Over 70,000 people flocked to London’s Trafalgar Square this weekend (Sat 22 & Sun 23 June) for West End LIVE, Europe’s biggest free theatre festival which has been hailed as ‘Glastonbury for theatre lovers’. Theatre fans travelled from all over the UK and even further afield for this unique and hotly anticipated event, presented on the Saturday by theatre stars Bradley Jaden and Mazz Murray, and on the Sunday by Cedric Neal and Zizi Strallen.
The weekend was packed with 11 hours of performances from an impressive line-up of over 50 of London’s top shows.
Musicals on the bill included West End LIVE favourites Back To The Future The Musical, The Book Of Mormon, Cabaret, The Choir Of Man, Disney’s Frozen, Hamilton, Heathers The Musical, Disney’s The Lion King, Mamma Mia!, RSC’s Matilda The Musical, Les Misérables, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, The Phantom Of The Opera, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical and Wicked.
These shows were joined by new hit productions making their West End LIVE debuts, including The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Fangirls, Hadestown, Kathy & Stella Solve A Murder!, Mean Girls, MJ The Musical, Mrs Doubtfire, Standing At The Sky’s Edge, Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York), Why Am I So Single? and Your Lie In April.
There were also special performances from West End stars Carrie Hope Fletcher, Mazz Murray (who also presented Saturday’s showcase) and John Owen-Jones, with Westway Music hosting a special slot featuring stars from their exciting roster of theatre performers including Christine Allado, Luke Bayer and Rachel Tucker, alongside recent Britain’s Got Talent winner Sydnie Christmas.
Videos of the performances posted to the Official London Theatre YouTube channel have already accumulated over 2.1 million views, with that figure growing by the minute.
West End LIVE would not be possible without the ongoing partnership between Westminster City Council and Society of London Theatre, or the support of TikTok, London Heritage Quarter, Art of London, ATG, ASDA, The Crown Estate, Disney On Stage, Delfont Mackintosh Theatres, FM Conway, Fujifilm, Heart of London Business Alliance, New West End Company, Nimax Theatres, Regent Street and St James’s, LW Theatres, Shaftesbury Capital, Theatre Royal Haymarket, Trafalgar Entertainment, Veolia and Ontix.
