For this Musicals Meets Podcast, Sarah Kirkup meets Bronté Barbé and Rebekah Hinds. The pair are playing the title roles in Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder!, an award-winning musical comedy by Jon Brittain and Matthew Floyd Jones, which opens in the West End at the end of May. They have been involved with the show since its initial workshop back in 2022, taking it to the Edinburgh Fringe later that year and then again in 2023, before touring it to Bristol and Manchester.  They come to Musicals magazine’s headquarters to chat about the show’s upcoming West End debut, and why 2024 is an exc ..read more

For this Musicals Magazine Podcast, Edward Seckerson meets Sam Tutty, one of the youngest ever Olivier Award winners for his deeply affecting performance in the London premiere of Pasek and Paul’s Dear Evan Hansen. He journeyed with Evan across the great divide of the Covid pandemic, gathering a huge fan base as he did so. As he opens in the West End as the likeable and hyperactive Dougal in Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York), he relives his journey so far – backstage at London’s Criterion Theatre.   ..read more

For this Musicals Magazine Podcast, Sarah Kirkup meets Timmika Ramsay, who’s currently starring as Miss Adelaide in Nicholas Hytner’s immersive production of Guys & Dolls at the Bridge Theatre. Ramsay, who previously starred as La Chocolat in Moulin Rouge in the West End, talks about the challenges of following in the footsteps of Marisha Wallace, how she juggles eight shows a week with a small baby, and her determination to make the role her own.   The musical excerpts of Guys and Dolls are taken from the 2023 London Cast Recording on Broadway Records, starring Marisha Wallace ..read more

For this Musicals Meets Podcast, Editor Sarah Kirkup meets Marlow and Moss, the talented writing duo behind global sensation SIX. Following in that musical’s footsteps was always going to be a challenge, but last summer they workshopped Why Am I So Single? at the Lilian Bayliss Theatre. Following two friends, who just happen to be writing a musical, as they enjoy a prosecco-fuelled evening, the two-act show was positively received by audiences. It was subsequently finessed and sculpted into the final version premiering in the West End this summer.   At the press launch at Soho’s Boul ..read more

Edward Seckerson meets Evelyn Hoskins, forever associated with bringing Carrie White in from the cold in the invigorating 2015 Southwark Playhouse production of the ill-fated musical Carrie. They also talk Spring Awakening - which marked Hoskins’s stage debut and is back for an original cast reunion; the loveable Dawn in Waitress where she shared the stage with the composer Sara Bareilles; and the stranger-than-fiction alchemy of 42 Balloons soon to be seen at the Lowry in Manchester.   Never miss an issue – subscribe to Musicals magazine today: https://www.magsubscriptions.com/musicals ..read more

For this Musicals Meets Podcast, Sarah Kirkup talks to Sarah Crompton, one of Britain’s most respected writers and broadcasters, about the new production of Hadestown which has just premiered at the Lyric Theatre in the West End. Crompton is a huge fan of the show, having previously seen the UK production at the National Theatre and reviewing it favourably for WhatsOnStage. She recently wrote a fascinating feature on the new West End production for the current issue of Musicals magazine.  Blending modern American folk music with New Orleans-inspired jazz, the music for Hadestown is writte ..read more

For our first Musicals Meets Podcast, Editor Sarah Kirkup meets the actor and performer Joel Harper-Jackson. Starring as Harry in the revival of Standing at the Sky’s Edge at the Gillian Lynne Theatre from 9 February, Harper-Jackson – previously known for Musical Theatre roles such as Charlie Price in Kinky Boots on tour and Simon in Jesus Christ Superstar at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre – hit the headlines in 2022 in Mike Bartlett’s play Cock at the Ambassadors Theatre. Having covered both lead roles, he took over from Taron Egerton as M opposite Jonathan Bailey after Egerton left the produ ..read more

EDWARD SECKERSON meets OLIVER TOMPSETT at London’s Wonderville Bar & Café to chat over his ongoing journey from The Who’s Tommy (title role) at Arts Ed and a veritable portfolio of rock/pop shows – Our House, Rock of Ages, We Will Rock You – to more legit fare like Fiyero in Wicked and his winning turn as Will Shakespeare in & Juliet. As we speak, he is preparing to launch a new show Wild About You (with a score by Broadway’s Carole King, Chilina Kennedy) at London’s Theatre, Royal Drury Lane, with a jaw-dropping cast including Eric McCormac ..read more

In the latest MUSICALS podcast EDWARD SECKERSON talks to playwright and book writer JOHN WEIDMAN who collaborated with the late, great Stephen Sondheim on three of his shows - Pacific Overtures, Assassins, and Road Show - and was in London for a long-awaited revival of the first of them. Chatting in the bar of the Menier Chocolate Factory the morning after the first preview he reminisces about an extraordinary working relationship where making good theatre was always front and centre of their objectives.   ..read more

Edward Seckerson drops in on Jenna Russell during the run of Richard Taylor/Rachel Wagstaff's Flowers for Mrs Harris at London’s Riverside Studios. They compare notes on the show and on other movers and shakers who’ve been instrumental in pushing the envelope on musical theatre including Sondheim (with whom Olivier Award-winning Jenna enjoyed several career-defining encounters), Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home), and Jason Robert Brown (Bridges of Madison County). Recorded backstage at London’s Riverside Studios in October 2023. The opening and closing musical excerpts featured in this podcast ar ..read more