The Musicals & Theatre Podcast

Due the recent government advice the Olivier Awards has sadly been cancelled, the Society of London Theatre are currently trying to find a way to properly honour and announce this year’s winners. We still wanted to honour the nominees so on this weeks episode of the Olivier Awards Podcast – the official podcast of The Olivier Awards with Mastercard, Alice Arnold is sitting down with Chief Executive of the Society of London Theatre and producer of The Olivier Awards Julian Bird to talk about the biggest news story of the awards in the Plays and Opera categories. They are chatting about the three top nominated plays Death of Salesman, Rosmersholm and Cyrano de Bergerac all which received 5 nominations plus many more brilliant productions.

As the Olivier Awards approach, Alice Arnold sits down with Chief Executive of the Society of London Theatre and Producer of the Olivier Awards Julian Bird to get an in depth look at this years musical and dance nominations. The pair talk about the biggest news story of the awards, 9 time nominated musical & Juliet, as well as taking a look at choreography from Evita and the wonderful orchestration of Amélie the Musical. They also hear from stars of the nominated productions, including Jason Donovan, Miriam Teak Lee and Sara Barellis, as we count down to the big night. Don't miss next week's episode where Alice and Julian will be taking a look at the plays and operas nominated in the 2020 Olivier Awards.

This week Alice was joined in the studio by Matthew Morrison, star of Glee, numerous Broadway productions and a judge on The Greatest Dancer. They chatted about his career from the stage to screen and his new album Disney Dreamin’.

In a special Musicals and Theatre podcast Alex Baker has taken over and is chatting to Peter Cattaneo, director of The Full Monty about his latest film Military Wives. Peter talks about making the film, working with Kirstin Scott-Thomas and Sharon Horgan and his other career highlights.

As the Olivier Awards nominations were announced yesterday Alice Arnold sat down with Julian Bird the Chief Executive of the Society of London Theatre and Producer of the Olivier awards to get an instant reaction to the nominations in this little bonus podcast. They chatted about the most nominated show, & Juliet, as well as other top-nominated musicals such as Dear Evan Hansen, Amélie, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Evita. They also unpicked the play nominations, including Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt, Death of a Salesman – which earned nominations for its two leads Wendell Pierce and Sharon D. Clarke – and Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s nomination for her one-woman show Fleabag. We will be chatting more about the awards as they get closer and chatting with some of the nominees as well!

This week Alice is immersed in the world of the new hit musical Be More Chill when she was joined in the studio by two of the lead members of the cast, Scott Follan who plays Jeremy and Miracle Chance who plays Christine. They chatted about this new musical phenomenon that sees a young boy implant a super computer in his head in an attempt to be cool! Be More Chill is currently on at The Other Palace

This week Alice was joined in the studio by actress Michelle Collins. They chatted about her career on screen including her time in EastEnders and Coronation Street and her time on the stage starring in musicals like Daddy Cool and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. They also talked about the tour of Pinters The Birthday Party which she is about to embark on.

This week on the Musicals and Theater Podcast Alice is joined in the studio by the legendary lyricist and composer Stephen Schwartz. They chat about his career inducing, his work on Pippin, Godspell, Rags, Wicked, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame as well as Prince of Egypt which is had just been turned into a musical and is currently on in London’s Westend.

This week on the Musicals and Theatre podcast Alice is onstage at the Adelphi Theatre where Waitress the Musical is currently on. What is she doing there? Well she went to interview two stars who have come from America to perform in the show a limited run. She chatted with Grammy Award winner Sara Bareilles who wrote the musical and is playing Jenna and Tony award winner Gavin Creel who is playing Dr Pomatter. They chatted about their careers, Waitress the musical and what it is like performing in London’s West End.

The Musicals and Theatre podcast is back for 2020 with a new season! This week Alice is joined in the studio by Matt Henry, they chatted about his reprisal of his Olivier Winning Role in Kinky Boots which was filmed for cinema release, how he is juggling his career with being a Dad and his plans for the future.

This week Alice was joined in the studio by actor, strictly winner and fellow Mellow Magic presenter Tom Chambers. They chatted about his career, what it was like to win Strictly Come Dancing and the new play he is about to go on tour with Dial M for Murder. Tickets for the UK tour of Dial M for Murder are on sale now.

This week on the Musicals and Theatre Podcast Alice was joined in the studio by Michael Brandon who is currently starring in White Christmas at London’s Dominion Theatre. They chatted about his vast and varied career including performing on Broadway with Al Pacino and his famous role in Dempsey and Makepeace. White Christmas is on at the Dominion Theatre until the 4th of January.

A few weeks ago Ball and Boe popped into our studio to record a special show with Alice. They chatted about their new album Back Together, what happens when they go on tour and finally performing together in Les Misérables. This podcast is made up of parts of the show plus some bonus bits that got cut out.

This week’s podcast is a special show Alice recorded for Mellow Magic with Luke Evans. This is a special extended version of that show with bonus bits that didn’t go on the radio. They chatted about his new album, his career on the stage and how playing Gaston in the Beauty and the Beast now get’s him stopped in the street.

This week Alice is backstage at the Piccadilly Theatre currently home to Death of Salesman. She popped into Wendell Pierce’s dressing room to chat to him about the play, his time in London and his career. Then she wondered over to Sharon D Clarke’s dressing room where they chatted about her role in Death of A Salesman, her time on Holby City and reprising her Olivier winning role in Caroline or Change on Broadway next year. Death of Salesman is on at the Piccadilly Theatre until 4th of January

This week on the Musicals and Theatre Podcast Alice is in the bar at the Shaftsbury Theatre to interview some of the cast of the new Musical &Juliet. She chatted to Cassidy Janson (Anne), Miriam-Teak Lee (Juliet), Melanie La Barrie (Nurse) and Oliver Tompsett (Shakespeare). They chatted about this brilliant new musical that tells an alternative story to the Romeo and Juliet we all know and is set to music of the legendary writer Max Martin. &Juliet is currently on at the Shaftsbury Theatre.

This week Alice is joined in the studio by star of Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at No. 42 Meera Syal. As well as talking about her very extensive career they also chat about the comedy play she is currently starring in ‘Noises is Off’ at the Garrick Theatre.

This week Alice is chatting to the Chief Executive of the Society of London Theatre Julian Bird who chatted about what to see at the Theatre this winter, from new musicals like Mary Poppins and Dear Evan Hanson to this year’s Panto at the Palladium, Goldie Locks and the Three Bears – it’s set in a circus apparently. They covered a mountain of great shows so there is something for everyone in there! Information about everything that is going on can be found on the Society of London Theatre website.

This week Alice is back stage at the Trafalgar studios chatting to the cast of A Day In The Death of Joe Egg. She sat down with Storme Toolis, Claire Skinner, Toby Stephens and Patricia Hodge to talk about Peter Nichols’ challenging but funny and brave play. A Day In The Death of Joe Egg is currently on at the Trafalgar Studios until the end of November.

This week Alice is joined in the studio by actor, director and writer Clarke Peters. He chatted about his upcoming role in the new TV adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials in which he plays the Master of Jordan College. It being the Musicals and Theatre podcast Alice also had to ask him about Five Guys Named Moe, the Olivier winning musical he wrote. As well as acting and writing, they also chatted about the time he got arrested protesting the Vietnam War and his thoughts on Black History Month. His Dark Materials starts on BBC 1 on 3rd November.

Welcome back, and this week on the Musicals and Theatre Podcast we sent our Entertainment reporter to the launch of the new musical the Prince of Egypt. While she was there, she chatted to the musical theatre legend and writer of the Prince of Egypt Stephen Schwartz. She also chatted to Philip LaZebnick who wrote the book, the producers Michael McCabe and Neil Ladilaw and the choreographer Sean Cheesman. As well as all of them she also spoke to some of the cast including, Luke Brady who plays Moses, Liam Tamne who plays Ramses and Christine Allado who plays Tzipporah. The Prince of Egypt is coming to the Dominion Theatre at the end of February 2020.

Alice was joined in the studio this week by Laura Pitt-Pulford who is currently starring in the musical Falsettos, they chatted about Falsettos as well as her career highlights to date. Falsettos is currently on at The Other Palace until the end of November. This is the last episode in the season, but don't worry as we will be back in a few weeks to let you know what is happening at the Theatre in the run up to the end of the year.

This week Alice popped along to the rehearsal rooms in Pimlico to chat to the cast of the new musical Curtains; A Musical Whodunnit, Ore Oduba, Jason Manford and Carly Stenson. Strictly winner Ore Oduba chatted about his life after winning Strictly and his new career on the stage. No stranger to treading the boards, Jason Manford talked about the difference between touring his own stand up show and life with a company and Carly chatted about life after her stint in Les Miserables. Curtains is currently touring the UK, and comes to the New Wimbledon Theatre in January 2020. You can hear Alice Arnold on Mellow Magic every Weekend 6am - 10am

This week Alice is joined in the studio by Jason Donovan! They chatted about his time in Neighbours, his current role as the Pharo in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dream Coat, and what it was like when he played the lead. He also talks about his new role as a producer for the UK tour of Pricilla Queen of the Desert.

This week Alice was backstage at the Regents Park Open Air Theatre to speak to the lead's in this summers production of Evita. She chatted to Samantha Pauly who plays Eva Peron, Trent Saunders who is Che and Ektor Rivera who is Juan Peron. They discussed this very different version of Evita and what it is like to perform in the middle of one of London's biggest parks!

This week the legendary star of stage and screen Anita Harris popped into Alice's studio to chat about the time she met Frank Sinatra, starred in a few Carry on Films and the tour of Cabaret she is just about to embark on!

Alice was joined in the studio this week by Ricardo Afonso who is currently playing Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar at the Barbican. They chatted about how his career nearly ended two years ago as well as his stint on The Voice.

This week on the musicals and theatre podcast Alice is talking to Julian Bird the Chief Executive of The Society Of London Theatre. They are chatting about what to see this summer at the theatre and what we can look forward to this coming autumn! There is a lot of brilliant things to see so get your note books at the ready to make a list!

This week on the Musicals and Theatre podcast Alice invited Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary, the writers of 'Adrian Mole the Musical' into the studio. They chatted about how they started the project. How they got the blessing of Sue Townsend to make the musical, as well as their writing careers together and the future of British musicals in the West End.

We are back with our new Summer season brining you all the news about what to see this summer at the theatre. We are starting this week with Christie Prades who plays Gloria Estefan in the new west end musical On Your Feet, which tells the story of the singers life. She chats to Alice about how Gloria asked her to play the role, her career and how Lin Manuel Miranda's advice encouraged her to take her career to the next level.

This week it's a very special edition of the Musicals and Theatre podcast, featuring Will Young who has starred in Cabaret, The Vortex, and more recently Strictly Ballroom The Musical On the night before Pride in London Alice sat down with Will Young talk all things LGBTQ+ in a one off show on Magic called Pride. We wanted to share it here with some added in bonus bits that didn't make it into the final program. In the podcast Alice shares memories from her first ever Pride, when it was definitely still a march for rights and Will chats about his time on Pop Idol, what it was like to come out in the public eye and the power of LGBTQ+ role models.

This week Alice is back stage at the Phonix Theatre speaking to the Robert Hands, Clive Carter and Rachel Tucker who are all starring in the Olivier Award winning musical Come From Away. They talk about the amazing production that tells the story of the people of Gander who took in 7000 air passengers from all over the world who were grounded in Canada during the wake of 9/11. This is the last podcast in this season but don't worry as we will be back in a few weeks with more great interviews and ideas of what to see this summer.

This week Alice is backstage at the Duke of York's Theatre to chat to Olivier Award Winner Giles Terera. They chatted about his extensive career including his role in Hamilton, which he won the Olivier for best actor in a musical for and the Ibsen play he is currently starring in Rosmersholm.

This week Alice was out and about and found herself in Opera Legend Lesley Garrett's music room - as you do! There they chatted about Lesley's career from her training at the Royal Academy, to dipping her toe in the world of musical theater with her role in the Sound of Music. Now she is encouraging new writers to create more roles for older singers and leaving a legacy for generations to come. As well as all that she tells Alice all about Chiswick proms which is happening next weekend.

This week Cassidy Janson popped into Alice's studio to record a special show for Mellow Magic, It was so lovely we have turned it into a podcast with all the extra bits that got cut out of the show! She chatted to Alice about being Carol King (obviously), her current role in Man of La Mancha, her new album and the show she is going to be starring in later in the year & Juliet.

Magic at the Musicals backstage special Part 2! Alice is still talking to performers back stage at the Royal Albert Hall, in this podcast she is talking to Trevor Dion Nicholas, who is the Genie in Aladdin, Sara Poyzer who is playing Donna Sheridan in Mama Mia the Musical, Natalie Paris who is Jane Seymour in Six, Louise Dearman, Rachel Tucker, Matthew Croke who is Aladdin, Harriet Bunton and Molly Osbourne who are both in Fiddler on the Roof and Craig Gallivan who is Dewy in School of Rock.

Magic at the Musicals took place last Friday and Alice was in the artist bar backstage waiting to interview the performers. As there were so many we have split this week's podcast in two. In Part 1 Alice is chatting to.... Mellow Magic's very own Ruthie Henshall, Layton Williams ,currently playing Jamie in Everybody's Talking About Jamie and Sabrina Sandhu who is his best friend Pritti Pasha, Nkeki Obi-Melekwe who is playing Tina in Tina the Tina Turner, John Owen Jones, Lucie Jones and Janique Charles who is playing Nala in The Lion King.

This week Alice is back stage at the Apollo theatre to chat to Bianca Del Rio / Roy Haylock who is currently starring in Everybody's Talking About Jamie. They chat about what it's like performing in London, about Bianca's upcoming tour and obviously, Drag Race does get mentioned!

This week Bonnie Langford popped into Alice's studio, they talked about her amazing career including her time on Dancing on Ice, her role in EastEnders, what it was like to go to Broadway at the age of 10 to star with Angela Lansbury in Gypsy and her current role in 9 to 5!

It was the Olivier Awards last Sunday and we were there backstage to interview the winners! Including, Kyle Soller, Patsy Ferran, Chriss Wally, Monica Dolan, Jonathan Bailey and Pattie Lupone as well as the producers of Come From Away and Marianne Elliot who directed Company and Chris Harper the producer. Warning today's podcast does contain squeals of delight!

There is no podcast this week as we are at the Olivier Awards! But come back next week for all the backstage gossip and interviews with the winners.

This week Alice is on holiday and has left her podcast in the capable hands of Ruthie Henshall who decided to interview not one person, not two people, but 6 queens! Yes this week Ruthie Henshall is chatting to Jarneia Richard-Noel, Millie O'Connell, Natalie Paris, Maiya Quansah-Breed, Grace Mouat & Vicki Manser who are the Six wives of Henry VIII in the Olivier nominated musical Six.

Julian Bird is back again for part 2 of his chat with Alice about the Olivier Award nominations. This week they are discussing the nominations in the plays category and Julian gives a sneak peak in what we can expect to see on the night!

With the Olivier awards fast approaching, this week Alice sat down the Julian Bird the Chief Executive of the Society of London Theatre to talk about this year's nominations. In In Part 1 this week, they are discussing the nominations in the Musical's and Opera categories.

Ruthie Henshall has been on a trip to New York ,and she took a look at what's happening on Broadway! The first thing she did when she got back was run into Alice's studio to tell her all about it. On this week's podcast they chat about shows she saw in New York including the Tony winning sensation 'The Band's Visit' and they also chat about the what they have seen recently on the West End in particular the Tony Winning and now Olivier nominated 'Come From Away'.

The award winning comedy play ART is on tour. Stephen Tompkinson and Denis Lawson popped in to chat to Alice Arnold, and talk about the time Denis released a single - yes Alice does make him sing it They also chat about their post show ritual and how to make the perfect martini.

This week Alice is backstage at the Trafalgar Studios with Alex Kingston and Sarah Hadland talking about the play they are both about to star in Admissions. It's not all play chat though they also discuss Alex Kingston's time in ER, as well Sarah Hadland's terrible attempts to make a cake for Celebrity Great British Bake Off!

Want to know what you should be seeing in London's West End right now? This week's podcast is for you! Julian Bird, Chief Executive of the Society of London Theatre and this podcast's 'man in the know' is chatting to Alice about the Olivier Awards: cut-off points for entries, early favourites, and much more. They then delve into the world of What's On... talking about the new musicals and plays coming to the West End in the next month. Including 'Come From Away', Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 The Musical, and the new production of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Palladium.

This week Alice is chatting to Mark Benton and Nigel Harman about their roles in the tour of Glen Garry Glen Ross. She finds out what goes on while the 'lads' are on tour, and delves into the pair's careers chatting with Nigel about EastEnders and Mark about Waterloo Road. She also helps orgainse a dance lesson for the cast led by Mark, who can finally put the skills he learnt on Strictly Come Dancing to good use.

A new season has begun and this week Alice is chatting to Anita Dobson about her new role as Miss Hannigan in Annie! She tells us what she thinks of Gwilym Lee playing her husband Brian May in the Bafta and Oscar nominated film Bohemian Rhapsody; The celebration of the music of 'Queen' and their legendary singer Freddie Mercury They also talk about her career, and time in EastEnders, which gave her overnight fame, from an unknown actress to suddenly having her face in all the papers.