This year sees the celebration of 100 years of West End theatre. Musical lover Claire Burbage visits London to see some of the special events planned to mark the anniversary

HIT shows such as Any Dream Will Do and How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? saw thousands of wannabes auditioning for a role in a hit West End show and have swelled the audiences of London theatres.

The city offers some of the best venues in the world and, in this centenary year of the West End theatre, a series of major events are taking place. Highlights include the annual Get into London Theatre promotion, the Laurence Olivier Awards, which will have a centenary theme, Celebrate the Play in May, a special centenary walk of London's theatreland and Open Rehearsal, a weekend of behind- the-scenes tours of leading theatres.

We began our visit to theatreland on a walking tour with Blue Badge guide, Diane Burstein, one of the city's best known and most versatile tour guides.

The Theatrical London tour took us around Covent Garden where we heard anecdotes about the West End's personalities and venues, including London's oldest theatre with its many ghosts and a visit to a haunted stage door where an actor was murdered.

A new exhibition at the V&A, Collaborators: UK Design For Performance 2003-2007, running until November, is a selection of the best British theatre designs of the last four years. From pantomime and drama, to opera and dance, the display brings together the work of over 100 of Britain's most creative theatre designers.

The exhibition includes costumes, puppets, drawings, photographs, stage sets and interactive digital presentations. Entry is free.

A highlight of our visit to the Royal Opera House was a backstage tour where we were able to watch dancers in rehearsals. The tour includes an introduction to the history of the theatre, an insight into the recent development and a look at the props area where workers are busy making weird and wonderful things for the latest performance.

BUT the most important highlight of any musical trip has to be the musicals themselves. There are literally dozens to choose from, with new shows and stars appearing all the time. We saw two.

Our first choice was the most expensive of all West End shows, The Lord Of The Rings The Musical, which has more than 70 actors, singers and musicians. The computer-controlled stage floor weighs 40 tons and has 17 independently-operated elevators, the Hobbits, Orcs and Elves wear 227 pairs of shoes and boots and there are 504 costumes in the show and 256 costume changes.

At the other end of the scale, Billy Elliot The Musical is a pared-down performance, but it was never going to disappoint. The show has been playing at the Victoria Palace Theatre since 2005 and in October celebrated its 1,000th performance.

Billy Elliot The Musical is set in the North- East of England and is a heart-warming celebration of one young boy's dreams. It is an adaptation of one of the most adored British films of the last decade, which was nominated for three Oscars and 13 Bafta Awards.

We enjoyed pre-theatre drinks at Jewel Bar, in Piccadilly. This Parisian-themed bar with crystal chandeliers cascading from the ceilings is ideal to set the mood for the evening.

We stayed at the Radisson Edwardian Hampshire Hotel, a five-star hotel ideally located in Leicester Square and handily placed for the whole of the West End theatreland.

This traditional grand hotel is also convenient for all the city sights, including Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, the National Portrait Gallery and Piccadilly Circus.

Raddisson Edwardian has several hotels in the area and the group has launched a simple online theatre booking system. Prices for a one-night stay in a four-star hotel combined with a theatre ticket start from £99 based on two people sharing.

TRAVEL FACTS

Radisson Edwardian theatre breaks: www.radissonedwardian.com/ theatrebreaks.

Get Into London Theatre: www.getintolondontheatre.com.

Blue Badge Guide Diane Burstein www.secretlondonwalks.co.uk

Victoria and Albert www.vam.ac.uk/tco

Royal Opera House www.royalhouse.org

www.visitlondon.co.uk

9:26am Saturday 29th March 2008

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