Nicholas McLean will be part of the line-up for Riverside Studios inaugural Christmas season in association with New Frame Productions, and will perform in an evening of unplugged performance with West End Acoustic alongside SIX’s Maiya Quansah-Breed and Renée Lamb, Jesus Christ Superstar’s Tyrone Huntley and Dear Evan Hansen’s Oliver Award-winning Sam Tutty.
Nicholas McLean has appeared in The Book of Mormon and Avenue Q, and recently won the Black British Theatre Award for Best Supporting Male Actor in a Musical for Wicked.
West End Acoustic is at Riverside Studios on 8th December 2020. Tickets are on sale here.
You’re appearing in West End Acoustic at Riverside Studios, what can you tell us about it?
West End Acoustic brings some of the UK’s finest theatre talent together under one roof for an intimate evening celebrating the best of Musical Theatre. We will strip back some of the complex structures and allow The Voice, The Piano and The Guitar to blend seamlessly. I’m excited to be working with such a great cast and musical director Chris Poon.
Why did you want to be a part of this special night?
Theatre has been through such turmoil over the last few months, so to be able to get back in a room with my fellow entertainers and perform a set for the wonderful audiences at Riverside Studios is a real pleasure. Hopefully we can spread some joy and send people on their way feeling uplifted.
I performed at Riverside Studios twice with my high school in productions of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Lysistrata’ so it will be lovely to revisit the venue as a professional.
What are you looking forward to most about performing to a live audience again?
It really is difficult to pinpoint one specific thing I’m most looking forward to. I will say that the buzz you get from performing live really is like nothing else. The jitters in your stomach as you hear the audience over the monitors. The collective excitement of the room as a singer negotiates the highs and lows of their song. It’s so wonderful to go on a musical journey with everyone else in the room at the same time. I’m actually getting butterflies just thinking about it.
It’s an incredible line-up, how do you think you’ll all support each other on the night?
It has been such a long time since most of us performed in a live setting so I think there is going to be a real sense of camaraderie between us. I can only speak for myself but I’m a massive fan of Maiya, Tyrone, Sam and Renée so I’ll probably be doing a lot of cheering for them.
Can you give us any hints about what you’ll be performing on the night?
We’ve all had the opportunity to pick our own set list which is such a rarity. It’s so nice to be able to get up and sing songs that you truly love. I won’t give too much of the game away but I will say there’s something for everyone. A bit of Disney, some Sondheim thrown in for good measure, I’ve just been on tour with Avenue Q so I might even throw in a bit of a comedy number as well.
What would you say to anyone thinking of coming to see West End Acoustic?
Book now to avoid disappointment. There’s a massive buzz surrounding theatre at the moment and audiences are itching at the bit to get back and experience live performance. We’re operating with a reduced capacity though so I really hope we can get everyone in. I’d hate for anyone to miss out.
See Nicholas McLean in West End Acoustic at Riverside Studios on 8th December 2020.
