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the best and worst of WEST END LIVE 2026 | reviewing every musical performance
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Mickey Jo Theatre (Theatre Critic/Host)
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I have just spent two days at West End Live seeing dozens of shows performing at Trafalgar Square in London and boy are my arms lightly Sunb yes, it is that time of year again. I have just spent an ever thrilling if somewhat fatiguing weekend at West End Live, one of the most anticipated and over subscribed events in the London theatrical calendar. It continues to prove hugely popular, defying the limitations of Trafalgar Square. However, because of that central location, there seems to be more buy in from West End shows and more performances than ever before, including a handful of fan favorite musicals who performed this year for the very first time and in its 20 plus year history. West End Live has really evolved not just as a way of giving back to fans with these in person performances which are also shared online subsequently if you want to check some of them out for yourselves, but also as a legitimate marketing opportunity for ongoing and upcoming shows. I thought this year we really saw a professional sheen across almost all of the presentations at West End Live. You really got a sense of producers being aware of the power of this moment, both in terms of the way that the performances themselves were curated, how the performers were styled, the songs that they chose for them to do, but also the opportunity to announced news. More than one production announced their casting on the West End Live stage, and since I am an independent theatre critic and since I saw almost every performance on the main stage over the weekend, I thought today I would let you know what I thought of each one. I'm not going to give them a star rating. This was not a full production. However, as a former educator, I am going to give them a grade which is both thoughtfully assigned by me and also just my opinion. And not that serious. Because not only was it a pretty great weekend where I thought everyone did a pretty great job, it's also an incredibly challenging setup for performers hearing themselves performing with a track and coping with the unique and extraordinary pressure of thousands of musical theater fans staring back at you and the knowledge that your performance is about to be imminently uploaded to the Internet. Now, if any of you also had the opportunity to see these performances either remotely or in person, and you are as opinionated as I am, feel free to share your opinions about them in the comments section down below. And if you enjoy listening to my thoughts and would like to hear more of them about all things theater, make sure you subscribe here on YouTube or follow me on podcast platforms. And having just now realized I never actually got around to introducing myself. Oh my God. Hey, my name is Mickey Jo. Let's talk about West End Live 2026. So I'm going to talk through the shows rather than the standalone concerts and individuals and we're going to do it in the order in which they performed, starting with Disney's Hercules. Disney always does a great job of igniting West End Live with energy and enthusiasm. A big part of that is also they tend to bring some of the best known songs a surprise then that technically the first two Disney songs we heard from Hercules Hercules were both original for the show. They started with an energetic warm up giving us choreography to great bolts of thunder. This is my grapevine. Right left right. And then Meg and Hercules sang their little Overlapping romantic bickering song and they looked great in character adjacent casual clothing. And they sounded fantastic. I liked the warm up. It wasn't necessarily the most impactful sales pitch for anyone to go back and see the show. They didn't really bring any of its aesthetic or spectacle to the stage. They get a solid B. Next up, we had High Society. Now this is an interesting one because classic revivals tend to struggle on the West End Live stage, especially very dancy shows. I thought the choreography that they brought to this stage really went over very well. They did a big dance number from the show's second act, a mashup of let's do it and let's Misbehave, which was at one point a little to their peril because there was some confusion about which lyric they were singing. Also one of a number of shows over the past few years. This has been a stable of West End Live to have understudies perform in lieu of principal cast members. Helen George was not performing. There was a sensational cover performer. I was surprised they didn't have Carly Mercedes Dyer or Julian Ovenden accompany that with a solo song. A very well known Cole Porter number. So impressive dance notwithstanding, I feel like they also get a B. Then we have Avenue Q. Returning to West End Live because I'm sure they must have performed at a very early version of it years ago when they were last in the West End. I love that Original West End cast member Julie Atherton was there to introduce the performers and puppets. And we had It Sucks to Be Me heading into if youf Were Gay. It was a great showcase for the puppetry and vocal talent of the new cast members. They are terrific. I do think there are probably bigger numbers that they could have performed in terms of encouraging audience participation. I feel like they could have done something fun with the Money song or There is life outside your apartment. Considering they were performing it in central London in Trafalgar Square even. Everyone's a little bit bassist. Like they had no problem going there in terms of the content because this was the first of, I think, a trio of F bombs that we heard across the weekend. I also think while I respect them not necessarily performing his number, the West End Live audience would have gone nuts just to see and hear a little from Trekkie Monster. I'm giving avenue Q A B plus. Then we have Wicked celebrating their 20th anniversary this year. And I think that kind of an anniversary demands a slightly more meaningful West End live performance. Wicked is always going to be pop. Every year it's A popular show. These are popular songs. Emma Kingston sang the Wizard Eye and did a fantastic job in previous years. The cast members from Wicked have been ready in costume and we've had a fully greenified Elphaba some years. They just wear green and, you know, I respect that. We're in a heat wave right now, if that wasn't already obvious from the sheen on my face. Anyone asking for my skincare routine today, the answer is sweat.
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Mickey Jo Theatre (Theatre Critic/Host)
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That's the secret ingredient in the year of celebrating its history. What a fun surprise if you had had some former Elphabas or Glind coming out unannounced to join Emma Kingston on stage. I just feel like something like that could have happened. Wicked gets a B minus for a slightly unmagical lack of imagination. Then from an anniversary show to a completely new musical, the Boy who Harnessed the Wind, which I thoroughly enjoyed when I saw it recently at Soho Place. Check out my review and then book yourselves tickets. Go support new Musical theatre. They did a number from the start of the second act, which I really love in the context of the show. And they're singing, it won't work, William. It's a great melody. The problem that this show has and that keeps its material from being really well suited to West End Live is so many of these songs move in and out of dialogue. And this one in particular has a repetitive chorus, which is not a problem when it's broken up by different scenes and when William is moving between different members of his community. When you do it without all of the dialogue breaks and you just have them singing over and over, then it starts to feel a little repetitive. They did a ballad subsequently, which was very moving and came over very well. I don't know if it really solved the show as much as I hoped it would. I feel like this also gets a B. Then returning to the West End Live stage, Moulin Rouge the Musical and its current leading cast members, Alastair Brammer and Carys Anderson, who began with Come what May and looked fantastic. Like, if you're not going to turn up in costume, look this sensational, that I think is the bar. Like, I like the thing that everyone does with the matching T shirts, but these two, I audibly reacted to them stepping out on stage and both looking so gorgeous. I can't recall if Moulin Rouge has done Come what May before. It was definitely an inversion on some of their previous Western live performances, because they have in the past opened with Lady Marmalade and they closed with it this time around. And in the middle, Aleister Brammer sang Roxanne. Very popular among the musical theatre fans. A great choice. He sounded great. It's Moulin Rouge. I do think they too have room to be a little more ambitious and they could bring us one of their larger production numbers. Again, it just felt like a kind of B performance. And that is what they get. And if you're beginning to think. Mickey Jo, were you impressed by anything at West End Live? I was, and I was surprised by how much the next one impressed me. This was the Devil Wears Prada. Once again, Vanessa Williams emerged on stage in order to announce the performances. First, Matt Henry, who sang his ballad from the second act scene, certainly seen. After that, they did the number from the start of the second act, the one that is bafflingly a country number, but it's Emily and the chorus of fantasy hot nurses singing Bon Voyage with campy choreography and this. I think if you knew nothing. The Devil Wears Prada, the musical, if you hadn't seen it yet and you were a little bit skeptical about all of these films turned into stage shows, this is like a heightened theatrical version. And so I thought that actually did a really great job of selling the show anew. And they did a great job performing it. I'm going to give it an A minus. Immediately after which, we had perhaps one of the most anticipated performances of the weekend. The first West End Live appearance from Paddington the Musical, fresh from its multi Olivier wins and news of a Broadway transfer. Unsurprisingly, there was no bear. Like I said, temperatures were high. Make no mistake, it's a real win that they're doing West End Live at all. A lot of those really big shows in years past wouldn't have done West End Live in their earliest years, especially if they didn't need to. And Paddington does not need to. Paddington is sold out for months in advance. The song they ended up doing, which was Pretty Little Dead Things, is not the most obvious for the West End Live crowd. It is one of the earliest songs that they released, and so it's one of the ones that audiences know best. It's also probably the only chance we're going to have for Victoria Ham Barrett to do it at West End Live. She's already announced that she's leaving the show later this year, presumably to go to Broadway. Extended version. This isn't even in the shed. When Paddington does Marmalade or Rhythm of London, that's the one, I think that's really gonna sell. That, I think is going to be like a highlight of West End Live. So thrilled to see Paddington there. Understand the choice they made. It's still a B plus decision. After which Cabaret showcasing both of their current leading stars, Jamie Moscato and Joy Woods. We had Jamie Moscato performing Vil that led into Joy woods performing Don't Tell Mama. I actually think mine Hair is the most exciting and persuasive early Sally song that Joy could have done. I would have loved if they'd chosen mine. Hair Don't Tell Mama is an interesting choice. You know, it's not in the film. It's probably one of the lesser known cabaret songs. Joy still sounds great. She could have also sung maybe this time. Like I don't know if it was the best way to showcase her and her exceptional vocal talent. Like we have Joy woods on a West End line stage and she's mostly doing character work. Cabaret gets a B from me. Next was Sinatra and I have such respect and understanding for the fact that Sinatra is currently in previews. It is opening this week with a handful of press performances. I am going to one of them tonight. So I understand why leading man Joel Harper Jackson couldn't be in attendance and why they probably didn't have time to rehearse anyone who covers him in that role to go and do West End Live. It is perhaps surprising when they would have had a two show day anyway that he wasn't there there to chat about the show even if they didn't want to make him sing. Instead we had one of the show's leading ladies, Phoebe Panarettos, of whom I have been a huge fan for years by the way. She's a star. She performed Come Rain or Come Shine and it just didn't deliver. Frank, she looked exceptional, she sounded fantastic. It was classy. But you cannot sell Sinatra the Musical, I think with anything other than Frank. And they did what they could if that wasn't a possibility. Better to have something performed at West End Live than nothing at all. But I think in terms of meeting the basic expectation of selling and explaining your show, especially as a new musical, performing at West End Live for the very first time, it didn't really get that. So it gets a C. Then we had Hadestown and someone can remind me perhaps they've done some of these songs at West End Live before. I can remember them doing All I've ever Known and Way down Hadestown. This time we had Clive Rowe as Hermes introducing Rachel Adadeji performing Living it up on Top of great number for the West End Live audience. It includes many of the principal cast members that then transitioned into when the Chips are down sung by the Fates, which I think is also just really groovy and jazzy. Hadestown, which has many sort of slower ballads in its score and a lot of introspective moments, chose to lead with groove and funk on the West End Live stage. I think that was a great choice. I think everyone sounded great. It made me really excited. I've seen Hadestan her for many times. I watched that performance and just like I did last year, I thought to myself, damn, I need to get back to Hadestown to see these new cast members. Clive sounded amazing. I'm excited to hopefully catch all of them in their roles. That gets an A. Then we enter into a quartet of shows produced by Sir Cameron McIntosh Hamilton first and we had Daniel Boys performing you'll be Back. And at least a few shows at Western Live have the responsibility of needing to perform form some sort of a very popular sing along number. And an audience, especially an audience of British musical theater fans are always going to sing along with you'll Be back. Not just the da da da da da, the whole damn thing. So that was very crowd pleasing. They've done that at West End Live before. They've also done fuller production numbers, fuller company numbers. At West End Live before. We've had Skyler Sisters, we've had the opening before. And so to just do you'll be back back felt like the Hamilton plan B. A B is what they get next. Oliver. Olivier award nominee Simon Lipkin and the young company performing. You've got to pick a pocket or two. Complete with many a West End Live ad lib in his opening dialogue. He is so well suited to this stage. He is such a charismatic performer. The staging of this number was so thrilling. I hope that it convinced a lot of people to go and see Oliver. A show that we often think of as being perhaps a little old fashioned, a little yesteryear. His performance and the way that this number has been realized I, I think is pretty persuasive of the new vital energy of this production. And then, lest I forget, Ava Louise Brennan, currently playing the role of Nancy, performed As Long as he needs me. I will forever tell you that a ballad doesn't work as well playing to a West End Live audience as a rousing up tempo number. However, if you're gonna sing the hell out of this song and be one of the defining vocal moments of the weekend, by all means bring it to West End Live. She was astounding. Oliver gets an A. Phantom did an interesting thing. They're also celebrating an anniversary this year, so they gave us a slightly special performance with a quartet of Christine's harmonizing. Wishing you were somehow here again. The sound clarity on the vocals in this number could have been a little better. It wasn't abundantly clear where the harmonies were, but they moved into harmony at the end. The way that it was staged at the beginning, with sort of different Christines overlapping each other and sort of slowly walking out as the one before was singing. Played a little more comically than probably was their intention. Also a little surprising perhaps, to have no presence from the Phantom himself and just do Christine. I liked the idea. The execution didn't quite get there. It's a B. Next up, West End Live fan favorites Les Miserables and Les Mis defies everything that I will say about, you know, what usually works at West End Live because like more sort of classical, legit sounding material often doesn't play as well as contemporary ballads. And sort of emotional, declarative things don't play as well as fun, up tempo, funky jukebox shows. However, Les Mis always plays well because the audience knows these songs, loves these songs. I do want to acknowledge something that apparently happened to the Les Mis company en route to West End Live, which is that they were subject to a racially motivated attack, which is obviously horrifying and symptomatic of increasing division in the United Kingdom. It's incredible then that they managed to go on and perform as extraordinarily as they did, particularly Sam Ollard End Performing Stars, which was my highlight of the Les Mis set, actually, because so rare that we get a Javert moment in the West End Live set. As ever closing with One Day More. I've said before, I don't like repetition in a West End Live set. Sometimes you just have to do it. I wonder if they could do a. Do you hear the people sing One Year instead of a One Day More? But the impact of it all and the flag and, you know, let this be an indication to other companies in the West End, Lay me gets dozens of cast members there in costume. They bring the flag, they march their way down. They're not the closest theatre to Trafalgar Square. Les Mis gets an A. Then. The producers currently playing at the Garrick Theatre with the unenviable task of trying to sell this material out of context at West End Live. And that makes it really difficult because to do something like Springtime for, you know, who would perhaps come across a little strangely to those not familiar, familiar with either the show or the film. Joanna Woodward, as she did last year, performed, if you've got it, flaunt it in a slightly flashier outfit than the one she wore last year and in fact, than the one she normally wears at this point in the show. I think this might be her finale gown. She also did a great job of invoking the audience. And that was it for the producers. Last year we had Mark Antlin and Andy Nyman performing I Can't Do It Slash. We Can Do It. We didn't have that this time around, so just the one number from them and, you know, it doesn't really encapsulate the full energy of the show. I would love for them to bring more of the company you could do. It's bad luck to say good luck on opening night. You could rewrite the lyrics to thanks for coming to see our show and try and sell tickets using that. It's a difficult show to sell out of context, but it's not impossible. They get a B minus then staying in a pseudo similar realm. We had the Book of Mormon and the Book of Mormon, who for years were very secretive about the content of their show and weren't putting out video footage online, did not perform at West End Live for a very long time. This year though, we got two numbers from the Book of Mormon. We got I Believe and we got Baptized Me. We had Elders Price and Cunningham. They're probably not the ones that would really get everyone going, as much as if you were to do hello or Turn it off or 2x2 or you and me and mostly me. I feel like they're still sitting on some of their best western live material. I enjoyed this performance. It's probably probably a B plus then Operation Mincemeat, which I would argue is also a little tricky to sell at West End Live. The thing that keeps playing on my mind is, you know, one of the best songs for that particular stage is another one that is just brutally inappropriate out of context. I'm thinking about the Act 2 opening for those of you who know. If you know, then you know. I do think that would play both well and truly dreadfully at West End Live. And it's a shame that we will probably never see it. They did the opening Born to Lead. They did a little bit of slightly reworked dialogue leading into God. That's brilliant. Mincemeat, in the history of their time in the West End and on Broadway, hasn't quite perfected their out of context promotional performance. We've seen that at various awards shows But I like that it showed off the brand new cast. They have a gala night to welcome them this week, so they're very new additions to the company. Sometimes it can be a challenge to discern with clarity the wit of the comedy lyrics with Mincemeat, but I thought those came across very nicely, so bravo to those performers for good diction. I feel like this is one where if you already knew and liked the show, you were really excited about this performance. I don't know how much it would have done to persuade the uninitiated. Mincemeat this year I think gets a B. Then we have Beetlejuice, recently opened in the West End and already performing at their very first West End Live. We had principal members of the company, we had choreography, we didn't have costuming, and even just for Beetlejuice himself, it would have been great to see see the iconic aesthetic, especially because they were performing at about 1:35. So you can only assume as soon as they got back to the Prince Edward Theater, getting into hair, makeup and costume was probably the next thing that was going to happen. They did the whole Being Dead thing, and just when I was beginning to think, oh, they could have rewritten some of these lyrics to be about West End Live, they performed a couple of rewritten lyrics about West End Live that transitioned into a performance of Dead mom, which was sensational and a great song to pick because that's another one that the audience is going to want to sing along to. They love Dead Mom. And you know, though they may not have been in costume, they had the best custom West End Live shirts because on the back it said West End Live. And then it was crossed through and it said West End Dead. I think so. An A minus for Beetlejuice. Then another West End Live favorite, Mamma Mia. And a jukebox show is always going to do quite well at West End Live purely because so many of the audience members are going to know the songs. Mamma Mia brings a particular energy to the stage, and they finished with some of their usuals. They did Dancing Queen, but before that we had a slightly unusual road to get there. We had a duet version of thank you for the Music between Sophie and Sky. Not sure I entirely understood the thinking behind that arrangement, but it led into what I believe was a West End Live first, a performance of does yous Mother Know? Only with the male ensemble wearing their Lay all your Love on Me wetsuit outfits instead, which was both sensible for the temperature and an understandable sales pitch. Usually when they make a Public appearance with Mamma Mia, that tends to be how they dress. Mess them up and listen, if you're going to try and sell your show, you may as well use the natural allure available to you, by which I of course mean the brilliant Kate Graham. Mamma Mia. Switching up their winning formula just enough this year gets an A. Then we had performances from English National Opera. We had a performance of Now I Am the Ruler of the Queen's Navy as well as Nessen Dormer, what turned out to be the first of two Nessen Dormers we heard over the weekend. Of all the songs to get repeated, both were brilliantly sung. In the first instance, the audience were encouraged to sing along. I don't know if that necessarily took all that convincingly. There was also a moment of mistaken lyric which made the repetition of that by the audience a little challenging. And both the Eno Chorus and the Eno Orchestra were pre recorded. We got to see a very nice hat on stage, a very nice HMS Pinafore costume worn by the first of their two performers. But if you're going to try and sell opera to a West End live audience, and I appreciate the thought process behind that, I feel like bring more of the theatricality, bring more of the grandeur, bring more of the reasons why, why these audience members specifically are going to be convinced to go and see opera. On balance, I think English National Opera gets a C. Next up is Disney's High School Musical performing prior to the opening of this production. And we had the start of something new as well as I was going to say Bob to the Top, not Bob to the Top, it's the other one. I never had someone to love me like you do the way you do it's going to surprise you to learn I've only actually seen High School Musical, I think one time in my adult life and it's not when I was a teenager. The songs went down well. People were singing along. They're not yet in a position to be able to deliver something like a We're all in this together. They had a pre recorded announcement from Casey Stroh, who was going to be part of this cast playing Ms. Darbus, who is an original film cast member. I don't love the billing on the poster with Harry Judd at the very top, then Casey Stroh and then the quartet of objectively leading performers. But I liked the performance. I also enjoyed Tobias Turley spitting a basketball on his finger afterwards. That would sell me a ticket. High School Musical, though not yet in previews, you get a B Then we had I'm Every Woman, the Chaka Khan musical also introduced via pre recorded video by its star, Alexandra Burke. A surprising move to not have her at West End Live. And listen, I don't begrudge every single principal performer who won't or can't do West End Live. There are plenty of reasons and you know, not everyone is obliged to. When you are the star of a new musical and you're promoting that show and kind of tickets are kind of being sold on on your name as well as its name. I think everyone really expected to see Alexandra Burke performing with the Chaka Khan musical. And it would be one thing if they were to do a number that didn't involve her. Who knows if any such number exists in the show. Instead, Jordan Fraser performed in her stead as Shaka Khan and did objectively a pretty great job. I have been skeptical about the theatrical excitement of I'm Every Woman. And what sets it apart from the dozens of other bio jukebox musicals that we have, including Tina, whose presence this year at West End Live I did miss. Actually, they always do a great job. Admittedly, I believe they are also not currently in performances. I'm gonna give a very diplomatic B minus after which was into the woods, which closed its limited run at the Bridge Theater and is opening its run at the Noel Coward Theatre in the West End in a couple of months. They sent their princes to perform Agony, one of the more crowd pleasing songs in a score which also doesn't lend itself to out of context performances. Also, the enduring question of like how many cast cast members from the Bridge are transferring to the West End. But in spite of the show being closed, they sent cast members in costume. They brought homoerotic tension to the stage. I have to give it a B. Then we have six. And what a journey six has been on with Western Live. Because their very first year pre Edinburgh Fringe when no one really knew what the show was and they weren't in costume, it was like, okay, this is interesting. They then returned as conquering champions and they have been among the highlights of West End Live every year since. And they do exactly the same set for the Saturday and the Sunday. It is slick, it is choreographed, it's very well put together. But they have a different cast of performers that kind of covers the breadth of the company. Given that we are seeing fewer and fewer alternate and understudy costumes in the show because they are now creating principal costumes for the first covers, I was surprised on the Saturday to see only three of the iconic Gabriella Slade Principal Costumes and one like, like iridescent swing costume and two black and silver swing costumes. When the show has such a great color aesthetic, it's a shame if half of that rainbow is gone. But it's so joyous to get to the moment. At the end of their set, they don't teach the choreography anymore. Everyone just does it simultaneously, giving it this. They have to get an A. Then we have the choir of man not currently in the West End, but performing nonetheless at West End Live. And with one of their less racially diverse performer lineups in years, which is saying something, they did a couple of their most crowd pleasing songs. It always plays well to a West End Live audience. They did the mug choreography. It didn't give me, as someone who has seen the show a couple of times, much of a reason to go back for someone who hasn't seen it before. I do think the West End Live set does a lot to win people over to the concept. But there's also a heart to the show which the more streamlined and condensed performances such as these aren't able to communicate. I'm going to give it a B then. Magic Mike Live and listen, I have beef with Magic Mike Live because I thought about it, they also performed on both days days this weekend and they do the same thing more or less every single year. And there are great performers who I know are in Magic Mike Live and I'm like, what the hell do you do in that show? The brilliant Genevieve Nicole is currently in Magic Mike Live. I don't know what her role is. I know there's some kind of an mc. I don't know if people sing in that show because all they bring to Western Live every year is this group contemporary dance dance number with athleticism and flips and stunts. And then they all take their shirts off simultaneously and throw fake money into the audience. A wad of which I have on a shelf up there somewhere. I'm rich, everybody. I'm rich. I still know nothing about the substance of this show and feel as though I've seen the whole thing at West End Live and I presumably haven't. I have no idea what else is involved in this. A C is the best they're gonna get. Then from Magic Mike Live to Now you see me Live, which will be playing at the Lond Coliseum. And because this was a magic performance, I sat cross legged on the floor and faced the other way because I have a lifelong fear of illusionists, mentalists and magicians for which I shall not be apologizing. Next Instead, let me tell you about Kimberly Akimbo coming soon to the Hampstead Theatre for its UK premiere. Again, performing prior to rehearsals and given
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Mickey Jo Theatre (Theatre Critic/Host)
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the Content of this show Given the nature of this score score, I thought they chose very well in terms of being able to bring something to the West End Live stage. For those of you who know the show, we had performances of better as well as Good Kid that the name of the song the Good Kid, the Good Son, what has it gotten me? Which was very charming and has made me really excited about seeing the show. But I know it already, I think better because it's so tonally weird but also still funny. Had people intrigued and I feel like when you're trying to sell a show in this capacity, you're doing one of two things. Either you're trying to really explain the thing or you're providing just enough theatrical intrigue. And I thought they did that second thing quite well and with great vocals. It wasn't necessarily the most persuasive, but Kimberly Akimbo does not have material that is going to play well to West End Live, even if you do want to divulge a whole bunch of spoilers. So for solid performances they get a B. Then I'm going to jump down to the last ship and I don't believe it's yet been officially confirmed who is going to be performing. Performing this when it's in London, but the current international touring company, I'm pretty sure are all in New York right now. So we had one performer bringing great vocals to a number from the show. Perhaps this is unfair of me to say. I don't know the Last Ship. I know a lot of people are quite enamored with the score. I didn't find anything in this song particularly persuasive. It didn't offer me much about the show. If I was a prospective ticket buyer. I don't know that I'm booking it after hearing that number necessarily, necessarily. The show is set at sea and a sea is what I will give it. At least I assume it's set at sea. It's set on a ship. In any case, maybe it's not set at sea at all. Then after a sold out limited concert staging at the Other palace, we had In Pieces returning to the West End, which was very exciting, great for them to be present. They teased a little bit of news to emerge soon about the future of In Pieces. Here in London. We had me and Mr. Popularity as well as the newly written song that's what I'm Good At. I love both of these songs, so I think they were great choices. Also. Also easier to bring solos to the stage with one cast member who I think is from the US Rather than trying to wrangle and stage a fuller company number and do something like Love Wildly. So great choices there. Storytelling, songs, contemporary. I feel like they really, for those who didn't know In Pieces in the audience ought to have been really won over by what great songwriting this was. They also get an A. Then finally we've made it to day two, the Sunday performances, which commenced with Disney's the Lion King. Of course we have to open with the Circle of Life. But prior to that, rather than doing a physical warm up, they gave us a little dialect lesson, teaching the audience how to correctly say Ingunyama, Nengwen, amabala. They brought out bird puppets, flew them around the audience. That was incredibly cool. We had, I believe, understudy Simba and Nala performing a little bit of can youn Hear the Love Tonight. Gorgeous little soft vocals. Lion King A Everything about it. Then Titanique. And I was really anticipating this performance because I hadn't seen Titanique performing at West End live previously. They did the opening museum scene with the reveal of Astrid as Celine Dion. And they then led into Taking Chances. My heart's beating down but it always Comes back for more now. And that bat. Bap bap, which was great, which was rousing and lively. I do think there's a world in which they could just. Just do. Because that then went into My Heart Will Go on. And they didn't really encourage a sing along. It was also a little early in the day for like one of these. But yeah, I do think there's a world in which they could do Tell him. But the Titanic concept is not necessarily the easiest one to explain to audience members. And they went to the trouble of really getting them there and then performing these great songs. Also, kudos to them for having the company on stage, for having the company company on stage in costume, for bringing their unique zany energy. I thought it was very fun. It gets an A minus then continuing a very strong day. It's an A4. Matilda. And somehow I'd forgotten that John Robbins was currently playing Miss Trunchbull until he walked out on stage. Have we ever seen Miss Trunchbull on the West End Live stage? You know, they've done naughty so often before in the past. This was a real treat to have the hammer for John Robbins to be giving it twirly choreography. Really persuasive. As Ms. Trunchbull made me go, oh, I need to go back to Matilda and go see John Robbins. Which is not something I was expecting to take away from West End Live. So well done to them. That has to be an A as well. If you have someone in the company who is a well known West End fan favorite who has been on that stage before or has maybe hosted on that stage before, who is enamored of the theatre fan community. Using them in your performance. That's a smart move. Then we had one of the few plays to have performed at West End Live, My neighbor Totoro. They sang the adorable song which became a bit of an audience sing along moment. They also brought out the puppeteers with all of the soot sprites. They had characters cartwheeling across the stage while this was being sung. And then they brought out two of the smaller character puppets as well. We didn't see Giant Totoro would have been slightly cumbersome to get him to the middle of Trafalgar Square from the Gillian Lind Theatre. I can't imagine the kind of bus that you would need to bring him on or, I don't know, airlift him if it's the really big version that you can see at the show. But I think the. This was very charming. It was nice to see them making an appearance and I really wasn't expecting that we were going to see any of the creatures at all, so that was fun as well. A B plus for my neighbor Totoro, then a sexy new musical currently playing at London's other Palace Theatre where it has its official opening night in the next few days. This was Hot Mess. We had returning cast member Danielle Steers and new cast member Morgan Gregory performing solo songs and then coming together. Great to have three numbers. Jack Godfrey writes songs that play really well at West End Live. They are these boppy poppy anthems and Danielle and Morgan both did a really great job performing individually but also bringing their chemistry to the stage, which was very persuasive. I'm already going to see the show, but it made me really excited about it. Hot Mess also gets an A. Then Dark of the Moon, a show currently running at the Charing Cross Theatre, one which I haven't seen. There are some very talented people in this company. I don't know if the additional initial country number that they did persuaded me at all, nor the book excerpt that was played between Gled Adamson and Lauren Jones when he did his final sclty Rock God kind of a number with a couple members of the ensemble supporting him. That I thought was the most persuasive part of their set. If I were this show and that was the quality of the book passage, I would simply cut it even to contextualize the song that was to be performed. I don't think it helped they get points for vocals and energy, but the performance unfortunately gave me as much to be wary of with the show as to be impressed by. It's probably a C. Then the return to the West End Live stage of Waitress and some of its current touring cast members, Evie Hoskins, Sandra Marvin and leading lady Carrie Hope Fletcher. We had performances of When He Sees Me, I Didn't Plan it and then of course, she Used to Be Mine. There was also, unsurprisingly, a huge response to the announcement of Carrie Hope Fletcher's name at the very the very end. And she gave a beautiful, soulful rendition of she Used to Be Mine. I thought they all did a great job and lovely to hear the Waitress song sung again. They chose the right songs. I thought they performed them brilliantly. They get an A for Apple pie. Then we had Kinky Boots and one of Sunday's two co hosts, Courtney Bowman, performing the History of Wrong Guys. And I said back at the show's media call a couple of months ago, once we heard Courtney perform that song that that was reason enough to make you want to buy a ticket. And that I think did remain true of her West End live performance. Still a little odd for so much of the show's identity not to be reflected because if you're going to do kinky boots and not have any of the drag performers present, then there is a certain amount of it that you're just not bringing to the West End live stage. Especially because Courtney was co hosting with Tosh when Ogo Maud, who if you don't know, is the alternate Lola performing on Monday nights. And so it would have been lovely to get maybe a hold me in your heart or a not my father's son. In addition, no one has to necessarily get a up in drag for a West End live performance of a Sunday afternoon in 30 degree heat. But just a little bit of Lola would have gone a long way. I think they get a B. Then after six, performed for the second time in the weekend, we had another UK tour, this time the Karate Kid. Now I saw this on tour a couple of weeks ago, which is how I know that there are better songs to sell the show than the girlfriend solo song and one of the mom's songs. And both performed exceptionally very talented version vocalists. They did a little bit of the wax on, wax off karate teaching moment. The moment when it becomes clear to Daniel what it is that he's actually been learning and he implements those skills for the first time. And they tried to reframe it as a group karate class. And they added in some kind of clunky dialogue about like, I wasn't expecting so many other people to be here. And Mr. Miyagi's like, look, there's like thousands of Miyagi's and one you whatever. It was charming for a moment. It didn't all the way work. And I think what this show is I up against is this idea of insincerity of people going like a Karate Kid musical. What's next? They have a wax on wax off number. And so doing the scene rather than a song may have assuaged that, but I don't know if it made it seem particularly serious. Where they really won is when they did strike first, strike hard with the karate group choreography. The intensity of that number, the power of that number really sold the thing. Karate Kids started as a C because that that last number was so powerful. Moved it up to a beat. Then traveling to West End live from the East End of London, the Harder they Come, currently playing at Stratford east. It's a great show. They brought some of that energy. Interestingly, I think they did it maybe the wrong way around. We saw a lot of shows ending with their rousing, impactful numbers this year, starting with something a little softer, and they opened with Many Rivers to Cross, which is performed late in the second act. It's this explosion, expansive gospel arrangement. The vocals go all the way off. Rachel John took us to church essentially from the West End live stage, which they followed up with the title number, the Harder They Come. I really enjoyed this. I thought it was a nice change of pace in terms of musical style on the West End stage. I thought it was a groove. The cast is so talented. They brought such vocals to the stage. I'm gonna give it an A. Then we had Dirty Dancing, the classic story on stage, which is back on tour and is heading back to Lond like a Threat. And they did, you know, the quintessential Dirty Dancing thing. They did the song I the Time of My Life, you know the one. And you know there's something to be said for an anticipated impressive moment as that song is happening. Everyone is expecting that moment and they did it and that was cool and, you know, very impressive. It's a feat of not just dance, but athleticism and strength, really. One of the bigger criticisms of that production is that the music is all diegetic and that there are just singers separated from the action. It isn't transformed into a musical in which the characters are empowered.
- [43:45]
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to sing they just kind of perform the soundtrack around them. It really just is the film put on stage and this exemplified that rather than showing us some perhaps less expected dance talent not notwithstanding, they get a B minus Then we had Bliss the Musical. This one's heading to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe after doing some public workshops. Again, this is separate to rehearsals. They will have just put this together for West End Live. It's a great song that they performed Papa won't you let me out of here that is still reverberating around in my mind after I heard however many different songs. So that is a good sign. They did a great job of performing it and I feel like that's where their audience is and it was great for them to use the opportunity of Western Live, use that platform to really let people know about this show. That audience may not necessarily be heading to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, but they will now be watching this show with curiosity. They did a good job. It's a B for Bliss. A little later in the afternoon we had a performance from Little Shop of Horrors. I wasn't immediately sure which one because there are multiple Little Shops of Horrors happening regionally in the UK and Ireland this year. Little Shop of Horrors is about to perform and we don't know which one. There are three. It turns out it's the Manchester production from the Hope Mill and I wasn't all the way convinced by their Seymour and Audrey combination, their delivery of this song, talented performers. I needed a little bit more. When this has been done as many times, if you're going to do Suddenly Seymour, you really need to convince me with it. And it was giving, especially on the part of their Audrey slightly timid karaoke once again, pre rehearsals. Really just a teaser for the upcoming production, but I would have liked for that to have had a little more vocal call Heft. Let's give it a B minus now on the Sunday afternoon we had two surprise shows which were both announced days in advance. For whatever reason, one of them was Private Jones at Southwark Playhouse newly announced show. They announced their cast on the West End Live stage. Rose Ailing Ellis will be part of the company. She introduced it via a pre recorded video. The performance was done by James Spence and Bronwyn James. The staging of the whole thing with the two of them essentially knelt opposite, opposite each other was a little challenging for the West End Live stage because the majority of the audience are looking up at the thing and there are speakers and there are cameras and there's any number of things obscuring these performers discernibly. James is playing a deaf character and I know that there is going to be meaningful deaf representation throughout this production. That's an important part of its identity. I wonder whether this would have benefited from a staging at West End Live that was a little more concert esque where he's just singing the song or at least the two of them are stood at microphones because by staging it, it makes it, it seem as though this is how it's going to be and this is the way we're telling the story. And to do that without any deaf performers alongside it just may have confused the message somewhat. I feel like for the majority of their performance I was trying to wrap my head around exactly what it was that they were presenting in terms of how they were going to tell this story. For now, I think it's probably a C because of everything else that I know about this show, I am very excited to see it. The other surprise show was One Day, the musical recently announced to be heading to the Garrick Theatre in London after its world premiere production at the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh. Once again, it will star Jamie Moscato and Sharon Rose and they performed two solo songs from the musical. Jamie performed first for the third time in the weekend. He'd also performed for Love Never Dies in concert and then introduced Sharon. That was the perfect way around because we'd already heard Jamie's soaring vocals earlier that same day to bring him out, have him sing another great emotional ballad of a musical theater song and then go and by the way, he here's Sharon Rose and then she knocks it out of the park with another of the best vocals of the weekend. That was a great choice. I think they sold a lot of tickets. I think among the brand new musicals they gave one of the most persuasive presentations. A lot of people also already know the story of one day. They may know the book, they may know the Netflix adaptation. All they're really looking for to convince them is that this is of some kind of quality within the material and that these two have been cast well and I do think that they managed to persuade, persuade them of that. So for one day it's an A. Now Heather's is coming back to London. It was also back on stage at West End Live. And Heather's has really milked their West End Live moments before. They've had like dueling casts come on and they've had Candy Store and Freezer Brain. Anything that Heather's performs, I think is always going to go over well with this audience who knows that entire score. And they used this moment to reveal the casting for their new new Veronica Gerardine Sactelan, recently seen leading the UK tour of and Juliet. She is a phenomenal vocalist, as we learned when she performed I say no. Very persuasive, very exciting. I hope that not only has it made all of those fans excited about the show's return, but also I hope that it's won her a lot of fans as well of the shows that announced their casting on stage. Heather's made it clear in advance and in the moment that that's what they were doing and they made a real moment, moment out of it. They get an A. Then Paul Taylor Mills introduced another of his shows, the new musical Redcliffe, currently playing at Southwark Playhouse Borough for a few more weeks. Written entirely by leading man Jordan Luke Gage. And Listen, it's an intimate, romantic, moving, occasionally sorrowful story doesn't necessarily lend itself to the West End Live stage. Nonetheless, I thought they chose the right songs to really communicate its energy. They came out, they said, happy Pride Month. We had a romantic duet. We had a livelier, almost comedy duet as well. And they brought those fan favorite performers within the company to the West End Live stage. It's a B for Redcliffe. Now heading to Southwark Playhouse Borough later in the summer is the Jonathan Larson Project. Michael Mather performed from that show's company performing the song SOS and he sounded great. Michael is a hugely talented vocalist. I saw the show Off Broadway and it never sold particularly well Off Broadway. I'm enduringly fascinated about how audiences can be so into Rent and Tick Tick Boom and the Legacy and the idea of Jonathan Larson, but not necessarily show up for something like the Jonathan Larson Project when it happens. And you can certainly hear the familiarity of his style in a song like this. There are other songs within the show that would be a little more lively if they had access to a few more members of the company. I don't know what was possible for them on the day. It's also a little bit of a challenge to articulate exactly what this show is and what audiences can expect from it. Someone who saw it off Broadway and would like to see it somewhat evolved. I'm very curious and I feel like it didn't answer those questions for me necessarily. Is this going to be exactly the same thing I've already seen? Has it taken a step forwards in any way? It gets a B minus now. Here is one I don't know if I was expecting to be this bowled over by. I am talking about Jane Eyre heading to Southwark Playhouse. Elephant, I believe. Later this year, not yet in rehearsals, but leading lady Charlie Burns, subsequently joined by Ashley Gilmour, sang the hell hell out of this score. My goodness, I do not know the score of Jane Eyre. I am now wildly excited to discover it for the first time later this year. When I go and see this show, this has just flashed up on my radar in a huge way. I was kind of not paying attention to this. They announced the casting. I was like, oh, talented people. This has really made me phenomenally excited by it and so hard to do that at West End Live with sort of more legit leaning material as well. This was really impressive. One of my standout performances from the whole weekend. It gets an A.
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The award of most Improved Western Life performance this year goes to Ride the Cyclone. And this time last year when they performed, it was just a teaser. They hadn't cast the thing yet, I don't think, or certainly they hadn't announced the cast. Anna Jane Casey performed Sugar Cloud from the show. This time around they brought all of their cast over, including the Swings. After a matinee performance. They drove them across London to come and have Davina de Campo as the the Amazing Carnac do a little bit of bespoke introduction for West End Live before leading into what the world needs is people like me. And the audience was so excited for Ride the Cyclone. When you see enthusiasm for something online on TikTok, you never know how much that's going to translate into, you know, people on the ground at West End Live. But it really did. This number went over so well. I thought they did a fantastic job. It made me really excited to go back and see see the new members of the company. I thought it was terrific. I was singing along, I was dancing along. I didn't know I was that much of a fan of Ride the Cyclone. I wanted them to do three more numbers. I was sad it was over. But a plus for Ride the Cyclone. They did great. And then closing out the whole thing. Great choice for a final act because they do such a phenomenal job on the West End Live stage. We had Jersey Boys and two things can be true simultaneously. I do not love Jersey Boys on stage for reasons I have never really articulated. One of these days I'll tell you tell you why. I also really enjoy Jersey Boys at West End Life. It's such a polished routine that they do and there are slight variations. Sometimes they'll do, you're just too good be true. Sometimes it's oh what a night. They did that. They did. What's this one? Who loves you, pretty baby? That one. And the choreography with the harmonized vocals with the rest of the company coming out and all of the microphone work and just the slick, slickness of it. You feel like you're watching a really established, well trained music group. And this is the show's new touring cast, Rising talent. These are not veteran Jersey Boys performers in these roles, but the slickness that they've already achieved. Hugely impressive. It's another A plus. Which brings me to the end of this marathon review of every performance at West End Live. The real success of the weekend though, is that so many brilliant shows were brought to an audience of thousands, tens of thousands of musical theatre fans in person, online. It's an extraordinary thing that the Society of London Theatre and Westminster City Council are able to achieve every year, and long may it continue. If you would like to attend West End Live next year, follow them on social media for updates about exactly when it will be. And I dare say you might just see me there. For now, though, after a very long weekend, I would love to tell you that I'm going to go and lie down in a dark room, but instead I'm going to go and see a show in London. Stay tuned for my reviews of the many shows opening in the West End this week. For now, though, I hope that everyone is staying safe and that you have a stagey day. For 10 more seconds, I'm Mickey Jo Theatre. Oh my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a Stagey Day. Subscribe.
- [56:16]
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