London Theatre Direct turns 25!

Posted on Sep 1, 2024 | By Sian McBride

London Theatre Direct, one of the UK’s leading online theatre ticketing agencies, turns 25 this year. To mark the milestone, we're hosting 25 days of celebrations from 1st September 2024, including giving away £25 vouchers each to all our existing and new newsletter subscribers (with a whopping £12.5M worth of vouchers up for grabs!).

Playing a starring role in shaping the theatre-going experience and offering seamless access to the best of London’s West End and beyond, London Theatre Direct has been shining a spotlight on the UK’s theatre scene for the past two and a half decades. Since its opening night in 1999, we have witnessed and contributed to the evolution of London's theatre scene including groundbreaking productions like The Lion King and MAMMA MIA!. London Theatre Direct has overseen more than 6,000 shows and has sold more than 15 million tickets, grossing over one billion pounds in ticket sales.

As one of the first platforms to offer real-time online ticketing, London Theatre Direct revolutionised the way theatre lovers purchase tickets and has made theatre more accessible and engaging for audiences worldwide. The introduction of mobile ticketing, dynamic pricing and creating user-friendly seat plans made it easier than ever to book and enjoy the best seats in the house. As London Theatre Direct celebrates this milestone, it remains committed to enhancing the theatre experience for all. London Theatre Direct is set to continue its legacy of bringing the best of London theatre to audiences around the globe.

In 2019, London Theatre Direct was acquired by Trafalgar Entertainment. CEOs Rosemary Squire and Howard Panter, who together have produced many productions sold by London Theatre Direct over the last 25 years said: “Congratulations to everyone at London Theatre Direct as they celebrate an incredible 25 years. London Theatre Direct was one of the UK’s first exclusively online ticket agencies and has gone on to become one of the world’s biggest theatre ticket agencies and distributors, selling more than £1 billion worth of tickets. Always innovative and ahead of the curve, the success story continues. Here’s to the next 25!”

Ryan Woods, Commercial Director at London Theatre Direct, said: “London Theatre Direct has grown massively in recent years and we are now one the largest distributors of tickets for West End shows. We are passionate about working with all shows to sell tickets across multiple channels that bring audiences in from around the globe. We really are in it for the long run, so here’s to another 25 years! I suspect our fellow alumni from the Class of ’99 (MAMMA MIA! and The Lion King opened in 1999) will still be here…!”

Over the course of 25 years, leading West End producers have congratulated London Theatre Direct on this milestone, including Sonia Friedman of Sonia Friedman Productions, who produces The Book of Mormon, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and Stranger Things: The First Shadow and Mean Girls (among others): “London Theatre Direct have had an enormous positive impact on London’s West End over the past decades by making theatre more accessible to the public and helping millions fall in love with performing arts . Here's to many more years of helping to bring the magic, imagination and power of live performance in all its forms to audiences far and wide and thank you for giving countless number of theatregoers memories that will last a lifetime”. Michael Harrison of Lloyd Webber Harrison Productions added: “Happy Birthday to London Theatre Direct! A huge achievement and huge service to the industry. Here’s to working together for the many more years to come!”

It may be their birthday, but London Theatre Direct will be gifting all their newsletter subscribers a special present to mark the occasion! Existing and new email recipients (who sign up by the 24th of September) will be sent a £25 voucher to use against ANY show. Theatre lovers can redeem their vouchers by the 25th of September 2024 with a minimum spend of £150 for use on a West End staple, such as Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera, The Mousetrap, or brand-new productions like The Devil Wears Prada, Hadestown, or Why Am I So Single? Or even a show that isn’t even out yet, as we will be dropping exclusive pre-sales throughout the 25 days of theatre. Watch this space...