Best West End Musicals with Sing-Along Moments

Some West End musicals leave you humming the songs for days. Whether the tunes are already pop classics or they lodge in your head after just one listen, the best sing-along musicals create a shared energy in the auditorium that few other experiences can match. Here are the West End shows most likely to have you singing all the way home.

Mamma Mia

Built entirely around the songs of ABBA, Mamma Mia is the original jukebox musical and still the ultimate sing-along show. Dancing Queen, Waterloo, Super Trouper, Thank You for the Music: the setlist reads like a greatest hits album, and the audience knows every word. By the encore, most of the theatre is on its feet.

Mamma Mia has been running in the West End since 1999, and the formula has not changed because it does not need to. If you want a night where the whole audience is grinning and swaying, this is the safest bet in Theatreland.

SIX

SIX reimagines the six wives of Henry VIII as a pop girl group competing for the crown of who had it worst. The entire show is a pop concert in structure, with each wife performing a solo number in a different style, from Beyonce-inspired anthems to Ariana Grande-style ballads.

At just 80 minutes with no interval, SIX is pure energy from start to finish. The songs are catchy enough that many audience members arrive already knowing the lyrics from the cast recording. By the time the ensemble number reaches its finale, the atmosphere is more gig than theatre.

Hamilton

Hamilton at the Victoria Palace Theatre is a different kind of sing-along. Lin-Manuel Miranda's hip-hop musical about the founding of America has a devoted fanbase who know every bar of the score. The melodies in numbers like You'll Be Back and The Room Where It Happens are immediately memorable, and the recurring musical motifs mean that the songs build on each other throughout the evening.

The sheer density of the lyrics makes it a show that rewards repeat listening; many audience members arrive having listened to the cast album dozens of times. It is one of those rare shows where the audience's familiarity with the material adds to the collective experience.

The Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon has some of the catchiest songs in the West End, written by Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez. The melodies are deliberately earworm-friendly, drawing on gospel, Disney ballad and Broadway pastiche styles. Songs like Hello, Turn It Off and I Believe are wickedly funny and deceptively hummable.

While the humour is sharp and the language is colourful, the songs are so well crafted that they stick in your head whether you want them to or not. It is worth noting that the show is aimed at adults and includes strong language throughout.

& Juliet

& Juliet uses the pop catalogue of songwriter Max Martin, the man behind hits for Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Katy Perry and Ariana Grande. The premise is a "what if" reimagining of Romeo and Juliet's ending, but the real draw is the music: Larger Than Life, Baby One More Time, Can't Stop the Feeling and Roar are all in the setlist.

The result feels like a night out set to a playlist you have been listening to your whole life. The cast performs the songs with full theatrical staging while the audience tries very hard not to sing along out loud. Not everyone succeeds.

Starlight Express

Starlight Express at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre is Andrew Lloyd Webber's roller-skating musical, reimagined for a new generation. The score includes the power ballad Starlight Express and the driving rock number AC/DC, both of which are designed to fill a large auditorium. The energy of performers racing on skates around and through the audience creates an atmosphere closer to a sporting event than a traditional musical, and the crowd responds accordingly.

Les Miserables

Les Miserables at the Sondheim Theatre has been running in the West End since 1985, and its songs have entered the cultural bloodstream. I Dreamed a Dream, One Day More, Bring Him Home and Do You Hear the People Sing are among the most recognisable songs in musical theatre.

The sing-along element here is different from a pop musical; the emotion builds through the evening until the final act becomes genuinely overwhelming. You may not sing along during the performance, but you will almost certainly be singing in the car or on the tube afterwards.

How to Book

All of these shows can be booked through BritishTheatre.com or through tickadoo. For the most popular shows, booking in advance is recommended, especially for weekend performances.

If you are buying tickets as a gift, tickadoo gift vouchers let the recipient choose their own show and date.