Highlights included his son’s standout performance in Priscilla Queen of the Desert and the stunning Les Misérables concert in Manchester.
With tickets already booked for more adventures in 2025 and interviews lined up with musical legends, Ian shares his excitement for the year ahead in his final Break-a-Leg column of 2024.
During the course of 2024, I was lucky enough to attend forty-five different shows, ranging from the brilliant Book of Mormon, which I saw on Broadway, in the West End and on the UK tour to Just for One Day, the story of Live Aid.
Book of Mormon is the show that makes me smile from ear to ear right from the first notes of the doorbell to the last “Book of Arnold”. I’ve got tickets booked to see it again in Liverpool in October, so it’ll be part of my 2025 adventures too.
I saw plenty of fabulous AM/Drams during the year including Sister Act by Mossley Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie: teen edition, by NK Theatre Arts at Romiley Forum, Les Miserables: teen edition by the Drama Dept and Priscilla Queen of the Desert by Romiley Operatic Society.
All of those were brilliant, but watching my own son in Priscilla was, understandably, a standout moment for me. He’ll be reprising the role of Felicia for Sale Nomads in May, so naturally I can’t wait.
Perhaps the show that I fell in love with, that surprised me the most, was the Time Travellers Wife, which ran for three months in the West End, before closing down early.
It was a heartfelt story, based on the book, film and TV series. It had music by Dave Stewart and Joss Stone and starred Joanna Woodward and David Hunter, who were brilliant. One of my hopes for the next twelve months is that the show tours the UK, because I think you’d love it.
I’m a big fan of Back to the Future, and in particular Roger Bart’s portrayal of the Doc, and we were lucky enough to see him in that role on Broadway again before it closes in New York, early in 2025 and I’m also addicted to watching &Juliet, the jukebox musical featuring songs by Swedish songwriter Max Martin. I’ve been chatting to one of the stars of that show, when it ran in Manchester at the West End, Cassidy Janson, which you’ll hear on my radio show, Break-a-Leg, soon.
Saving the best for last, I was at Manchester’s AO Arena for the concert version of Les Miserables, between Christmas and New Year, starring Alfie Boe as Jean Valjean, Michael Ball as Javert and Bonnie Langford as Madame Thenardier.
Wow. It was amazing. All the cast were fantastic with those three being at the top of their game. I’d feared an Arena version might not work, but the sound was fantastic and the amazing Alfie Boe, the outstanding tenor of his generation, was note perfect.
I’m hopeful that the next twelve months will be as exciting and fulfilling, as a Musical Theatre fan, as the last. I’ve interviewed the cast and the real people they played in the brilliant Musical Come From Away, West End superstars Kerry Ellis and Cassidy Janson, Mamma Mia! stars Sara Poyser and Stevie Doc, eight time Oscar winning songwriter Alan Menken and “coming soon” Glenn Adamson and Rob Fowler, two of the stars of the upcoming UK tour of Bat out of Hell; can it get better in 2025?
In the World of AM/Dram I’ve chatted to some amazingly talented people, including young rising star Sam Jeffries, Steven Johnson who was perfect as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady and Kayleigh Ann Strong who seems to be amazing in everything she does. There have been many more great shows and performers I’ve seen or chatted to in 2024, too many to list, but the bottom line is that the talent out there and passion for Musical Theatre is boundless.
I can’t wait for what lies ahead in 2025. Happy New Year to everyone who’s involved and in true Theatre tradition, Break-a-Leg.