West End Live 2021 – A Retrospective

Since it was established in 2005, West End Live has become one of the defining highlights of the London theatrical calendar. Every June, hundreds of performers gather in Trafalgar Square to provide audiences with an insight into the energy and diversity of London theatre. Over the course of a single weekend, we get open-air performances from the casts of several West End Musicals, and they are joined by touring productions, dance shows, concerts, and even a couple of magic acts. In 2019, the event was attended by around 500,000 people, who watched 50 performances involving a total of approximately 700 performers. Like almost all in-person theatre events in 2020, West End Live was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic, with a handful of major blockbusters providing smaller online concerts instead. This year, the success of the vaccination programme and the reopening of London’s theatres meant that it became possible to revive the event at full capacity. A full West End Live weekend took place last month (17th and 18th of September), featuring a total of 47 performances across the two days. Vaccine certifications were required to attend – an upgrade on the West End’ frustratingly lax safety protocols. West End Live 2021 represented an effective way of demonstrating that theatre has begun to regain its status as a cornerstone of London culture.

The shows represented at West End Live ranged from West End titans such as Wicked, The Lion King and Six: The Musical to more obscure fare such as Vanara and Children of Eden. However, there were a few musicals which were conspicuous by their absence. Everybody’s Talking About Jamie did not appear, despite having been a prominent presence at the previous three West End Live weekends. Everybody's Talking About Jamie was nearing the completion of a 4 year run at the Apollo Theatre (though it plans to return to the West End next Summer) and a West End Live appearance would have been a good way to commemorate this, whilst also promoting the new movie adaptation on Amazon Prime. The musical adaptation of the iconic sitcom Only Fools and Horses was also absent, despite appearing in West End Live 2019. Two big productions from outside the West End – the Open Air Theatre update of Carousel and the acclaimed Barbican revival of Anything Goes – also chose not to send performers. Back To The Future was meant to appear on Day Two, but was absent for reasons covered in more detail later on.

All the performances were made available online shortly after they concluded, which ensured that the event could be enjoyed by people unable or unwilling to travel to Central London. In the longer term, it also allows fans to revisit their memories whenever they want – an ideal format for reviewers seeking to discuss it in greater detail. West End Live has used the hybrid approach for years, and it represents the perfect extension of the accessible ethos which defines the event. Hopefully, the blend of live entertainment and YouTube broadcasts will be used more frequently by British theatre in the future. Although there were flaws in the Official London Theatre channel coverage (Including errors in the video descriptions and a consistent failure properly list performers), theatre fans helped to fill the gaps. Although the performance provided by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella was removed from the Official London Theatre channel, it was filmed by West End Live audiences and uploaded to Youtube in this rougher format. Inevitably, the performances varied in quality – some were brilliant, whilst others were boring – but they all formed a vibrant snapshot of London theatre as it begins its recovery from the COVID crisis.

Day One

The first day of West End Live is the most important, with most of the biggest theatrical productions making an appearance. The day opened with a set from the leading stars of The Prince of Egypt. They provided three numbers, but “Dance to the Day” and “Make It Right” (which featured some sultry Middle Eastern instrumentals, but were otherwise unremarkable) merely felt like a prolonged lead-up to signature song “When You Believe” - fortunately, the rendition of that song from Alexandra Khadime, Christine Allado, and a small children’s choir, captured its blend of power ballad belting and religious spirituality. It was a fairly grand start to the day, with the actors keeping the costumes from the production, and there was definitely a sense that The Prince of Egypt was out to promote itself to people who had not yet brought a ticket to see it. In contrast, several blockbuster productions chose to tone things down and simply have a spot of fun. The freshly-opened West End version of Frozen chose to spotlight two lighter, more child-friendly songs – “In Summer” (with Craig Gallivan getting to show off the Olaf puppet) and “Love Is An Open Door”. Their performances probably won’t attract too many non-fans to the musical, but were still fun to watch. Millennial pop jukebox musical & Juliet chose to go in a similar direction, with the female leads covering “Domino” in Girl Group style and the boys doing “Everybody (Backstreets Back)” – non-binary cast member Alex Thomas-Smith was involved in both performances. “Domino” isn’t the most impressive number in the & Juliet song list, and leading lady Miriam Teak-Lee found herself overshadowed by Cassidy Janson’s attempt at an Anastasia/Taylor Dayne style growl. However, the Backstreet Boys cover was far more energetic, with Oliver Tompsett and Jordan Luke Gage proving particular standouts. Fans of Gage might be amused to know he once appeared on The X Factor but was eliminated for being “too boring” - his appearances in Heathers and & Juliet have really allowed him to demonstrate that Simon Cowell was wrong. Not all fantasy musicals adopted this simplicity for their West End Live sets. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella isn’t much more sophisticated, but really went all-out for its five-minute slot, transplanting the full stage experience to the West End Live pop-up arena. Carrie Hope Fletcher demonstrated some amusingly rebellious attitude, as she sang “Bad Cinderella” whilst being pushed around by a large ensemble. Ultimately, the strongest performance from a blockbuster musical came from Wicked, which managed to combine both simplicity and grandeur – leading ladies Laura Pick and Sophie Evans fully captured the emotional power of “For Good” and “Defying Gravity”, demonstrating why the musical retains its appeal after 15 years on the West End and dozens of imitators.

Whilst the fantastical escapism of these productions will hopefully remain reasonably timeless, others are more affected by contemporary concerns. As we examine the toxic legacy of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and reflect on how the pandemic highlighted the importance of community, the brilliant Come from Away feels more relevant than ever – a proshoot was recently released on Apple+ streaming service and received almost universal critical acclaim. Come From Away’s opening number “Welcome to the Rock” was one of the most theatrical songs at West End Live, with significant excerpts of dialogue delivered in thick Newfoundland accents. However, the cast did total justice to it, and still managed to sell the authenticity of the song despite the more informal setting. It was followed by an excellent rendition of “Me and the Sky” from Alice Fearn. In contrast to the renewed resonance of Come from Away, some big hits found themselves having to justify their existence against a wave of recent backlash – Dear Evan Hansen and The Book of Mormon both made their West End Live debuts in a bid to demonstrate their importance to a post-lockdown theatre landscape. The movie version of Dear Evan Hansen has received critical scorn due to the decision to have 27-year-old Ben Platt in the leading role, and detractors have also argued that the cinematic format just draws more attention to the problematic features of the story. However, the soundtrack still retains its power and resonance, and Dear Evan Hansen was able to demonstrate this during its West End Live slot, as Oliver Award winning leading man Sam Tutty sang “Waving Through a Window”, “Only Us” and “You Will Be Found” with the backing of the other cast members. Despite sound issues, Tutty provided an anxious energy that really showcased his acting skills – For all the unethical deeds Evan Hansen does in the story, Tutty still shows he has the ability to make us root for him. Meanwhile, The Book of Mormon has been a West End staple for almost a decade but could find things difficult in a changing theatre industry – In the age of Black Lives Matter, a musical which relies extensively on “hellhole Africa” tropes feels pretty out of touch. The cast has been consulted on how to tone down the excesses of The Book of Mormon, and their revisions will be included when the production returns next month. However, the West End Live performance proved that Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s raunchy musical is still entertaining. “Baptise Me” is not one of the most famous numbers, but the concept of a ridiculously sexualised romantic duet about a Christian baptism is pretty amusing and the song provides agency for its black lead Nabalungi (played by a lively Leanne Robinson). Ultimately, the performances won’t change too many minds - In both cases, the songs are a bit of a band-aid for deeper issues with the story and messages, but the soundtracks to both musicals are consistently strong and deserve to be celebrated at West End Live.

A full 45 minutes of performances were dedicated to four Cameron Mackintosh megamusicals. Almost 4 years after it arrived on the West End, the era-defining Hamilton finally made its West End Live debut, with the cast performing three of its most iconic songs. The acoustics are famously erratic at West End Live, but “Alexander Hamilton” – a song which relies on pin-sharp sound arrangements to hear every word - remained as engaging as ever. An energetic rendition of “The Schuyler Sisters” allowed the female cast members to shine, with its references to “[the] greatest city in the world” and “revolution in the Square” gaining a new meaning in the heart of Trafalgar Square. The set concluded with leading man Karl Queensborough getting to show his rapping ability in a rendition of “My Shot”. The West End Live format provides plenty of difficulties for Hamilton, but the soundtrack remains brilliant in this setting, and it will hopefully become a regular addition to West End Live. Hamilton was followed by the more conventional The Phantom of the Opera, with the signature ballads “All I Ask of You” and “Music of the Night” retaining their melodramatic charms (Lucy St Louis and Rhys Whitfield were having a particularly great time singing the former!). A rendition of “Prima Donna” gave some singing time to the supporting cast but felt incredibly generic. Among his many personal faults, Andrew Lloyd Webber has often been criticised for unsubtle self-plagiarising, and it’s not hard to understand this criticism after three similar sounding ballads in a row.

We were then treated to numbers from Mary Poppins, with Zizi Strallen as the legendary magical nanny. She wasn’t the only big star on stage - 60s icon Petula Clark (probably the most famous person to perform during the entire day) appeared as the Bird Lady and her rendition of “Feed the Birds” captured the emotional power of the song. This was followed by the stage version of “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”, which keeps the chorus but changes most of the verses. For all the deviations, the songs are as great as ever, although the (intentionally) bratty children dragged things down a little bit. The Mackintosh section of Day One concluded with Les Misérables, which has just returned to full physical staging after months stuck in a concert format. A mash-up of “I Dreamed a Dream” and “On My Own” worked surprisingly well for a performance that hinged on two talented vocalists singing over each other. It was followed by an unsurprisingly magnificent take on “Bring Him Home” from Jon Robyns. The Les Misérables team concluded with an inevitably epic performance of “One Day More”. The performance climaxed with cast members from all three of the previous shows joining the leads on stage. Mackintosh previously used the “One Show More” conclusion when the casts of Les Misérables, Phantom and Mary Poppins appeared at the 2020 Britain’s Got Talent final – though the performance here lacked the novelty and grandeur of that guest performance, it still represented a strong advertisement for the grand musical spectacle that has made Mackintosh into the wealthiest man in British theatre.

Aside from & Juliet, there were a lot of jukebox musicals wowing audiences with lively renditions of familiar pop classics. The leading quartet of Jersey Boys covered most of the big Frankie Valli hits but were strongest when they moved away from the microphone stands and had the ensemble join them on “December 1963 (Oh What A Night)”. Mamma Mia capitalised on the Abba Voyage hype with lively renditions of “Money Money Money”, “Mamma Mia” and “Dancing Queen”. Leading lady Mazz Murray provided a powerful cover of “The Winner Takes It All”, which represented an impressive contrast with the endless cheeriness represented by the other Jukebox musicals. These familiar classics were joined by What’s New Pussycat?, a new jukebox musical based on the songs of Tom Jones. If you are into 60s singalongs, you will certainly enjoy hearing the cast sing “It’s Not Unusual”. However, the highlight of the set was a rendition of one of Jones’ more modern hits, “Mamma Told Me Not to Come”. Out of the jukebox musicals, the one with the best soundtrack is unquestionably Tina- The Tina Turner Musical, and the West End Live set certainly demonstrated Tina Turner’s legendary status. Aisha Jawanda currently plays Tina Turner on stage, and she gave it her all, belting out “The Best”, “Nutbush City Limits” and “Proud Mary” with all the required energy.

Not all of the sets at West End Live came from modern musicals. The English National Opera chose to contribute songs from their forthcoming production of HMS Pinafore. Millennials will be familiar with many Gilbert and Sullivan songs through the parodies of them in classic cartoons such as Animaniacs and The Simpsons, but the ENO decided to discard the familiar staples in favour of three more traditional and less comedic numbers. The Doctor Who immersive show Time Fracture also turned up – bizarrely, the show chose to focus on a mini concert of songs by a trio of female aliens during the show. The three Jazz-inspired songs were genuinely nice to listen to but felt unremarkable when compared to the bigger numbers over the rest of the day. The alien music seems to be a relatively minor part of the show, so it felt like a bit of a mistake to make it into the primary selling point. People will go to this show for interactive adventures with the doctor and their favourite villains, but they won’t be going for the songs. A more effective advertisement came from Magic Goes Wrong. Mischief Theatre’s Henry Lewis was entertainingly pompous as the inept mentalist The Mind Mangler, who spent his set struggling with sound effects and an unconvincing stooge. The magic itself turned out to be reasonably competent (if basic) but it was the comedy that made the performance fun to watch. There was also an exclusive from The Choir of Man, a team of musicians entering the West End with a show themed around a pub singalong. Their renditions of “Wake Me Up”, “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” and “Some Nights” were appropriately rousing but lost some power in a less intimate setting. For all their limitations, these performances represented a welcome change from the traditional West End staples.

One of the most unusual projects at West End Live was Vanara The Legend: The Musical, a new original musical about two tribes engaged in a battle over the ability to use the gift of fire. With the UK premiere occurring at Hackney Empire later this month, the West End Live slot was used to showcase two grand power ballads, “The Man Who She Once Saw in Me” and “How Do I Open His Eyes”. Both of these songs benefitted from impressive vocals and intense, energetic instrumentals, and it seems like this ecological fable could acquire a substantial fanbase in the future. A more familiar musical was Dreamgirls, appearing at the festival to promote a national tour. Their performance did a good job of spotlighting the talent of Nicole Raquel Dennis, who has taken the lead role of Effie White (made famous by Jennifer Hudson in her Oscar-winning performance in the 2006 film) The set began with versions of “One Night Only”, then allowed to Nicole to belt out “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going”. Lin Manuel Miranda’s 2011 adaptation of Bring It On also went to promote a national tour. The song they showcased – a Guitar-based ballad called “One Perfect Moment” was competently sung, but one of the most forgettable performances of the day.

There were also a few performers who did not fit into the musical mould. Ben Stock provided a rather grating singalong to “We Go Together” and “Do Rei Mi”. Kids would enjoy him, but his overly cheery covers of two rather saccharine oldies became irritating pretty quickly, the sort of thing to keep younger viewers busy whilst more mature and less patient audience members went to a nearby shop or café. Ferris and Milnes were also a little too artificially upbeat, but plenty of thought and creativity went into their 10-minute medley of songs from pretty much every West End musical you can think of (followed by a more conventional cover of “Theme From New York, New York” at the end). It was almost impossible to count the number of musical theatres staples they incorporated into their performance, but some of the switches were genuinely clever and amusing - of course "Cell Block Tango" from Chicago and "Ex-Wives" from Six: The Musical should be combined in a mash-up! Child-friendly singalongs are not necessarily a bad thing in and of themselves, but they need to exhibit some originality and imagination – Ferris and Milnes showcased this, but Ben Stock didn’t, making him the weakest performer across the two days of West End Live.

The concluding performance on Day One came from the cast of Six: The Musical. The concert musical about the six wives of Henry VIII was one of the productions worst affected by the pandemic – Broadway went into lockdown just hours before its opening night in New York, and a socially distanced West End run at the Lyric Theatre was stopped in December 2020 due to a spike in COVID cases. However, Six: The Musical bounced back with style - The show just completed a four-month run at the Lyric Theatre and moved to the Vaudeville Theatre, and the Broadway production resumed performances, finally enjoying its opening night. The cast of Six: The Musical performed the opening song “Ex Wives” and concluding number “Six”, which have lost none of their energy in the three years since the musical broke into the mainstream. The main problem with the set was the decision to conclude with “Don’t Lose UR Head”, which is probably the most overrated song in Six. It is understandable that this Lily Allen pastiche would be used to promote Six (Anne Boleyn is the most infamous of the six wives) but “No Way” and “Get Down” would also fit the West End Live format well, and both are superior songs. However, this is a relatively minor problem, as the originality and energy that has allowed Six to go from Edinburgh Fringe student show to musical theatre phenomenon. It is impossible to think of any production that has embodied the resilience of British theatre as well as Six, so it represented a perfect choice to end the first day.

Day Two

The second day of West End Live was a more subdued affair. An hour shorter than Day One, it featured a less impressive line-up with virtually none of the stars from the previous day. One production that was conspicuously absent from Day Two of West End Live was the Back to The Future musical. The adaptation of the beloved 80s film enjoyed its official opening night earlier in the week, despite the fact that leading man Roger Bart had been replaced by a stand-by after testing positive for COVID. However, a couple of days later, several other cast members fell severely ill (leading to performances being suspended for a week), and it’s not hard to put two and two together and that the decision to continue with performances led to a wider COVID outbreak. It’s a reminder that the disease will cause plenty of disruption for the theatre industry for a while yet. The touring production of Grease: The Musical was also included on the West End Live bill but did not appear for unknown reasons. However, there were plenty of other productions to keep audiences entertained.

One notable arrival at West End Live was the Pretty Woman musical, with Aimee Atkinson in the Julia Roberts role. Atkinson was the only performer representing the musical but did a decent job of selling it to audiences. It is a little disappointing that she chose to sing “Anywhere but Here”, instead of “I Can’t Go Back” – both songs are fairly typical rock ballads (Bryan Adams wrote the soundtrack to the musical) but “I Can’t Go Back” has a far greater emotional power. The Lion King was another big exclusive, with “Circle of Life”, “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” and “He Lives In You” having the usual impact – the traditional African costumes are a strong replacement for the signature double event costumes, celebrating the cultural identities represented by the musical and providing a welcome contrast to the drab official shirts used by other productions.

Matilda: The Musical could have easily done a big ensemble song like “When I Grow Up” or “Revolting Children”, but instead chose to provide the solo number “Naughty”. The risk pays off – even though she was the youngest West End Live headliner this year by some distance, Zoe Simon is an excellent singer and lively actress who really conveyed the rebellious messages of the song. Amelie: The Musical – the adaptation of the hit French film - did a good job marking itself out as a more thoughtful alternative to more commercial movie adaptations, as the songs “Stay” and “Booth Goes Bright” conveyed a vulnerability that adds weight to the romantic quirkiness of the source material. Theatre fans who wanted something trashier got to enjoy an appearance from the touring production of Rock Of Ages – probably the most lowbrow of the jukebox musicals being showcased at West End Live, but the singalong renditions of hair metal staples like “Here I Go Again” certainly energized the crowd.

The fact that most of the big blockbusters performed on Saturday left the floor open for cult musicals to enjoy the spotlight. The cast of Pippin promoted their reinterpretation of the 70s oddity with style and a hippy aesthetic that highlighted its roots. “Magic To Do” is an impressively mysterious and energetic opening number, and the cast also provided decent renditions of “Corner in the Sky” and “Morning Glow”. Sadly, sound issues prevented Ian Carlyle, who plays the sinister Leading Player, from being the stand-out he deserved to be. The minimalist but innovative The Last Five Years – a romantic drama about a failed relationship where the male half of the story is told chronologically, and the female perspective is told backwards - celebrated its arrival in the West End with renditions of “I Can Do Better Than That” and “Moving Too Fast”. Several pandemic era productions have led to increased interest in Jason Robert Brown’s 2001 musical (This version began at the Southwark Playhouse just as the COVID crisis hit and was successfully reworked for the socially distanced format during periods when the restrictions were relaxed) and this performance effectively exploited this, but ultimately wasn’t the strongest advertisement. Leads Olli Higginson and Molly Lynch delivered strong performances, but the decision to do two solo songs from the early stages of the relationship meant that the musical couldn’t sell us on its emotional power. Both musicals why they have retained a strong fanbase, but probably work better in a theatrical setting as opposed to the concert format here.

Three shows from Day One returned for the second day. HMS Pinafore upped its game by bringing in its biggest star, Les Dennis (who also played Wilbur Turnblad in Hairspray) to sing one of Pinafore’s most iconic songs, “When I Was a Lad”. Although Dennis’ light entertainment/panto background may annoy opera purists, he did reasonably well – he may not have the vocal strength of other cast members, but his posh delivery proved well suited for the blend of silliness and timelessly sharp satire that makes "When I Was A Lad" stand out. Six: The Musical provided the same songs at Day One, but with “Don’t Lose UR Head” at the beginning of the set rather than the end. The Choir of Man went pretty much unchanged, but still retained a lot of macho energy despite the bad weather.

There were also exclusive performances from some new musicals. Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World showcased two songs. Aimed at a younger audience than most of the musicals appearing at West End Live, the two numbers lacked the “adult” elements of competitors such as Matilda, Frozen and Six. However, they were still fun to listen to in the moment, combining “girl power” messages with Little Mix style girl band energy – Based on this sneak peek, Fantastically Great Women will play well to the preteen girls who it is aiming to inspire. MT Fest UK – a festival dedicated to showcasing songs from new musicals - provided numbers from two of its most appealing 2021 productions. The first of these was Cake, a musical about the "Affair of the Necklace" scandal which played a key role in fuelling the French Revolution. A flamboyantly catty hip-hip inspired song for Marie Antoinette called “Blacklisted” was followed by a more subdued power ballad. After these two songs, Jodie Steele sang a song from a new musical called Millennials, providing one of the highlights of the day. “Remember The Feeling” was a bittersweet but euphoric song about a breakup that owes as much to David Guetta club bangers as any musical theatre number. Despite the sound cutting out a bit at the start of the chorus, the song still proved impressive, with its blend of heartfelt lyrics and stomping dance beats. Steele encouraged audience members to sing along throughout, and the fact that several did so is proof that in the age of Spotify and Youtube, original British musicals don’t have to go down the traditional route to attract a fanbase.

A couple of performances tried to bring dance into the second day. The Great Gatsby blended extracts from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s source material with jazz age dancing and singing. Of the three immersive productions translated to the large concert setting, this one fared the worst. The Charleston dancing was energetic, but quickly became tiresome, and excerpts revealing the tragic end to the classic story were diminished by the a Capella ballad used to accompany them. Magic Mike Live provided some impressive hip-hop dance, with plenty of breakdancing and acrobatic moves. Unfortunately, the performance slowed down quite a bit when they took of their shirts towards the end – it wouldn’t be a Magic Mike show without muscular males flaunting their six-packs, but it would be great if they did this in a way that did not distract from their abilities as dancers.

There were a couple of campy novelty productions to represent the cabaret/nightclub sector of London theatre, but these ended up being pretty disappointing. The London Cabaret Club performed extracts from their show The Best of British Pop, but the set was weakened by song choices which felt too big and serious for the camp silliness they were aiming to provide. Although “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Space Oddity” are both undeniable rock classics, the London Cabaret Club covers of these songs were too bland to capture their innovative grandeur. A cover of “Tragedy” was more suited to the cabaret style but fell flat due to the needless attempts at emulating the Bee Gees’ signature falsetto sounds. Although the dancing and vocals were competent, it was a rather boring way of promoting a show advertised as being flamboyant fun. Queenz did a better job of bringing camp energy with a medley of Spice Girls classics and an innuendo laden song set to the instrumentals of various old musical favourites. The concluding medley tried to add an emotional edge – including a well-meaning but rather clunky rap set to “This Is Me” – but still demonstrated their vocal limitations in a weekend full of ludicrously gifted singers.

There were also several concert events which and just allowed stars an opportunity to stand on stage and sing without having to worry about acting. Roles We’ll Never Play allowed several performers to sing songs associated with the opposite gender. They provided a giant medley of eight songs, including covers of “Heaven on their Minds”, “I’m Here” and “Santa Fe”. The Barricade Boys sang some Les Miserables classics, and also mixed things up with a few Motown favourites to showcase their fun side. Mark Read – formerly a member of the chart-topping early 2000s boyband A1 – provided an original pop song called “Stop the Show”. It was a lively song in the Robbie Williams mould, and the lyrics felt pretty resonant in the first post-pandemic West End Live. There were also concerts themed around a couple of cult musicals. Emma Kingston - star of a recent streamed production of the musical BKLYN - belted out “Once Upon A Time” (one of the signature songs from that musical) with gusto. The power ballad wasn’t too remarkable, but Kingston really nailed the high notes. There was also a mini concert from Children of Eden – a 1991 musical based on the classic biblical stories of Adam and Eve and Noah’s Ark – to promote a full concert show marking its 30th anniversary. Three of the most epic songs from the musical were performed by an all-star cast including Alice Fearn and Les Miserables star Shan Ako. Children of Eden was the fourth Stephen Schwarz musical represented at West End Live 2021, and the energetic performances made a good case for fans of Wicked, The Prince of Egypt and Pippin to check this one out as well.

The second day concluded with a performance from the cast of Heathers. Like the original film, the stage version has acquired the status of a formidable cult classic, completing its second run in the West End, with a touring production taking the across the UK. As the destructive J.D., Simon Gordon provided a strong rendition of “Freeze Your Brain”, before leading lady Rebecca Wickes came in to join him on the softer “Seventeen”. The set climaxed with members of both the West End and Touring Casts performing “Candy Store”. Having three Heathers instead of six increased the energetic nastiness that makes it the standout song of the musical. The cast concluded the set with a speech telling audiences to continue supporting theatre, representing an unsubtle but effective climax to an event that provided a formidable for why the artform is worth fighting for in this uncertain time.

Conclusion

After a gap of over 2 years, West End Live 2021 represented a lively return for the event. Inevitably, some performances were stronger than others, but even the worst had some level of flair and energy. The best (Wicked, Come from Away, Hamilton on Day One, The Lion King and Jodie Steele on Day Two) had an emotional impact that demonstrated how powerful and inspirational live performances can be. Most of the productions and performers at West End Live entertained existing fans whilst gaining plenty of new ones, and that is the greatest triumph of all.

West End Live 2021 was a resounding success, but there are some issues that the organisers should consider for the future. For instance, one of the greatest strengths of West End Live is also one of its greatest flaws – It’s great to see smaller productions sharing the stage with blockbusters such as Wicked and Hamilton, but these often got overwhelmed by the grandeur of the open-air arena format. Creating a second stage for smaller productions has the potential to help productions like Pippin and The Choir of Man but could also diminish the egalitarian power of West End Live. Better acoustics and more flexible staging could allow the quirkier productions to make the most of the West End Live stage. The fact that the overwhelming majority of the biggest productions appear on the first day is another weakness. It would also be nice for the organisers to even the scheduling out and transfer more of the blockbusters to Sunday, or simply make the second day as long as the first, allowing a few extra productions to appear. However, the issues with the format and structure of West End Live are minor in comparison to the thrill of seeing dozens of theatrical performances for free. Overall, West End Live is a magnificent treat for British theatre fans of all ages and a formidable introduction to the artform for younger audiences. It will be really exciting to see what West End Live provides next year, when it returns to its usual summer slot. Hopefully, it will remain one of the defining events in the British theatre calendar for years to come.