Musical stars including Marisha Wallace, Layton Williams and Carrie Hope Fletcher took part in stunning performances at The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals, which was also attended by a host of famous faces including Billy Porter, Kimberley Walsh, Faye Tozer, Dean McCullough and Ore Oduba.

Hosted by comedian Jason Manford and with a special appearance from Daniel Mays, the evening featured sensational performances from West End and touring UK shows including Disney’s Hercules, Cabaret, Mean Girls, Dear Evan Hansen, Titanique, Chicago and many more.

The show served as a special thank you to National Lottery players who have helped support more than 20,000 theatre-related projects over the last 30 years.

The show will air on BBC One, BBC Radio 2, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds in Spring.

Imagery available here: https://www.picdrop.com/gettyimageslondon/dYGvHxF2Tq

On Monday 27th January, Jason Manford returned to the AO Arena Manchester to once again host The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals. Guests including Billy Porter, Kimberley Walsh, Ore Oduba, Dean McCullough and Faye Tozer attended the star-studded evening, which shined a light on how the magic of musical theatre makes a difference to communities across the UK, thanks to National Lottery funding.

The spectacular evening saw some truly amazing performances from shows in the West End and touring musicals, including a breathtaking performance of ‘Maybe This Time’ by Marisha Wallace from Cabaret, which was introduced by her co-star Billy Porter, who also joined her on the carpet earlier in the evening. Fans were also treated to an exclusive preview of the brand-new Disney’s Hercules, which is coming to the West End this summer, with a spectacular performance of ‘Zero to Hero’ and ‘Go The Distance’.

As a surprise for audiences, the legendary Michael Ball made a special appearance during the evening, singing a beautiful rendition of ‘The Impossible Dream’ alongside National Lottery-funded charity, Our Dementia Choir, who were notably founded by actress, producer and presenter, Vicky McClure MBE and who surprised the choir with the news that they’d be taking to the stage with Michael Ball.

Other show-stopping performances came from the likes of brand-new, critically acclaimed musical, Titanique, where the cast of the show, including Strictly Come Dancing and theatre star Layton Williams, performed sensational renditions of ‘I’m Alive’, ‘Taking Chances’ and ‘My Heart Will Go On’. Carrie Hope Fletcher sang a medley of the most popular songs from Calamity Jane, Georgina Castle performed 'World Burn’ from the smash hit musical Mean Girls and there were further magical performances from shows including Here & Now – The Official Steps Musical, Chicago, Dear Evan Hansen and the cast of Mary Poppins took over the stage with a huge cast rendition of the popular hit ‘Supercalafragalistic’.

Rounding off the evening in true theatrical style, the cast of Jim Steinman’s Bat Out of Hell The Musical brought the curtain down with a brilliant medley of ‘Dead Ringer for Love’ and ‘Anything For Love’ from the hit show.

The National Lottery's Big Night of Musicals celebrates 30 years of The National Lottery funding theatre and performing arts across the UK and serves to thank players who have helped support more than 20,000 theatre-related projects to the tune of £1.3BN. National Lottery funding has helped restore theatres as well as enabling hundreds of performing arts projects.

The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals will air on BBC One, BBC Radio 2, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds in Spring.

Notes to Editors:

The money for this initiative comes from a National Lottery promotional fund. It is not being funded by money allocated for National Lottery Good Causes or by Allwyn the operator of The National Lottery.

For further press information:

For further information and images, please contact Musicals2025@freuds.com

Images: https://www.picdrop.com/gettyimageslondon/dYGvHxF2Tq

The National Lottery Notes to Editors:

Notes to Editors:

1. Allwyn is the licensed operator of The National Lottery® and is committed to raising money for National Lottery-funded projects designated by Parliament. Allwyn is not responsible for distributing or awarding these funds.

2. The National Lottery generates, on average, more than £30 million each week for National Lottery-funded projects. In total, over £50 billion has now been raised and more than 700,000 individual grants have been made across the UK. With hundreds of lottery grants in every postcode district, most people will have benefited from a National Lottery-funded project at some point.

3. The National Lottery has awarded over £95 billion in prizes and created more than 7,400 millionaires or multi-millionaires since its launch in 1994.

4. For further information on Allwyn, The National Lottery and its games, please visit: www.allwyn.co.uk and www.national-lottery.co.uk

5. Players of all National Lottery games must be aged 18 or over.

Logo

Images

Tags

More Like This

The National Lottery’s Big Night Of Musicals Returns To The Ao Arena Manchester With More Glitz And Glamour Than Ever Before

Lioness Legends & Chelcee Grimes join Lightning Seeds and David Baddiel for live performance of ‘Three Lions’

Rankin Captures 30 Years of National Lottery Dreams

LottoGo.com customer wins £6 million jackpot and celebrates with her favourite celebrity

'Marvels of Saudi Orchestra' set to perform in London

‘Marvels of Saudi Orchestra’ Mesmerizes London with Stunning Performance

UK-first AI Artwork, To Honour Seven Arts And Film ‘game Changers’ To Mark The National Lottery’s 30th Birthday

Hollywood actor Luke Evans and Musician Myleene Klass bring festive magic to Covent Garden with Christmas lights switch on