Theatre News

The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals to return in 2025, with initial line-up revealed

Jason Manford is set to return as host

| Manchester |

11 December 2024

Ryan Kopel (Evan Hansen), Tom Dickerson (Jared Keinman) and Killian Thomas Lefevre (Connor Murphy) in Dear Evan Hansen, © Marc Brenner

The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals has revealed details for its upcoming 2025 event.

The musical theatre-infused concert will be held on 27 January at the AO Arena in Manchester with Jason Manford returning as host. Usually, the show is aired later on television and radio.

Manford said today: “It’s an honour to be back hosting The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals for the fourth time! It’s always a pleasure to host in Manchester to give a northern audience the chance to see some spectacular performances and appearances from the stars of the West End – and this year’s line-up is stronger than ever. Once again, one of the best aspects of the show is that tickets are free as a thank you to National Lottery players who help ensure the performing arts industry thrives by playing each week.”

This year’s line-up will feature performances from West End musicals and touring shows including Calamity Jane with Carrie Hope Fletcher, alongside the WhatsOnStage Award-nominated new production of Dear Evan Hansen and the UK tour of Jim Steinman’s Bat Out of Hell The Musical. As well as appearances from Here and Now – The Official Steps Musical, Mean Girls, and a first look at Disney’s Hercules, with more to be revealed.

The event will mark 30 years of National Lottery support for the theatre and performing arts, having helped support more than 20,000 theatre-related projects to the tune of £1.3 billion. In addition, National Lottery funding has helped restore theatres as well as enabling hundreds of performing arts projects.

Twelve thousand tickets will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis from 10am on Thursday 12 December. National Lottery players will be able to reserve up to four free tickets (plus a £2 booking fee per ticket) with proof of purchase of a National Lottery product.