Introducing the January 2025 issue of Musicals
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Les Mis: from the barricades to world domination – how the revolutionary musical morphed into an arena tour
As Les Misérables: The Arena Spectacular travels the world, Sarah Crompton talks to stars Killian Donnelly (Jean Valjean), Bradley Jaden (Javert) and Jac Yarrow (Marius) about the unique experience of performing in this musical/rock concert hybrid, the logistics of bringing the show to such colossal venues, and the extraordinary love that audiences of all cultures and backgrounds continue to feel for Boublil and Schönberg’s blockbuster musical.
Dave Malloy’s avant-garde War and Peace-inspired musical Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 arrives at London’s Donmar Warehouse over a decade after it was first performed on Broadway. Helen M Jerome talks to the impressive cast about this unique and mesmerising arthouse piece
Are you the parent of a budding Musical Theatre performer? Matthew Hemley talks to pupils, parents and teachers of several stage schools about drama and Musical Theatre as an invaluable tool for building confidence and self-expression in all young people.
Musical Theatre legend Elaine Paige returns to our pages celebrating the shows that revolutionised Musical Theatre. This month, it’s the gloriously gruesome Sweeney Todd, Stephen Sondheim’s grandest and most operatic offering of all.
In our show reviews section, The Devil Wears Prada opens in the West End; we travel to the Leicester Curve, Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre and Pitlochry Festival Theatre for revivals of My Fair Lady, Spend Spend Spend and The Sound of Music respectively, and Mary Poppins flies around the UK. Meanwhile, Elton John and Jake Shears’s Tammy Faye opens on Broadway, along with Death Becomes Her and the robot-inspired Maybe Happy Ending.
Our expert recording reviews include Talking Hadestown, in which Anaïs Mitchell talks listeners through the creative process behind her Tony-winning score, the new Los Angeles recording of cult hit Reefer Madness, and Broadway veteran Karen Mason’s Kander and Ebb-themed solo album And All That Jazz.
