A theatre break in London (From Bournemouth Echo)

A theatre break in London

6:00am Saturday 30th January 2010 in

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YOU can’t get much closer to Buckingham Palace than The Rubens at The Palace. Stroll across the royal parks, past the hordes of tourists posing for photos and, before you know it, you’re there, being greeted by a friendly doorman in top hat and red tail.

It’s also close to the West End, which makes it an ideal base for a theatre trip with Superbreak, the UK’s leading short break travel company.

We didn’t head for Shaftesbury Avenue, though, but the Apollo Victoria, a splendid former cinema, situated even more conveniently just round the corner, to see Wicked.

The New York Times has called it “the defining musical of the decade”, Entertainment Weekly says it’s “the best stage musical of the decade” and the Sunday Telegraph describes it as “a West End phenomenon”.

Now in its fourth year in London, it has already won over 30 international awards, been seen by over 2.5 million people and taken £90m-plus at the box office.

It’s a re-imagining of L Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the inspiration for the iconic film starring Judy Garland, and is about two girls who meet at sorcery school and strike up an unlikely alliance.

Alexia Khadime stars as Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Dianne Pilkington is Glinda the Good, while Harriet Thorpe (from TV’s Brittas Empire and Absolutely Fabulous) is Madame Morrible and Sam Kelly (‘Allo ‘Allo, Porridge) is The Wizard – or at least until the end of March, when the cast changes.

It’s an enthralling show, which kept my nine-year-old daughter on the edge of her seat – worth seeing for the spectacular finale to the first half alone, as Elphaba, brandishing her broomstick, hovers high above the stage.

Other favourites on the Superbreak roster include long-running hits like Lion King and We Will Rock You, spectaculars such as Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera, plus feelgood shows like Hairspray, Sister Act and Mamma Mia.

Light entertainment and variety are back in a big way for weekend couch potatoes – but if you want to see real talent, rather than the “reality TV” version, there really is no substitute for live theatre.

GETTING THERE

• Superbreak offers a range of packages that combine overnight accommodation and tickets to the show to suit all tastes and budgets. A package including a one-night stay at the four-star Rubens at The Palace hotel on a b&b basis, with a stalls or dress circle ticket to see Wicked, costs from £147 per person on Fridays until the end of April, based on two sharing.

• Superbreak can also arrange return rail travel as part of a package to London and this is added at the time of booking.

Other packages are available – call for details. To book, call 0871 222 3055 or visit superbreak.com