Over 70,000 theatre fans come together in Trafalgar Square for Europe’s biggest free musical theatre festival
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, Fantastically Great Women, Disney’s Frozen, Hamilton, Heathers The Musical, Disney’s The Lion King, Magic Mike, Mamma Mia!, RSC’s Matilda The Musical, Les Misérables, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Operation Mincemeat, The Phantom Of The Opera, Showstopper The Improvised Musical, Sister Act, Six The Musical, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical, Wicked and The Wizard Of Oz.
These shows were joined by new hit productions making their West End LIVE debuts, including 42 Balloons, Babies The Musical, The Baker’s Wife, Closer To Heaven, Curve Theatre’s production of A Chorus Line, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Dorian The Musical, Fangirls, Frankie Goes To Bollywood, Hadestown, I Wish You Well – The Gwyneth Paltrow Ski Trial Musical, Kathy & Stella Solve A Murder!, Marie Curie, Mean Girls, MJ The Musical, Mrs Doubtfire, Next To Normal, A Night With Janis Joplin, Standing At The Sky’s Edge, Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York), Why Am I So Single?, You, Me And The Rest Of The World 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. Plus, audiences enjoyed performances by The Barricade Boys, Bat Out Of Hell, Diva Live From Hell, Emerald Storm, I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical, Overtures, Queenz, Roles We’ll Never Play, Shantify and the Shamrock Tenors.
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. Overall, the West End LIVE and Official London Theatre social channels had a reach of 1.8 million across the weekend.
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.
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