With a new year comes a new range of shows to go and see. Whether it’s returning to a classic favourite or trying something new, the West End and touring shows have a musical bound to fill any of your theatrical desires! But how does one choose what musical to spend your hard-earned money on? If only there was some event to give potential audiences a taster of the best of British theatre currently playing across the country…
The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals is an annual event showcasing a range of musicals currently showing across the country, with short numbers from West End and touring casts. Hosted by comedian and actor Jason Manford, this year’s line-up included performances from The Phantom of the Opera, A Chorus Line, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Hamilton and Grease, among others, interspersed with features celebrating a special theatre worker, as well as tasters for a range of musicals that didn’t perform, such as The Little Big Things.
The event, both in person and televised, were fun. I enjoyed getting to see the range of musicals we have in the country at the moment (and those which will soon be joining us!), as well as seeing the stars from around the world of musical theatre coming together for this special event. Whilst the performances were mixed for me, several standouts included the phenomenal The Phantom of the Opera, Aladdin and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, with Jon Robyns and Lily Kerhoas absolutely standing out in their rendition of Phantom’s titular song.
It was also nice to see the additional inserts from celebrity musical faces and local and youth theatre groups (even if between filming and broadcasting the BBC cut out a section in which Jason Manford spoke to and correctly used the pronouns of a young non-binary person who led the youth group in ‘Seasons of Love’). As mentioned previously however, some of the performances didn’t hit the mark with me, and although in most cases has made me more likely to visit some shows, it also inadvertently made me less likely to book tickets for others. Whilst this is to be expected with some performances, different creative decisions may have made the show a lot more consistent in what was being portrayed, which makes the imbalance unfortunate.
The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals was a joyous celebration of the very best of British musical theatre, both present and future. The show definitely had its share of creative and editorial issues that were more obvious having been there when it was recorded, but if you like musicals or are looking for something new to go and see, it’s definitely worth a watch!
Rating: ★★★☆☆
The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals was filmed at the AO Arena in Manchester on January 22nd & was shown on BBC1 on January 27th. The show is now available to watch on BBC iPlayer
