Big Night of Musicals on the BBC – line-up, cast, numbers and more from the 2026 broadcast

The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals is back!

Celebrating all things theatre, the musical bonanza will be broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer this weekend.

Recorded live at Manchester’s AO Arena, Jason Manford was back on hosting duties. Interested to know who’s performing which number from which show? Our helpful guide will see you through! Let’s start with some photos of what to expect…

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On the line-up are performances from West End musicals and touring productions, including:

• A wild opening from The Lion King led by Stephenson Ardern-Sodje
• Ava Brennan‘s rendition of “As Long As He Needs Me” from Oliver!
• A Kinks medley from the cast of Sunny Afternoon
• WhatsOnStage Award nominee Victoria Hamilton-Barritt‘s villainous “Pretty Little Dead Things” from Paddington The Musical
• A first look at La Voix as Miss Hannigan accompanied by Oldham drama group Wild Things Performing Arts
• The full touring cast of Miss Saigon living the “American Dream”, featuring Seann Miley Moore as The Engineer
• Sam Ryder‘s first public performance of “Gethsemane” ahead of his summer at The London Palladium in Jesus Christ Superstar
• A performance from the West End cast of The Producers with Andy Nyman and Marc Antolin
• A thrillifying duet of “For Good” from WhatsOnStage Award winner Emma Kingston and Zizi Strallen in Wicked
• A finale from Alexandra Burke and I’m Every Woman: The Chaka Khan Musical

There was also a special performance from the cast of Choir of Man with the Infant Hercules Choir, a Disney medley featuring Lucie Jones, Trevor Dion Nicholas and Mae Ann Jorolan honouring Alan Menken, as well as showcases from National Lottery-funded performance groups.

The broadcast will also offer a glimpse behind the curtain of upcoming musicals, including Bank of Dave, and an appearance from Paddington Bear.

Now in its fifth year, the evening marks more than £1.4 billion of funding awarded to over 29,000 theatre-related projects across the UK over the past 31 years.