By Grace Hatchell, trying on the crown for size.
Theatre Royalty Drury Lane comes to Theatre Royal Drury Lane for one night only on Sunday 23 August at 7pm, hosted by Brian Conley and featuring Samantha Barks, Zoe Birkett, Jordan Luke Gage, Cedric Neal, Georgina Onuorah, John Owen-Jones, Oliver Tompsett and Rachel Tucker, accompanied by the Theatre Royalty Orchestra.
Well now, if ever there was a theatre announcement that arrived wearing a crown, a cape and possibly one of those dramatic velvet coats that makes you walk slower just to let the fabric swish, it is this one.
Theatre Royalty Drury Lane has been announced for one night only at Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Sunday 23 August at 7pm, and honestly, the title is not being shy, is it? Theatre Royalty. Drury Lane. West End stars. One night. A full orchestra. Brian Conley holding the reins. It has looked at subtlety, popped it in the cloakroom, and said, “No thank you, love, we’re going grand.”
And grand is exactly what this sounds like.
The all-new concert will bring together a glittering line-up of musical theatre names on one of London’s most iconic stages, celebrating the songs, voices and show-stopping moments that make the West End feel like the West End. It is being hosted by Brian Conley, which already tells you the evening is unlikely to be stiff, quiet or remotely short on personality. He is one of those performers who can walk on stage and make a room feel like it has known him for years.
The concert line-up includes Samantha Barks, Zoe Birkett, Jordan Luke Gage, Cedric Neal, Georgina Onuorah, John Owen-Jones, Oliver Tompsett and Rachel Tucker, with all performances accompanied by the Theatre Royalty Orchestra.
Now, I don’t want to be dramatic — which is difficult, given the address — but that is not so much a cast list as a musical theatre treasure chest.
Samantha Barks arrives with the sort of career that makes you wonder whether she has secretly got a few extra hours in the day. She is currently starring in The Greatest Showman at Bristol Hippodrome and has previously appeared in Frozen at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Pretty Woman in Chicago and on Broadway, Les Misérables at the Queen’s Theatre, Cabaret at Birmingham Rep, Oliver! on tour, The Last Five Years, Amélie, City of Angels and more. Many will know her as Eponine in the film version of Les Misérables, a performance that earned her an Empire Award for Best Female Newcomer, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination as part of the cast. She also appeared in Les Misérables in Concert: The 25th Anniversary and is set to return to the world of Les Mis as Fantine in the upcoming Les Misérables The Arena Concert Spectacular. Oh, and she won the most recent series of The Masked Singer too. As you do.
Then there is Zoe Birkett, who brings proper star power, stage presence and vocal fire. Her theatre credits include Tina: The Musical, The Witches at the National Theatre, The Bodyguard, The Great British Bake Off Musical, Moulin Rouge, Rock of Ages, Myth, Thriller – Live, Rent, Respect La Diva and Priscilla Queen of the Desert. She was the female winner of ITV’s Pop Idol, went on to sign with Simon Fuller’s 19 Management, and her single Get Happy went straight to number one. She has also presented the Top of the Pops Awards, CD:UK, Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway and the UK Theatre Awards. Basically, Zoe has been on stage, on screen, on telly, in musicals and probably somewhere in the nation’s memory bank wearing fabulous lighting.
Hosting the night is Brian Conley, actor, comedian, singer and presenter, who knows how to make an audience feel in very safe hands while also keeping them on their toes. His theatre work includes Back to the Future: The Musical, 9 to 5 the Musical, A Christmas Carol, Oliver! and Hairspray, while his television credits include EastEnders, The Grimleys and Time After Time. He presented The Brian Conley Show, has hosted the Royal Variety Performance eight times, and has also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing and I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! If there is a stage, a camera, a studio, a ballroom or a jungle, Brian Conley has likely found his way onto it with a grin.
Jordan Luke Gage will also join the line-up, bringing the kind of modern musical theatre energy that makes fans sit up before he has even sung a note. His credits include Titanique at the Criterion Theatre, Bare, Bat Boy at the London Palladium, Bonnie & Clyde, & Juliet, The Light in the Piazza, Heathers and Bat Out of Hell. He has also received WhatsOnStage Award nominations for Best Actor in a Musical for both Bonnie & Clyde and & Juliet. Not bad going, that. If musical theatre had trading cards, his would be one people argued over in the playground.
Cedric Neal, most recently seen in the West End as Hermes in Hadestown, brings serious class to the evening. His theatre work includes Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 at the Donmar Warehouse, Guys and Dolls at the Bridge Theatre, for which he received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical, 42nd Street at Théâtre du Châtelet, Back to the Future, The View Upstairs, Chess, Motown, After Midnight, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, Dreamgirls, Stagger Lee, Death of a Salesman and It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane… It’s Superman. That is a career with range, rhythm and swagger.
Georgina Onuorah is another name that should make musical theatre fans beam. A double Olivier Award nominee, her credits include Brigadoon, for which she received a nomination for Best Actress in a Musical, and Shucked, which earned her a nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical. She has also appeared in Little Shop of Horrors, Kiss Me, Kate, Hamilton, The Wizard of Oz, Oklahoma!, Millennials, Cinderella and Dick Whittington at the National Theatre. She is one of those performers who seems to bring both brightness and strength to a stage, and frankly I’d like to borrow a spoonful of that energy for my Monday mornings.
And then we have John Owen-Jones, who is not so much theatre royalty as theatre royalty with a castle, a drawbridge and possibly his own dramatic fog machine. He is currently appearing in Into the Woods at the Bridge Theatre, but he is best known for his legendary performances as The Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera, a role he has played nearly 2,000 times, and Jean Valjean in Les Misérables. He made his West End debut in Les Misérables in 1995 and has appeared in every London theatre where the show has played. He has also performed in major anniversary events for both Les Misérables and The Phantom of the Opera, appeared in Les Misérables All-Star Concert, and worked across productions including The Great British Bake Off Musical, La Cage Aux Folles, The Pirates of Penzance, Much Ado About Nothing, Sweeney Todd, The Great Gatsby, A Little Night Music and more. His concert work has taken him to the Royal Albert Hall, Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, Tokyo, Moscow and the BBC Proms in the Park. He has released seven solo albums and has a new one due in 2026. I mean, at this point, even his CV needs an interval.
Oliver Tompsett, currently appearing in The Greatest Showman at Bristol Hippodrome, also joins the concert. His credits include A Knight’s Tale, Ghost in concert, & Juliet on Broadway and in the West End, In Dreams, Pretty Woman, Kinky Boots, Starlight Express, Guys and Dolls, White Christmas, We Will Rock You, Rock of Ages, Wicked, Mamma Mia!, Our House, West Side Story and plenty more besides. He is one of those performers whose name keeps cropping up in big, bold musicals, which is usually a clue that he knows exactly how to carry a number, land a moment and make an audience lean forward.
Completing the cast is Rachel Tucker, who is currently starring alongside John Owen-Jones in Into the Woods at the Bridge Theatre. Her theatre credits include The Great Gatsby, Hadestown, Sunset Boulevard, Come From Away, Wicked, We Will Rock You, Wild About You, Communicating Doors, The Last Ship, Farragut North, John and Jen and Songs for a New World. She received Olivier and WhatsOnStage Award nominations for Come From Away and won the hearts of many theatre fans through her work in Wicked, both in London and on Broadway. Her concert credits include Sideshow at the London Palladium, Do You Hear the People Sing? at venues including Sydney Opera House and the Hollywood Bowl, and a New Year’s Concert at Japan Theatre Orb. Her screen credits include Call the Midwife, Hope Street, Informer, Prison and Frayed. In other words, Rachel Tucker does not merely enter a line-up. She gives it a spine.
Together, this cast promises an evening of beloved musical numbers, powerhouse vocals and collaborations that could very easily make the chandeliers nervous.
Theatre Royal Drury Lane is already one of those venues that carries history in its bones. You do not walk into that building and think, “Oh yes, this will be casual.” You walk in and feel the ghosts of grand openings, first nights, curtain calls and audiences who came dressed for something special. So to put a concert called Theatre Royalty Drury Lane under that magnificent roof feels properly fitting.
Whether you are a lifelong musical theatre fan who knows every key change before it arrives, or someone just starting to discover the magic, this one-night-only concert is being pitched as a celebration of the West End at its most dazzling.
Theatre Royalty Drury Lane takes place at Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Sunday 23 August at 7pm. Presale opens on Thursday 30 April at 10am, with general sale opening on Friday 1 May at 10am. The cast line-up is subject to change.
My satchel verdict? This is not just a concert. This is the West End getting dressed up, clearing its throat and saying, “Go on then, let’s remind them what we can do.” And honestly, with that cast, that orchestra and that venue, I’d say it has every chance of being a proper goosebump factory
LISTINGS Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Catherine Street,
Covent Garden,
London WC2B 5JF
Box Office 020 3925 2998
https://lwtheatres.co.uk/theatres/theatre-royal-drury-lane
Sunday 23 August at 7pm
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