Big Night of Musicals 2026 – review

I imagine it’d be pretty impossible for a performer to forget the stage where they made their professional acting debut.

While not everybody can claim theirs to be the massive 23,000 capacity AO arena in Manchester, increasingly, each year, that is the case for more and more youngsters who truly hold their own against West End juggernauts. The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals returned in January for its fifth consecutive year, and the event marks the more than £1.4 billion of funding awarded to over 29,000 theatre-related projects across the UK over the past 31 years.

The lineup boasted tunes from hit musicals from the West End and beyond, opening with an awe-inspiring performance from the cast of The Lion King featuring the famed Pride Lands puppets, before launching into the main show with special surprises, guest appearances, and an insider look into musicals opening across the country.

Summoning the arena crowd into stunned silence, Oliver!‘s Ava Brennan‘s “As Long as He Needs Me” culminated in an immediate standing ovation. And though a complete U-turn in characteristic and style, Victoria Hamilton-Barritt‘s “Pretty Little Dead Things” was commanding enough to forget that her Millicent Clyde poses a threat to national treasure Paddington Bear, who was, luckily, too tied up with selling out the Savoy in London to be in immediate peril.

Another exclusive was the world premiere of Sam Ryder performing “Gethsemane” from Jesus Christ Superstar. Speaking to the effervescent but totally suave host Jason Manford, he revealed that the role feels like a homecoming. Stood under a single spotlight, he triumphantly delivered all five minutes plus of the mighty track with heavenly control. The rock musical was right at home in the arena, and from the floor seats to the gods, there were rumblings of anticipation for the summer afoot.

It felt special then that such a force as Ryder could make such an impact ahead of his musical theatre debut, while sharing the stage with the next generation of performers. Seamlessly fitting into the adult talent, La Voix‘s Miss Hannigan was joined by young members of Oldham drama group, Wild Things Performing Arts, for a crowd favourite “Hard Knock Life”. During a special tribute to living legend Alan Menken, performers from the Lowry Centre for Advanced Training accompanied West End stars Lucie Jones (a dazzling “Part of Your World”), Trevor Dion Nicholas (who was introduced by Gaston himself Luke Evans’ voice to sing “Beauty and the Beast”) and Mae Ann Jorolan (who will surely encourage everybody to give Pocahontas a rewatch).

Manford and co were quick to champion regional youth groups, many of which receive National Lottery funding. A “fringe theatre” joke tied nicely to a video from Claudia Winkleman, who visited the recently reopened Citizens Theatre in Glasgow, which has just undergone a massive seven-year redevelopment. There, she and National Lottery player, Ted, met the young company and community collective that benefit from the funding. Meanwhile, in the audience, a quick chat with local businessman Dave Fishwick, who will soon become the focus of a new musical, highlighted the communal storytelling and benefits of theatre.

There were full-throttle performances from the full cast of Miss Saigon, with massive respect to the delectable yet sinister Seann Miley Moore as The Engineer, a rollicking medley from the cast of Sunny Afternoon (“Rare in Manchester,” Manford quipped), and a spellbinding duet from the West End’s bestie witches, Emma Kingston and Zizi Strallen.

But it was a men’s choir from Teeside that completely stole the show. The Infant Hercules Choir piled onto the stage for a heartfelt “You’re The Voice” and, joined by Manford and the touring cast of Choir of Man, were met by the swaying, dazzling lights of mobile phone torches cheering them, and choir master Mike, on. They’ll be one of the first choirs to join the West End hit on tour, at Sunderland Empire, in a new initiative.

Marc Antolin and Andy Nyman, joined by the glitzy West End cast of The Producers, flaunted a showstopping number of persuasion to chase a dream – and the sentiment truly roared throughout the AO Arena right to the confetti-laden, uplifting finale with Alexandra Burke showing us her Chaka Khan for the very first time. It was a triumphant night for all involved, both on- and backstage, for stars and stars in the making.

As Leo Bloom said, “Sound the horn and beat the drum… We can do it!”