draws this year seems to be London musicals which could be the result of an increase in West End reality shows such as BBC’s ‘How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?’ and ITV’s Grease is the Word.’