The purpose of The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals has evolved since its introduction. Initially, the event served as a practical reminder, to a community grown timid of leaving the house during the COVID pandemic lockdown, of the attraction of live entertainment. Now in its fourth year, The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals has become a celebration of 30 years of the National Lottery funding of more than 20,000 theatre-related projects in the UK over the period. It serves also as a ‘thank you’ to National Lottery players who are entitled to buy tickets to the live event at the staggeringly discounted price of just £2.
It is amusing to note online objections to the continued staging of the live show in Manchester. Seriously? Surely, any major theatrical event staged outside of London is a cause for celebration, not complaint. My mean-minded reaction to The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals is actually the reverse: feeling the show should promote regional as well as national productions.
In 2024, Manchester produced some staggeringly high quality musicals, such as the blood-soaked gonzo production of Lizzie The Musical at Hope Mill and 42 Balloons at The Lowry, which managed to feature witty and uplifting songs even if the ending was a bit of a downer. There cannot be any quibbling about the quality of the latter, which has since moved on to be staged in America, yet no shows from the region are represented tonight.
It does not take long, however, for The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals to put my parochial viewpoint to shame by highlighting the astonishing achievements of local groups supported by the Lottery. Michael Ball’s guest appearance, performing a powerful version of "The Impossible Dream", is overshadowed by the audience patently waiting for him to stop singing so they can hear The Dementia Chorus who are providing backing vocals. Dancers from groups in Wakefield and Stockport steal the show with their interpretation of a number from Billy Elliott.
Rather than indulge in a show-stopping song, host Jason Manford enlists support from actor Daniel Mays for a charming sketch from Something Rotten debating the nature of musicals. Like all theatregoers, I have a trainspotter’s instinct and now wonder if the brief skit entitles me to claim I have seen the much-admired Mays live onstage.
Tonight, The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals serves as a ‘two for one’ show. The BBC, which transmits a TV version, intends to show a festive ‘best of’ compilation, drawn from all of the Big Nights, which requires the filming of extra TV links. A technical hitch means that the extract from Disney’s Hercules has to be sung twice. I’m not complaining—the song is sung in gospel style and I agree with Randy Newman, who knows a thing or two about music, and is of the opinion gospel is the is the only true American art form. I could listen until the cows come home.
The jaded attitude towards showbiz articulated by "All That Jazz" from Chicago seems an unlikely number for a celebratory show like The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals but actually works great. It is particularly appropriate as a bookend with Marisha Wallace’s defiant version of "Maybe This Time" from Cabaret.
Some of the shows provide a medley rather than simple one-song extract. The current touring version of Calamity Jane, which only closed at Manchester’s Opera House on Saturday, is a stripped-down version in which the cast also serve as the band playing instruments. Tonight, a full orchestra backs the cast and the difference is startling. One of the objectives of The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals is to promote attendance at forthcoming shows and, based upon tonight’s extract, with Georgina Castle channelling Heath Ledger’s version of The Joker, I’d really like to see Mean Girls. The extract from Dear Evan Hansen is probably the only number that shamelessly aims to tug the heartstrings with the anthem "You Will Be Heard", which provokes a waving sea of glowing telephones in the arena.
Based upon tonight’s show, the location in which The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals is staged is irrelevant—it could be staged on Mars and would still retain its generous, warm-hearted feel-good atmosphere.
The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals 2025 will be broadcast on the BBC later this year with a compilation of the ‘best of’ from all four shown in the festive season.