Friday Theatre News

It's the end of the week... apparently. Who even knows what day it is anymore?

Time for a round up of all the happenings in the world of theatre this week.

This week it's positive stories only... mostly.

A new West end charity concert has been announced. The concert called 'Newfound Hope songs' will feature a host of stars from the world of musical theatre - all of whom have written new and original songs to perform on the night. Proceeds of which will be shared with the artists themselves and NHS charities.

Artists confirmed to take part so far inckude Kerry Ellis, Cassidy Janson, Lucie Jones, Shan Ako, Rachel John, David Hunter and Jodie Steele. The venue and date are to be confirmed but when it does happen, this will be a night not to be missed.

After the final installment of Andrew Lloyd Webbers The Shows Must Go On series last week, we all thought that was it for the weekly streaming series. It wasn't to be though as Universal have announced they will be continuing the series "for the forseeable future" starting with the NBC production of 'The Sound Of Music' tonight.

Each title will be available on Fridays from 7pm for 48 hours only from youtube.com/theshowsmustgoon

West End Live is a highlight for the musical theatre calendar every year. Thousands of theatre fans cram into Trafalgar Square for a weekend of performances from west end and touring musicals. It was not to be this year for obvious reasons but the show must go on!

On the weekend of June 20th - 21st, the time West end live was due to take place, West end live will release two specially commissioned programmes featuring highlights of past performances from over the last five years. Each programme will be available to watch on https://www.facebook.com/westendlive for 24 hours only.

West End Live have also partnered with several west end shows to release 15 minute videos from each show. Shows including Six and &Juliet are taking part. Each video will premiere weekly for Sky VIP customers but will be added on to YouTube after June 21st.

One of my favourite voices in musical theatre, Rob Houchen, has released a brand new single. While you usually find him as Marius in Les Miserables and more recently in City Of Angels, his new single is a far more upbeat affair. Titled 'Dance again' it is available on Spotify and is a much needed burst of happiness in otherwise challenging times.

Rob also has a variety of songs on Spotify that are definitely worth checking out, including a stunning version of Cher's 'Believe'.

And finally...

It was a case of life imitating art for Dear Evan Hansen star Sam Tutty this week. Olivier award nominated Sam, who plays the title role of Evan in the West end production, posted a picture to his Instagram revealing that he has injured his arm. The injury wasn't caused by falling out of a tree but instead from vaulting over a fence while on a trampoline... as you do. Sam has already joked that he wants to write "CONNOR" on his cast. Feel better soon, Sam!