The Mayor of Musical Theatre

We’ve been on a bit of a break recently, but we had to come back for the incredible Laura Benanti. You’ll know Laura from… well, from being a Broadway legend and massive star of stage and screen, of course you’ll know Laura Benanti!   Laura is in the country with her new one-woman comedy show, Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares . It took the Edinburgh Fringe by storm and now she’s going to do two pe...

Happy Wicked Movie Day! Let us be glad! Let us be grateful! Bit of a special episode, this one. To celebrate the release of one of the most exciting and hotly-anticipated stage-to-screen adaptations of all time, here is a never-before-heard interview that I conducted with Wicked ’s composer, Stephen Schwartz back in 2021, when we were coming out of Covid and Stephen Schwartz’s first ever musi...

This week, I’m talking to Kate McKeown and James Hadley, two of the wonderful team behind Mercury Musical Developments and Musical Theatre Network, which are brilliant organisations dedicated to new UK musical theatre writing. They are organisations I have come across in the past thanks to their many great initiatives to support aspiring composers such as myself, and this was a very fun chat about...

Jeevan Braich is a steam train of talent, a very exciting young actor who is currently lighting up the stage as Rusty in Starlight Express . His performance has earned him a nomination for a Stage Debut Award at this year’s ceremony which takes place on Sunday 29th of September and is hosted by former podcast guest Divina de Campo! For tickets to The Stage Debut Awards 2024 , visit:  https://...

This week, my guest is the wonderful Darren Clark, composer of The Wicker Husband and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – my most recent pick for Musical theatre Review’s show of the year. He’s also the founder of New UK Musicals – an online repository for sheet music and backing tracks from new shows, as well as the casting website Actor Musician UK. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button , which...

This week, our guest is the sensational Jak Malone, who recently won an Oliver Award for his role in the best reviewed musical in West End History,  Operation Mincemeat . We're talking to Jak today because this coming Sunday - the 9th of June - Jak will be one of the special guest judges of the Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year competition at the Sondheim Theatre! SS...

If you’re a regular listener, you will have heard countless hours of guests talking about  Standing at the Sky’s Edge when asked about their favourite musicals. The show is inspired by Sheffield, the music of Richard Hawley, and beautiful Brutalist architecture. It is an incredibly exciting piece of new musical theatre and it is currently running at the Gillian Lynne Theatre until August 3rd...

The beloved hit musical Mamma Mia! is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary in the West End. To mark this occasion, we chat with its book writer Catherine Johnson about her journey to becoming one of the most successful stage writers of our time, her work with ABBA to create Mamma Mia! , and the other musicals she loves the most. For Mamma Mia! tickets, visit: https://mamma-mia.com/london.php...

Legendary is an understatement. Frank Wildhorn is a renowned composer of not just some of the most beloved and iconic musical theatre shows to ever hit the stage, but also of chart-topping hits for artists like Kenny Rogers, Hootie & the Blowfish, and Whitney Houston. You will surely know shows like  Jeckyl & Hyde ,  The Scarlet Pimpernel ,  Bonnie & Clyde  – which...

Zachary James is a renowned actor, singer, recording artist, and Grammy Award winner who has performed with opera companies around the world, created the role of Lurch in The Addams Family on Broadway, worked with artists as diverse as Philip Glass and Tina Fey, and is now starring as the king of the underworld, Hades himself in the much-anticipated London return of Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown...

Joanna Woodward is an absolute superstar of a musical theatre performer who I have been hoping to get on the podcast since the very start. I first encountered her phenomenal talent in the cabaret and burlesque clubs of London, and have been delighted to see her career go from strength to strength ever since. She is currently starring in the titular role in the brilliant new musical adaptation of T...

Happy New Year, fellow musical theatre enthusiasts! 2024 promises to be a spectacular year for new musical theatre, including the particularly exciting Before After by Stuart Matthew Price and Timothy Knapman at Southwark Playhouse. Starring alongside the ever-wonderful Grace Mouat will be Jacob Fowler, who you will know from Little Mix: The Search , Heathers , Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderel...

The future of musical theatre? Very much Desmonda Cathabel. One day it will just be her performing all roles in every show at once. She has the talent, we just need technology to catch up. Desmonda won the 2022 Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year Award and since then has starred as Lorene in the Charing Cross Theatre's From Here To Eternity and as Kim in Miss Saigon at Sheffield...

It's episode 30! As a special treat, here is an extra long interview with Lisa Martland, the editor of Musical Theatre Review. Lisa previously worked at The Stage newspaper amongst other publications and has a wealth of experience in the world of musical theatre. Musical Theatre Review is currently celebrating its tenth anniversary as your premier source for all things onstage, backstage, and worl...

Liv Andrusier is a recent RAM graduate and the star of Freya Catrin Smith & Jack Williams's Ride , the stupendously brilliant new musical telling the story of round-the-world cyclist Annie Londonderry. Liv is simply spectacular in the show and has nominated for a Stage Debut Award for her performance, but what are the musicals that mean the most to her? Join us in Liv's These Demons rehearsal...

On this special and super-masculine episode, we are joined by four brilliant men from The Choir of Man . With so many guest mayors, this was a very fun - if slightly chaotic - podcast: Luke Conner Hall plays 'Romantic' Ben Goffe plays 'Handyman' Michael Hamway plays 'Poet' Nic Doodson is the co-creator/producer/director For more info and tickets to The Choir of Man , visit:  https://www.choir...

Divina De Campo has – through their incredible talent – become one of the country’s most beloved drag artists, and a truly revelatory musical theatre performer. They have seen television stardom on RuPaul’s UK Drag Race , and begun to take over the world of musical theatre with their starring roles in the award-winning Leeds Playhouse production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch , the Chicago UK tour,...

From Pop Idol to West End stardom via Moulin Rouge , Thriller Live , and The Great British Bake Off Musical , Zoe Birkett is a phenomenally talented performer who has shaken the rafters of many a prestigious auditorium with her incredible vocals. As she sets out on a UK tour of The Bodyguard , Zoe discusses the musicals that mean the most to her, and what one show she would order run forever if sh...

Kyle Ramar Freeman is currently starring in the superb A Strange Loop at Barbican Centre. Previously, he has played this lead role of Usher on Broadway, as well as touring the US in Once On This Island and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dream Coat . In this episode, we chat in Kyle's dressing room about the shows that mean the most to him, and what one show he would order run forever if he ha...

Benjamin Scheuer is a songwriter and performer. He is the recipient of the Kleban Prize for Lyrics. His new solo musical, A MOUNTAIN FOR ELODIE , premieres at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, directed by Olivier Award-winner Polly Findlay. On this episode, Scheuer discusses guitars, songwriting, his Sky Masterson aspirations, and the musicals that mean the most to him. For tickets to A MOU...

Billy Nevers is one of the most exciting young musical theatre talents we have. Over the last few years, he has performed in such diverse shows as Legally Blonde , Jesus Christ Superstar and &Juliet . Despite clearly never being one to repeat himself before, he can now be seen dancing and singing the house down in Groundhog Day at London's Old Vic. This brilliant new musical has discussed a lo...

With a resume that covers pretty much every show ever mentioned on this podcast, from Les Mis to Phantom to Wicked to South Pacific , Gina Beck is an absolutely perfect guest to talk us through her favourite shows of all time. In particular, we discuss her summer 2023 gig starring in The Sound of Music at Chichester Festival Theatre, a role she surely was made for! What one show would Gina order r...

Nikolai Foster is the artistic director of Leicester's Curve Theatre - one of the very best venues in the country in my estimation - and the creative force behind recent incredible productions of Billy Elliott the Musical , Grease , and A Chorus Line . Recently, he has directed The Wizard of Oz which is playing at the London Palladium now with an all-star cast, including previous podcast guests Ge...

It's a Guys & Dolls special! If you haven't yet, make sure you get yourselves down to London's Bridge Theatre where you can experience the stunning immersive production of this beloved musical. Every single member of that cast is incredible, and Cedric Neal and Celinde Schoenmaker - both theatre icons in their own right - are no exception. In this episode, we talk about all the behind-the-scen...

You will know Alice Fearn from her now-legendary runs in huge shows like Wicked and Come From Away , but now you have a chance to see her in a brand new British musical called Then, Now & Next in the intimate Southwark Playhouse! In this episode, we discuss her work on that show, the rumours of her having a role in the Wicked movie, and, of course, the musicals that mean the most to her. Which...