Number 7 on my London List was: attend another West End Show. This is a funny one, because unlike most of the other entries, I’ve done this before and seen a decent number of shows here. One of my all-time favourites, Les Miserables, was one of the first shows I rushed to see again once I’d moved to this incredible city that performs it night after night.

I think going to shows in the West End is one of those things you think you’ll do fairly often when you move to London, but for me at least, it didn’t become quite as regular an occurrence as I would’ve hoped. One factor is that it’s not particularly cheap to see the big shows and I’d rather spend a bit more to get a significantly better seat, it really does make such a difference to the whole experience.

The other factor? Well, life gets in the way I guess. There’s just so much to do in London anyway, that the days and weeks tend to get filled with everything else going on: films to see, people to meet, weekends away. Going to shows often ends up being a ‘special occasion’ activity or something to do with friends who are visiting.

So I put this one on my London List to make sure I made the effort to go to another West End show in the next 12 months – not for any special reason other than it’s something I should do more often…

A good friend of mine really wanted to see Singing in the Rain, since it’s pretty much her favourite childhood film that she’s watched a hundred times. I, on the other hand, have never seen it…but I’m a big fan of tap dancing so I was definitely up for it. I’ve walked past the Palace Theatre in between Covent Garden, Soho and Leicester Square so many times in the last 4+ years, so it was pretty exciting to finally get inside to see a show there.

One thing I do love about theatre in London is the beautiful old buildings they’re staged in, which must have seen thousands upon thousands of performances across their creaky stages over the years. Looking at them from the outside, it’s impossible to know what the actual stage, style or layout of the theatre will be – some are a lot more spacious than you’d expect and some are a lot smaller, with the higher tiers so steep you almost get a sense of vertigo looking straight down on to the stage. One thing I’ll say about the Palace Theatre, is that there’s not a lot of leg room in the Balcony. Great view and reasonably priced tickets, but if you’re tall it might be worth paying a bit more to sit on one of the lower levels.

I really, really loved this show and I think any performance that makes you go home and research tap lessons must be a winner. The incredible dancing, the gorgeous 1920′s costumes, the music, the umbrellas and of course, the rain – it was all brilliantly done and I’m super happy this was the West End show entry on my London List.

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The London List is a year-long challenge I’ve set myself to do and see 12 things in London that I haven’t gotten around to doing in my past 4 years living here. For me, it’s about having more adventures in the city I live in between the overseas ones.

I’d encourage anyone who wants to see more of London (or wherever they live) to make their own list of 12 things to do – big or small – in the next 12 months.

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