What's On in the West End? Musicals You Can See in London (and Play at Home) in May

15 May 2026

A tall red set of curtains, emblazoned with the British royal coat of arms, of is closed on a large stage. The seating area is made up of three stories and a ground floor with ornate gilding, candelabras lighting the room, and coloured deep red.

Written by Elle Bogle

Being on the edge of Soho, we at Schott are within arm's length of some of the world's greatest theatres. We're so lucky to be able to take a short stroll after work and see incredible performances in West End musicals and throughout London.

I'm going to walk you through the city, showing you the theatrical sights and the music you can take home with you after the show! These are all the musicals that are currently playing on a London stage and that you can buy the songbooks for, as of the publication of this blog.

Shaftesbury Avenue

Along this legendary street lies many of the world's most famous productions.

Les Misérables has been running for just over forty years at what is now known as the Sondheim Theatre (renamed in 2019).

One of the most beloved musicals of all time, it's no wonder this revolutionary show (see what I did there) has been performed night after night for decades.

Want to take the magic home with you? While singing 'Do You Hear The People Sing' on the bus is often frowned upon (although why, I have no idea) this Vocal Selections book allows you to play the songs at home whenever you want! There's also a more accessible Easy Piano version.

New kid on the block is Avenue Q, a puppet musical that you really shouldn't take your kids to... The story follows Princeton, newly moved to a chaotic New York, as he and his colourful neighbours navigate life, love and paying their bills in the Big Apple.

This hilarious and raunchy show returns twenty years after its West End debut. But if you just miss it before it closes this August, you can always buy the music.

Story Time: Earlier this year, a customer and I bonded over our love of musicals so much that by the end of our conversation we had firm plans to see this show together!

Hadestown must be London's most beloved and rewatched show in London - you can even collect stamps in a special Hadestown 'passport' for every time you watch the show! Picture the tragic characters of Orpheus and Euridice from the ancient Greek myths inside a New Orleans inspired post-apocalyptic world. Every night, people come to see if Orpheus and Euridice can make it out of hell together.

Anaïs Mitchell's songs perfectly encapsulate the "what if"s that plague young love. She poses the difficult question of if art can really push through the tough demands of life, and through her music allows you to feel the catharsis of deciding "yes, yes it can".

For the first time since 2008, you can see the iconic Oliver! on stage at the Gielgud Theatre. Based on the novel 'Oliver Twist' by Charles Dickens, this story follows an orphaned boy turned pickpocket in Victorian London as he is flung from place to place, all in search of love.

Mattew Bourne's direction and coreography is seen as the magic touch of this production. Famous for his all-male production of Swan Lake, Bourne is no stranger to excitingly reshaping well known stories. And in this version of Oliver!, the Twists (couldn't help myself) only brighten the story in a new light.

The Rest of the West End (and a Bit Beyond)

The romantic and dramatic Moulin Rouge is currently running at the Piccadilly Theatre, and the gorgeous Kit Kat Club hosts the Olivier-award-winning Cabaret. Jesus Christ Superstar has just opened at the Palladium, as has High Society at the Barbican. You can see the brilliant Six at the Vaudeville Theatre, and Theatre Royal Drury Lane, once home to Frozen, is now showing another Disney classic: Hercules.

Inspired by their wins at the Oliviers, I went with a group of friends to The Bridge Theatre's production of Into The Woods and was spellbound. Sondheim is at his best with this one: intricate vocal quartets, rich scoring, and gut-punching lyrics that critique over-consumption, blind judgment, and the resilience of children in the face of trauma.

The beautiful sets, the lighting design, the costuming, the actors' interpretations of each character, everything about this show is so unique yet still pays homage to the productions that came before. If you miss it at The Bridge, make sure to get tickets for its West End transfer to the Noël Coward Theatre.

And if that isn't enough for you, there's always more Sondheim where that came from!

The Staples

Then there are the musicals that are currently running in London, and have been doing so for years, if not decades. We have Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre and Hamilton at the Victoria Palace Theatre, just a stone's throw away from each other. The Phantom of The Opera celebrates its fortieth anniversary year (that's Ruby for anyone interested) at His Majesty's Theatre later this year. Meanwhile, The Lion King has been running at The Lyceum for around twenty-six years. You can find The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales Theatre - just don't bring your gran! But you can definitely take your whole family to Matilda at the Cambridge Theatre, as well as to Mamma Mia at the Novello Theatre.

So there you have it. You now have no excuse when your auntie or your friends from abroad ask you "Can we see a show?" Just come back to this page and tick them all off the list. There's nothing like going to the theatre in London. You won't regret it!

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A black-and-white group photograph of a large ensemble posed on a stage set resembling a ship from an old production of Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta, HMS Pinafore.

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