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The University of Washington's
London Theatre and Concert Hall Tour
About the Tour | Registration Information | Program Schedules | Related Links
The West End's Shaftsbury Ave at dusk
About the 2010 Tour
Professor John Webster, a 2009 winner of the UW Distinguished Teaching Award, has been leading Theatre and Concert tours to London since 1981. The next tour will take place in 2010, from March 12 to March 27. As with previous tours, participants will have top price tickets to 12 events over the tour’s 14 days. Most evenings will be devoted to performances, and most mornings, from 9-10:20 am, John Webster or his London-based colleague Roderick Swanston (of London University's Imperial College and a frequent BBC radio commentator and reviewer) will discuss the preceding day’s event and preview the performance to come. (For more about John Webster, click here; for more about Roderick Swanston, click here.)
The 2010 edition of the UW London Theatre and Concert Hall Tour will offer its participants:
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an overview of London’s current Theatre and Classical Concert venues and performance groups;
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the best available seats for each of our production or concert selections;
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a series of informative background and discussion sessions led most mornings by Professor Webster and/or his London colleague Roderick Swanston;
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a balance of old and new plays, West End and Fringe productions;
- a range of concerts, from chamber music to full orchestral performances.
The tour price of $3299 includes:
- Standard double or twin bedded room at the President Hotel in Central London
- Full English breakfast each morning
- Airport Transport - Private Coach (See note on air transport below)
- Airport Porterage
- Concert and Theater Tickets to 12 performances
- Backstage Theatre Tour
- Morning talks by Professors Webster and Swanston
- London Transit pass (14 days)
NOTE: Roundtrip airfare and laundry service are not included. Most of us will be flying with British Airways on BA 048 departing Seattle the evening of Friday, March 12, and our coach to the President Hotel will depart approximately one hour after the BA 048 arrival time [currently set at 12 noon].) Tour members travelling on other flights or arriving on other days will be responsible for their own transportation to the President Hotel, though passengers arriving on Saturday morning on any flight other than BA 048 will also be able to join us on the coach.
(The 2010 event schedule cannot be booked until tickets become available over the coming winter, but prospective tour members can get a very good idea of what the schedule will be by reviewing schedules for any or all of the past 5 tours--including the recently completed 2008 tour. To access these schedules, click on any of the following links: 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008.)
Though focused on performance, London Theatre and Concert Hall also offers its members time to discover the museums, shops, great houses and other attractions throughout the rest of London. Most days will be free to explore this historic city on your own, or to shop or just relax. Professor Webster has been visiting and exploring London for many years, and will happily supply ideas to guide your days as well. (And to get started, click here for Professor Webster's picks for London's Ten Best Least-known Attractions, click here for Twelve Great London Pubs, and click here for Ten Great Daytrips Out of London.)
One day each week will be kept entirely free from scheduled events in order that you may plan your own excursions either within or outside of London, or attend other events of your choice. (Oxford, Stratford, Cambridge, Salisbury or Canterbury are just a few of many possible day-trips. Click here for information on Ten Great Daytrips Out of London.)
Tour Ratings: Participants have consistently given the tour very high ratings. Our two most recent tours (2006 and 2008) rated both the tour and its leader 4.9 and 5.0 respectively on a 5.0 scale, and over the years many participants have returned again and again. (In both 2006 and 2008, 70% of the tour's participants had gone on at least one earlier version of our London Theatre and Concert Hall tour.)
(The tour was featured in a 2008 article by The Seattle Time's travel writer Kristin Jackson; to read this article click: Times Travel Section.)
The 2010 tour price of $3299 includes top price tickets for 12 events, morning lectures and discussions led either by Professor Webster or his London-based musician colleague Roderick Swanston, 14 nights hotel accommodations with full English breakfast, transport passes for all buses and underground connections within central London, and airport transfer for passengers arriving on the morning of March 13 and departing with the group from the President Hotel on March 27. (Most of us will be flying with British Airways on BA 048; you may arrive on any flight, but our coach will depart within one hour of the BA 048 arrival time [currently set at 12 noon].) Tour price does not include airfare.
Current and Past Years' Program Schedules
Events for the 2010 tour will not be booked until the winter of 2010. To see schedules for the last five London Theatre and Concert Tours just click below on the appropriate year:
The 2008 Tour stayed at the President Hotel, located on Russell Square in Bloomsbury--a ten minute walk from the British Museum. It is adjacent the Russell Square Hotel, and just a five minute walk from the Russell Square Tube station. It is also served by four major bus lines. Address:
16 Russell Square
London, WC1N 1DB
United Kingdom
Phone from US: 011 44 20 78378844
Phone from UK: 0207 837 8844
Roomsnet.com comments: "A popular destination amongst RoomsNet users, the President Hotel is the Best Guest Rated London Hotel in 2007 with a customer rating of 96%."
For more information about the President Hotel, click here.
For information about getting around London via the Underground and other methods of transportation, click here.
For information about British Rail, click here.
For information on restaurants, cafes, and shops in London click here.
For Professor Webster's SLIDE SHOW of London sites, click here. (Slide show presentation and illustration by Jessica Coleman.)
For Professor Webster's picks for:
About the Tour | Registration Information | Program Schedules | Related Links
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