But there’s a better option — go to the theatre. They even say that going to the theatre cuts the risk of depression in half. We’ve picked several musicals for you that, we hope, won’t just avoid disappointing you, but will also give you renewed strength.

The Phantom of the Opera

Her Majesty’s Theatre

57 Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4QL

A story of love, passion, and all sorts of terrible theatrical secrets! Andrew Lloyd Webber’s legendary musical has been running in London’s West End since 1986. The premiere nearly forty years ago quickly became wrapped in myths and legends. Some say the famous chandelier almost fell on the terrified audience (nonsense); others claim the audience listened to the second act standing up, overwhelmed by emotion (let’s assume that’s true!); still others whisper about some mysterious spirit roaming the corridors and scaring the theatre staff — even Michael Crawford, the first Phantom, allegedly fainted.

We’ll never believe that one — but Crawford was genuinely stunned by the colossal success and the feverishly passionate reception the show received, so much so that, according to eyewitnesses, he looked a bit… shell-shocked. Christine in that original production was played by Sarah Brightman, who rightfully entered the hall of fame of British theatre.

Since then, The Phantom of the Opera has been performed regularly at Her Majesty’s Theatre. Of course, this is no longer that original version — but that doesn’t mean the show has become worse. Yes, today you’ll hear a reduced orchestration, and the sets are simpler — but we assure you, this doesn’t diminish the spectacle. The audience still gasps, still erupts into wild applause, and some spectators still burst into tears quite sincerely, despite the universally known plot. The story may be familiar — but the emotions remain the same. That’s why we love it, after all — not just for the plot!

In the current cast: Dean Chisnall as the Phantom, Lily Kerhoas as Christine, and Adam Rhys-Charles as Raoul.

Hamilton

Victoria Palace Theatre

79 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 5EA

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical about the life of Alexander Hamilton has become one of the major theatrical phenomena of the 21st century. Unlike The Phantom of the Opera, the set here is minimalist — no chandeliers or moving statues. And yet it overwhelms the audience just as powerfully as Webber’s musical once did, because both fundamentally reshaped audience expectations in their respective eras.

Just imagine: a journey from a single song at a piano to Tony, Grammy, and Pulitzer Prizes! Rap battles as political duels — paired with magnificent voices. Miranda was already a successful composer by then: he had written his first hit In the Heights (winner of four Tony Awards) and the soundtrack for Moana. Then he read a book about Hamilton, and the life story of one of America’s Founding Fathers began to haunt him.

The musical grew out of a single song that Miranda himself performed, without yet having any idea of the monumental project it would become.

What’s especially interesting is this: Hamilton’s tragic fate — his death in a duel (sorry, that’s a well-known historical fact, not a spoiler!) — is not the final moment of the show. The ending is something else entirely: the great “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story,” where Hamilton, already beyond the boundary of life, meets Eliza — and they are together again, this time forever.

Fans know the lyrics by heart, audiences come back again and again — a time-tested phenomenon (catch it before March!). Alex Sawyer plays Hamilton at the Victoria Palace Theatre, Nathania Ong is Eliza, Jay Perry is Aaron Burr, and Jonathan Andrew Hume plays George Washington.

MJ The Musical

Prince Edward Theatre

28 Old Compton Street, London, W1D 4HS

A show about the myth — and the human being inside that thin yet incredibly rigid shell. MJ focuses on the period leading up to the Dangerous World Tour: Michael is drowning in rehearsals, pushing himself mercilessly, torn apart by an inner conflict between perfectionism and humanity. The story doesn’t reach the later investigations or accusations. This is not an attempt to solve Michael’s life — it’s an invitation to observe how an ingrained sense of inadequacy and relentless personal violence can turn someone into… a global superstar? Or a lost little boy?

How is a genius born — and what price does he pay? Themes of guilt, fear, and pressure flicker through Michael’s memories of childhood, and it’s no coincidence that the toxic manager forcing an utterly exhausted artist to work more and more resembles Joseph Jackson. The audience knows what lies ahead — the characters don’t. And that creates a powerful, almost tragic tension.

At the heart of MJ The Musical is a truly unique performer who delivers one of the most striking musical portraits of a real person ever seen on stage. Jamaal Fields-Green plays Michael with such total immersion that it feels as if this isMichael. He seems to retain his own vocal timbre (Jamaal is, incidentally, a successful solo artist), yet you completely believe in a kind of “transmigration of souls.” Professional musicians, by the way, are equally impressed — there’s no caricature here, no Your Face Sounds Familiar energy; this is serious acting.

Speaking of his solo career: Jamaal Fields-Green releases music under the name J. Hasan — original R&B with pop elements. Soft, emotional melodies with flowing rhythms: not harsh, not aggressive hip-hop, but music full of deep personal reflection.

Oliver!

Gielgud Theatre

35–37 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 6AR

Have you noticed that all the previous shows we’ve mentioned today deal with the nature of power? Hamilton is obvious — that’s literal power. In The Phantom of the Opera, too: the Phantom is the king, ruling from the heart of his dark kingdom — the theatre. And MJ as well: it seems as though Michael holds power over the roaring audience, but in reality he’s a sad Pierrot in the hands of his own manager.

Oliver! at the Gielgud Theatre, surprisingly, also belongs in this conversation about power and pressure — but it tells a story with a fundamentally different outcome. In essence, it’s one of the harshest stories about power over a child in musical theatre, based on Dickens’s famous novel, long since a world classic.

After the previous three shows, this feels almost like a therapy session — despite all the horrors of the narrative. Institutional violence? Certainly: behold the workhouse, where the tools of control are food, labor, and constant fear — including fear of death.

Organized crime exploiting minors? Absolutely: meet the “affectionate tyrant” Fagin (brilliantly played by Simon Lipkin), a manipulator and villain.

Yes, all of this is masked by Lionel Bart’s great songs, which lodge themselves permanently in the memory. Who among us hasn’t suddenly caught themselves humming Food, Glorious Food while grabbing some street food on the go?

But the horror of what’s happening can’t truly be concealed. Oliver is saved — through friendship, sincere care, and genuine love. Poor Nancy — only seventeen — won’t be saved in time.

By the way, London is also currently hosting another musical about a child and a miraculous rescue. Guessed it? Right — Matilda by Tim Minchin.

Cast highlights: Fagin — Simon Lipkin, Nancy — Shanay Holmes, the monstrous Bill — Aaron Sidwell, and Oliver is played in rotation by William Barker, Sebastian Elton, Isaac Nelson, and Odo Rowntree-Bailly.

(Whispered aside: the choreography is by Matthew Bourne — absolutely worth seeing, perhaps more than once.)

SIX

Vaudeville Theatre

404 Strand, London, WC2R 0NH

Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss came up with SIX while they were students at Cambridge. Imagine this: it started almost as a joke — just a small student project, not a “big producer musical” at all. And then — boom. Success followed after the Edinburgh Festival, a launchpad for countless major theatre hits.

SIX is also about power — the power of King Henry VIII. But the famous English king never appears on stage, and the concept of power is suddenly turned upside down. Officially, SIX tells the story of Henry’s six wives (remember the faceless formula: Divorced – Beheaded – Died – Divorced – Beheaded – Survived). In reality, it gives voices back to those who were stripped of them.

The tyrant exists here in trauma, jokes, and songs — looming over the stage like a vast invisible shadow. And it’s precisely that shadow the women confront. All those numbered labels — “wife #1,” “wife #2,” “executed / died” — disappear. In the musical, they have real, living voices.

Power in the universe of SIX ceases to be vertical. The women find common ground, realizing they have no obligation to compete in pain, trauma, influence, or legacy. Their shared husband set the rules of the game — rules they can now bypass. Look at that — yet another musical about the nature of power!

Here, Henry’s wives aren’t a formula — they’re six pop divas. What a twist. In SIX, history belongs to women, not to those who wielded power. Six equally leading roles — no single “queen.” There’s also an onstage band, the Ladies-in-Waiting — all women, all in costumes (not anonymous black hoodies), not hidden in the orchestra pit, not shyly concealed behind curtains.

And how could we not list the actresses? Catherine of Aragon — Jaz Robinson, Anne Boleyn — Thao Therese Nguyen, Jane Seymour — Hana Stewart, Anne of Cleves — Dionne Ward-Anderson, Katherine Howard — Caitlyn De Kuyper, Catherine Parr — Amelia Kinu Muus.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Theatre Royal Haymarket

18 Suffolk Street, London, SW1Y 4HT

This is a new musical with original music and lyrics by British singer Passenger (remember Let Her Go and Holes?), directed by Katy Rudd. Last spring, the show was staged at the Chichester Festival Theatre, where it received a very warm reception.

Of course, you recognize the title — it’s based on Rachel Joyce’s 2012 bestseller The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry(Joyce herself wrote the musical’s book). Last year, director Hettie Macdonald released a film adaptation starring Jim Broadbent and Penelope Wilton. And now — the musical.

It must be said: this is an astonishingly gentle transformation of a literary work. The music is tender and beautiful, and the show avoids preaching or judgment altogether. That said, it is quite heartbreaking.

An ordinary, unremarkable man — very much like Chekhov’s “little man” — suddenly, almost accidentally, sets off on an extraordinary walking journey across the entire country. Where to? To visit someone. Whom? An old friend. Many years ago, Harold lacked the emotional strength to support his friend Maureen in her grief. He simply vanished — stopped writing. He couldn’t cope, didn’t know how.

And now, stepping out for an ordinary daytime walk, he suddenly sets off for the far end of England — because Maureen has very little time left to live.

It’s a story about love, forgiveness, hope, and human warmth. Of course, Harold can’t save Maureen, can’t change the past — but through this act, the quiet Odysseus reclaims himself.

“Sometimes the most frightening thing is the silence between people. And the bravest thing is deciding to break it.”

Harold is played by Mark Addy (a strikingly unexpected role for audiences who remember his boisterous Robert Baratheon from Game of Thrones), while Maureen is portrayed by the not just famous but truly magnificent Jenna Russell (EastEnders, Call the Midwife). The narrator is the irresistibly charming Australian actor Noah Mullins.