The Best-Reviewed West End Shows Right Now: 22 to 28 June 2026

Every week we rank what is actually on sale in the West End by the two numbers that matter most to anyone trying to choose: the average customer rating, and the number of reviews behind it. A 5.0 from seven people is not the same signal as a 4.9 from ten thousand, so this piece keeps the two ideas separate. Below is the picture for the week of 22 to 28 June 2026, drawn from our live data across 50 productions on sale.

How we rank these

We start from the live catalogue, take only shows currently on sale, and sort by average rating, using review volume as the tie-break. Then we read the result with a sceptical eye. A near-perfect score from a handful of reviews tells you a show is loved by the people who have seen it, but it has not yet been stress-tested by the crowds. The titles we trust most are the ones that hold a very high rating across thousands of reviews, because that is far harder to fake. We point out both kinds below.

The highest-rated big show: The Lion King

The single most convincing number in our data this week belongs to Disney's The Lion King at the Lyceum, which holds 4.9 stars across more than 10,000 reviews. No other large-scale musical in town combines a rating that high with a sample that large. Julie Taymor's staging is the reason: the opening "Circle of Life", with its puppet animals processing through the auditorium, remains one of the great coups de theatre in London, and it lands just as hard whether it is your first show or your fortieth.

The almost-perfect scores worth a caveat

A couple of titles in our catalogue sit even higher on raw rating but on much smaller samples: Avenue Q posts a clean 5.0 from just seven reviews, while My Neighbour Totoro at the Gillian Lynne holds 4.9. Totoro is the far more reassuring of the two, because its 4.9 rests on several hundred reviews rather than a handful, and the production has been one of the most garlanded in London since it first opened, sweeping the Olivier Awards. The Royal Shakespeare Company's stage version of the Studio Ghibli film is a genuine piece of theatrical magic, and it is the rare family show that adults tend to love even more than the children.

The 4.8 club: huge ratings, huge samples

Just below the top sit three musicals that pair a 4.8 rating with serious review volume, which is the combination we rate most highly. Moulin Rouge! The Musical at the Piccadilly carries 4.8 stars across more than 3,000 reviews, and remains the most lavish night out in the West End, the Baz Luhrmann jukebox spectacle turned up to full volume. The Devil Wears Prada at the Dominion matches that 4.8 across nearly 2,000 reviews, with an Elton John score and a glossy fashion-world staging. And Hadestown at the Lyric holds 4.8 across close to 1,000 reviews, the most musically sophisticated of the three, a jazz-and-folk retelling of the Orpheus myth that won eight Tony Awards on Broadway.

The most-reviewed shows in town

If you would rather follow the wisdom of the largest crowds, the most-reviewed shows in our data are a slightly different list. The Lion King leads on volume as well as rating, followed by The Phantom of the Opera at His Majesty's, Mamma Mia! at the Novello, Les Miserables at the Sondheim and Wicked at the Apollo Victoria, each with thousands of reviews behind a rating of 4.6 or higher. These are the institutions, the shows that have survived precisely because audiences keep rating them highly decade after decade. Matilda The Musical and The Book of Mormon are just behind, both north of 3,700 reviews.

The high-rated play: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Musicals dominate the top of the list, but the best-reviewed play in our live data is Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace, at 4.7 stars across more than 1,200 reviews. The two-part epic remains the most ambitious piece of stagecraft in the West End, and the illusions still draw audible gasps. Stranger Things: The First Shadow at the Phoenix sits alongside it on rating, the rare prequel that works as a piece of theatre in its own right.

Frequently asked questions

What is the highest-rated West End show right now?

By the most reliable measure, a very high rating across a very large number of reviews, Disney's The Lion King leads our live data at 4.9 stars from more than 10,000 reviews. A couple of shows post a higher raw score on far smaller samples, but none combines a rating that high with a crowd that large.

Why do you separate rating from review count?

Because they answer different questions. A 5.0 from seven reviews shows a show is loved by the few who have seen it. A 4.9 from ten thousand shows a verdict that has held up under enormous scrutiny. We sort by rating but always read it next to the review volume, and we recommend you do the same when comparing two shows.

Which is the best-reviewed play, rather than musical?

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the highest-rated play in our live data this week, at 4.7 stars across more than 1,200 reviews, with Stranger Things: The First Shadow close behind.

Are these ratings updated each week?

Yes. We pull the ratings and review counts fresh from our live catalogue for each weekly round-up, so the numbers reflect what is on sale now rather than a fixed historical list. You can also browse the live best-rated shows index at any time.

For the rest of this week's coverage, see our flagship round-up of what is on in the West End, our best-value tickets piece, and the wider UK theatre round-up. For deeper background, our guide to Wicked and guide to The Phantom of the Opera are good companions, and the live musicals index and plays index let you sort the full catalogue yourself.