"What a fantastic event! It looked good, sounded good and felt good. Just what we wanted for the West End - a great weekend of top-class entertainment for all the family. Congratulations to you Mish and the rest of the team."
Sir Simon Milton,
Leader of Westminster City Council

client

Westminster City Council

event

West End Live – June 2005, 2006 & 2007

brief

• To create (in 2005) and then develop and improve (in 2006 and again in 2007) a high profile summer event to showcase the West End as a world-class entertainment zone. It should provide free family entertainment of the highest calibre, drawing people into the West End from all over London and beyond.
• To oversee all aspects of the event from initial concepts through to detailed production and event delivery.
• To secure all of the event content and to integrate sponsorship, marketing and pr/media activities.

solution

Leicester Square, the heart of West End entertainment, was chosen as the venue for West End Live, a free theatrical spectacular, offering visitors taster performances of the best shows in town.

In it first three years, West End Live has enjoyed performances from the casts of Wicked, The Lord of The Rings, Avenue Q, Dirty Dancing, Mamma Mia!, Chicago, The Sound of Music, The Lion King, Blue Man Group, Mary Poppins and many others. It has also enjoyed guest appearances from Brooke Shields, Tom Conti and Duncan James. Aside West End theatre, the event has seen the involvement of organisations such as Disney, BBC, BFI, Film London, The National Gallery, Madame Tussauds et al. - each hosting interactive exhibits in marquees within Leicester Square Gardens. Media partners have included Capital Radio, Capital Gold, The Evening Standard and MTV, while sponsors have included multinationals, local retailers and everything in between.

The event was deemed an unqualified success in its inaugural year, though surpassed even that accolade when its visitor numbers rose to 130,000 in 2006 and more than 150,000 in 2007.