BUMPER EDITION - My Top Theatre Highlights and Moments of 2024 and 2025 (in no particular order)
Hey beans!! So this has been a long time coming. Panto once again has been taking over my life so hence why this is a bumper edition. Do not underestimate the Panto schedule. Haha.
This edition contains highlights from the past two years of theatring and also some additional life stories which were too insane and hilarious to not share so enjoy reading those. The first half is 2024 and was written last year but I felt like it wasn’t enough to upload at its own piece of hence a bumper edition this year. My gift from me to you and I’m gonna stop yapping so yous can get into it!
Phantom
‘He’s there. The GAAAAAAAAAAAAANTOM of the operaaaaaaa’
If you thought a theatre highlights wouldn’t include a Gantom trip. Cute. Haha.
Yes indeed it was high time I returned to His Majesty’s Theatre to see the wonderful James Gant don the mask and hear the Music of the Night once more. Sublime. Perfection. An absolute masterclass. Once James had finished singing the last line Phantom sings and the audience applaud in my mind I’m like YES SIR. GET IN. NAILED IT. Honestly, so so gassed when it happens and I sit there a very proud friend. So so deserved and truly earnt. Very much looking forward to the next time I get to see him in the show and I can hear that gorgeous vocal once again. Sending lots of well wishes for a speedy recovery and when he’s back (and he will be, stronger than ever) do what you can to get in to see him, it’s a performance NOT to be missed.
The Phantom Of The Opera is currently playing at His Majesty’s Theatre in London’s West End.
New York for my 30th birthday
So I turned 30 in 2024 and I labelled my 30s the Villian era. Read into that what you will but 🤷♀️ so this trip was my entire present from the Mothership, and my Aunt and my friend chipped in with some Merch purchases (dollars were given to me so naturally I got some Merch). Shoutout to Brandon as well for letting Abbie come with me on this trip and making it possible! ☺️
Sweeney Todd
My first show of this trip was back to 1785 London to Attend The Tale once more on Broadway, this time with Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster leading the cast. It was phenomenal to be back at the Lunt Fontaine and it was an insane show. Great to see Aaron and Sutton on stage again and performing Sondhiem. Perfection. The whole company was brilliant and I loved getting to see Joe Locke as Toby in his Broadway Debut. So little did I know that I was in New York when Broadway shows were raising money for Broadway Cares so after the bows I witnessed Aaron Tveit auction off his literal bloody shirt from the show I’d just seen. $7K was raised and it was only the beginning of things which would blow my mind.
Moulin Rouge
Now being the obsessive person I am I had been looking up tickets for Rouge on Broadway for a couple of weeks. Mainly so I could see how likely it is I would get a good seat on the day or day before I go. The reason why I started looking up tickets? Courtney Reed was in the show as Satine and Derek Klena had announced he was doing a short stint in the show again as Christian. Having followed Courtney on insta since the first National Tour casting announcement I was KEEN to see her in the show and a chance to see her with Derek? YES PLEASE. Anyway, I got a phenomenal seat in the Orchestra Stalls and just before I went in for the show I saw on the cast board that Derek was off the show so I had the chance to see Dylan Paul as Christian. (He covers Christian and the Duke. Never did I think I would get the opportunity to see him as Christian so I was super looking forward to seeing him) Dylan was WONDERFUL as Christian. From the moment he stepped out I knew I was in for a brilliant show. I was beamed throughout act 1. When Courtney decended on the swing for Satine’s entrance I fully started crying. She. Was. A. VISION. I spent most of the first act crying. Courtney blew me away with her outstanding performance. What a Broadway leading lady and it was a masterclass in being a triple threat. That woman can do anything. She had the audience in the palm of her hand. I had goosebumps every time I heard her sing. Her vocal with Dylan’s in Elephant Love Medley was gorgeous.
The whole company was brilliant and at the end of the show I watched Boy George’s gloves from that performance get auctioned off for Broadway Cares. (He was Zidler) I watched them go for $30k, money raised for an excellent cause and I believe it would have gone higher had I not seen Courtney tell David to cut it there. Very awesome to witness.
The Notebook
This was a show which intrigued me highly. I was very curious about it since I had seen it announced in February 2023 that it was being turned into a musical so I just had to see how it was done. John Cardozo was cast as Younger Noah so if it wasn’t on my list of shows to see it certainly was now. (For context, John was one of Courtney’s Christians on the National Tour and I was very determined to see him perform live)
I had heard in advance that it was a show you basically spend two and a half hours crying through and the merch shop sells a box of branded tissues so I feel like they knew their audience well. I had brought tissues but I was unprepared at just how true that statement was. Lordy. My eyes at the end of the show had ZERO moisture in them I had cried that much. It was a beautiful piece of theatre. Musically it was stunning and the performances from the whole company were out of this world. The younger, middle and older Noah’s and Allie’s worked together brilliantly to create two exceptional characters and their voices blended together beautifully.
Tommy
Tommy was the show currently playing at the Nederlander Theatre on this trip, so as per tradition, I went to see it. It was great to be back at the Nederlander even though I sat in the audience completely clueless as to what was going on. Visually it was stunning and the performances were great. Pinball Wizard was the highlight of the show for me and it was great to see it performed live.
Water For Elephants
Now I knew nothing about this show going in, I hadn’t seen the film or read the book but my friend Abbie was very excited when I mentioned it so off we went to Abbie’s first Broadway show, again I wanted to see it as Grant Gustin was going to be in it. Holy Smokes it captured my absolute mind. The whole company made me fall in love with not just the show but them all as performers. I was in AWE of everyone and the sheer amount of talent on that stage but the Acro team made it very difficult to watch anyone else when they were on stage. The tricks and stunts they were doing. Brain melted. Two people who stood out were Green Dungarees and the super strong dude who had two people stand on top of his shoulders. (Note - I hadn’t read the playbill before the show and I spent the whole interval queuing for the loo so didn’t find out names until after)
This show slammed itself into my heart and I’m not mad about it. I was lucky enough to get to see Samantha Gershman as Marlena and if I didn’t know she was a cover I would have thought she was principal. She delivered a beautiful performance and I loved how she played opposite Grant as Jacob.
Grant was masterful, delivering such a heartfelt performance and the vocal. The VOCAL. Out of this world. Silver Stars is one of my favourite songs in the show and if anyone hasn’t heard it, go listen. The whole soundtrack is full of brilliant song after brilliant song.
Special mention to Keaton Hentoff - Killian (Green Dungarees) and Harley McLeish (super strong dude) as honestly my jaw hit and then stayed on the floor. Especially when Keaton and Isabella both stood on Harley’s shoulders and then Isabella stood on Keaton’s shoulders who was still stood on Harley’s shoulders. This literally happened right front of my face and wow. Blew my damn mind. Bloody brilliant.
The Great Gatsby
My final show of the trip was Gatsby on Broadway to see Jeremy Jordan in the title role. Abbie was down on the front row of the stalls, continuing on the tradition of me melting her face off with shows 🤣🤪🙊, whilst me and Shelbi were up in the gods at the back but all three of us had the same experience. The show blew my mind. Again, I knew nothing about the story, I just wanted to see Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada perform on Broadway again. It was a magnificent piece of theatre. My Green Light was a gorgeous blend of their vocals and had me in tears, what a way to end an Act. A Beautiful Little Fool was utterly heartbreaking in the most phenomenal way from Eva and similarly For Her and Past Is Catching Up To Me from Jeremy were outstanding. What an absolute masterclass in being a triple threat from them both. Samantha Pauly as Jordan Baker blew me away with a gorgeous vocal and flawless comic timing.
The Great Gatsby is currently playing at the Broadway Theatre in New York and the party is soon to be Roaring On in London’s West End at the Collisuim Theatre from April. Make sure to get a ticket as I can’t wait to see the London company bring this wonderful show to life.
New York. Again.
So this trip was quite a bit different from all my other trips. Firstly I was going solo (more on that later) to surprise one of my best friends who lives in New York. We met through playing Pokémon Go (nerds but proud ones!) and Niantic was holding a live event in New York again. I didn’t think I was going to be able to go but my obsessive need to look up hotel and fight prices and A LOT of discussion with the Mothership I had found a good deal and went fuck it. Let’s do it. I decided to go but I also thought it would be great fun to surprise Shelbi. So I booked my flights and hotel for this trip the day before I flew out for my birthday trip. So I knew when I saw her in April I would see her again super soon (Sneakyyyyyyyyy 🙊)
Massive shoutout to Papa Shelbi and Bryan for helping me plan and execute the plan.
I got to be in New York for 4th July so was super cool to be in the city with the celebrations going on. It was like gone 9pm, I’d been travelling for like 15+ hours and Bryan and me were walking to Bryant Park which was where Shelbi and her dad and another one of their friends were. Luckily Shelbi had her back to me and I came up behind her to the side (and Papa Shelbi saw me as he was opposite so knew it was now) and I said ‘Hi Bestie’ and Shelbi turned around in complete shock and couldn’t believe I was there. I had a fantastic 4 ish days in New York playing the event and I got to see Boss Egg again and had a chat and a squish. So much love and time for Zoë. She’s such a good egg 💛☺️
Me being me I squeezed in three shows whilst I was in New York. Who would have seen THAT coming?! Haha. I mean it’s Broadway. I had to.
I dayseated for Water for Elephants and bought a ticket for Moulin Rouge for the following day. It was announced Grant was leaving the show so I wanted another chance to see him in the show again before he left and also I really do love the show. I saw there beaming throughout. The Road Don’t Make You Young is hands down my favourite song in the show. It’s such an ensemble piece and all the elements come together to create such magic. The part in the song which goes ‘There's only one road in this god forsaken life
It binds before it plummets
From a god forsaken night
But you're gonna have to walk it
So you might as well have fun
Spend the dollar in your pocket
While there's hollar in your lungs
See Benzini Brothers Circus
For a one-night only run
Ain't it so
The road don't make you young’ just speaks to my soul so much and it’s a joy to watch so very grateful to have seen the show again.
Similarly I wanted to see Courtney again as the Sparkling Diamond and I was thrilled to get to see her and Derek Klena together. Elephant Love Medley was BEAUTIFUL.
I concluded my cheeky trio of shows with dayseating Gatsby on the Sunday and I only got FRONT ROW. Sitting front row at a Broadway show - mind blowing. The fact that it was Gatsby at the Broadway Theatre literally on Broadway just made it so so special. Especially as I don’t know when I’m next going to be sat in a New York theatre again. Also seeing Jeremy Jordan perform live in front of my face was magnificent and I watch reels on insta of him singing songs from the show and I remember I saw him singing those songs front row and it hits me all over again. I literally sat in that show BEAMING. My face hurt I was smiling so much and I definitely think a few of the cast clocked me sitting in the front row. Sam Pauly in New Money for sure! Again New Money. Blooming excellent! Also Eric Anderson in Shady (another exceptional song) directed a line to me I think and it makes me smile looking back as I was beaming throughout Shady as well cos I’m obsessed with that song. So good. (Also. So trueeeeeeee. Haha)
Got a lovely upgrade to Premium Economy on the flight home and gained a spoon (it’s a story for irl as this is long enough already and it’s not a super exciting story)
Mega proud of myself for navigating the subway on my own twice and also the whole trip. A very big thing for me.
Very much looking forward to the next time I hear the words ‘this is your captain speaking’ and I’m jetting off on another fun adventure.
Ed Fringe 2024
Now I’m not known for rational thought. I can be quite impulsive and have some BONKERS ideas. One being texting Sarah going ‘day trip to Edinburgh?’ And her going yes. This was in 2022. SURPRISEEEEEEEEEEE. I texted Sarah going ‘day to Edinburgh again?’ And her going ‘yeah sure.’ So that’s how that happened.
A mad 14 hours on Fringe. We saw four shows. One I wanted to see - Did You Mean To Fall Like That. One Sarah wanted to see - Savoy! Everyone’s doing it. One which is tradition to see - Shitfaced Shakespeare (we all know the rule with tradition in this house) and one we booked on the day as a last minute show - Jaffa Cake the musical.
All shows were exceptional in their own right and each one left an imprint. It was very overwhelming as you didn’t have any time to really process what you’d watched massively but it quite literally it was such a phenomenal day, like me and Sarah couldn’t have asked for a better day. Core memory right there!!
Nat’s play at the National
Now my last trips of 2024 saw me head to the National, ticking another theatre off my list to visit, to see Tupperware of Ashes. The main character Queenie is suffering with Alchezers and the play follows the story of how it affects her and her family. It was a breathtaking piece of theatre and it very much shone a mirror back at society. Fuelled with emotion, it moved me to tears on a person level. Alchezers is very closely linked to Parkinsons disease which is a cause very close to my heart.
The cast did a phenomenal job, they were all outstanding. It was such a treat to see Natalie Dew on stage again and there was a moment in the play which really hit close to home. To see it play out in front of me was really eerie. I did like the humour at the end with line about Tupperware.
A show which had a lot of heart. Very glad I saw it twice.
The maddest two weeks of my life!
Okay so when I say it was the maddest two weeks my life I ain’t joking beans. So I saw Kai Widdrington’s show Evolution on the Monday at the Wyvern theatre in Swindon. A beautiful show and it was so wonderful to see him dance in his own solo show and the company he put together were out of this world talented!! His show really spoke to the dancer buried deep inside my soul and for a night she breathed and was insanely inspired. Kai’s taking Evolution out on the road again in 2026, tickets are on sale now, so absolutely so snap them up as you’re in for a brilliant night!! Then on Thursday of that week I flew out to New York for literally about 72 hours, flying back on Sunday on the last flight back to London out of JFK. I went over to play Pokemon Go Fest in New Jersey and New York and to visit my friends. I had a fantastic time and it was such a whirlwind of a trip, got to meet some WONDERFUL humans for the first time (shoutout to Aileen and Hobs!!) and I originally had planned to NOT see a show whilst I was there. I wanted to hang out with the squad and just enjoy the vibes. Then it was announced Derek Klena was gonna be doing a two week run as Fiyero in Wicked on Broadway and his run ended during my time in the city SOOO… NATURALLY I had to go. It honestly felt like a sign and it would be really rude to miss seeing him in the role. Managed to secure a ticket on the day and it was such a brilliant performance. As Long As Your Mind was stunning and Dancing Through Life was so captivating! Also want to give a shoutout to Jenna as Nessarose and Allie as Glinda as they STOLE the show.
Wicked is playing at the Gershwin on Broadway and at the Apollo Victoria in the West End so oodles of opportunities to see the stage show after watching the films!!
Okay so back to the story, I landed back in London on the Monday which consists of laundry and sleep once home, work on Tuesday, Wednesday we pack to go to Paris, travel on Thursday and get back on Sunday. Honestly who thought doing two Go Fests on consecutive weekends in different continents was a good idea 🫠🙈 knackered after but so much fun.
So whilst I didn’t see any shows during my Paris trip I did get to see and have photos outside two rather important venues. One being the Opera Garnier, the opera house which inspired the book and eventually the musical for the Phantom of the Opera. The second being the actual Moulin Rouge!! (All roads lead back to the Rouge!) it was very very cool to see two places in real life which inspired shows I’ve seen but equally to be in the city where three of my favourite shows are set was very cool!
Paris I will be back to see a show at the Rouge and Garnier!
Shucked
So for those who have read previous Highlights will possibly remember that I saw Shucked in 2023 on Broadway at the Nederlander so over two years later the show made its way across the pond to London’s Regent Park Open Air Theatre so naturally I HAD to go and see it and the lovely Abbie joined me on this trip. I was BEAMING throughout and was so glad audiences in the UK got to see a show which I had loved and witness the magic for themselves! Such a treat and the whole company were phenomenal!! Independently Owned was a highlight and I floated on the feeling the show gave me for awhile! 🎶🌽💛
Ed Fringe 2025
Where do I begin? Well firstly it wasn’t a mad day trip this year. Sarah and I ACTUALLY planned it this year (say whaaaaaaaat 🤪🤣) and it was such a jam packed trip. We had some new shows in there, some shows we have seen before and a fringe staple which is tradition at this point! (We all know the rules RE tradition in this house)
We started strong and also as we meant to go on with the beans at Shitfaced Shakespeare (remember the rules RE tradition!!) we typically end each day at fringe with their fringe show of the year and our 2025 trip was no different. Chaos, Shakespeare and booze. Honestly, a recipe for massive success my book!! Well done team! Looking forward to seeing what yous bring to London and Fringe next year.
Okay so let’s go through the couple of shows which were repeats for us which were Jaffa Cake the musical, which we saw last year, hilarious with an actual banger of a soundtrack. The cast were the same as last year so it was great to revisit the show and see them all on stage again. The second revisit show for us was I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical, which was a show we saw last pre Covid so it had been many a moon since we saw it. Grand to see the show again but also to see Samantha Dorsey and Joel Benedict on stage again was grand!!
Now onto the new shows we saw. Biff To The Future, the back to the future films but told from the point of view from Biff. Utterly hilarious and you didn’t necessarily need to have seen any of the films or stage show to follow and understand what was going on.
Next was Laura Benanti’s solo show - Nobody Cares. Utterly brilliant. I laughed, I cried and was blown away by the vocal. It felt like I was watching a Broadway show up here on Fringe. Phenomenal. Very much was 🤩🤩 the whole show. Haha.
Footballers Wives the musical was the next show on the roster and I was super intrigued. I didn’t quite know what to expect, I didn’t watch the tv show but I remember it being on and vaguely the premise of the show. I mean turn anything into a musical and I’m typically very open to watching. Really really loved the show, the vocals from the whole company were out of this world and it was great to see Tom Bowen on stage again. Like I clearly was living under a rock as I missed any sort of cast announcement for the show so I spent about 35% of the show thinking ‘that looks like Tom Bowen?’ to find out after the show it was Tom and I wasn’t losing my mind. Observant as ever on my end. 🙈
The final show of the trip was to see the awesome and hilarious David Ellis do his new comedy show called ‘My Mate Dave’. My face hurt so much for giggling. He’s a very funny man so keep an eye out and go and see him when he is doing his comedy gigs. You’ll have a grand time!
Jasmine as Meg with a bonus surprise Gantom
Now I believe I have mentioned Jasmine previously in theatre highlights but I’ll do a lil recap for any new beans to this and I’ll try to speed run it, try being the key word! Haha.
Jasmine Wallis has been in the show since Phantom reopened after covid in the Ballet de Corp and she’s an absolutely phenomenal dancer and performer. She always pulled my attention in the ensemble numbers with her performance and I couldn’t for the life of me work out who this brilliant girl was. I didn’t just try once it was about six trips, in the end I caved and had to ask James Gant who she was (shoutout to James for the assist!! 🫡) fast forward a couple contracts and Jasmine was second cover Meg, which she did debut as second cover and I was so so thrilled she got to go on as my favourite sassy lil ballerina but as with most cases I was at work so missed her debut but the theatres gods smiled down as in the current contract Jasmine is first cover Meg so I was finally able to see her as my favourite character in the show. WOWZERS. I knew I’d love her as Meg, there wasn’t any doubt in my mind she would blow me away but Jasmine delivered a brilliant show, with a gorgeous vocal and then some. She’s had some stunning costumes in Masquerade over the years but seeing her dance in the Meg one might be my favourite to date! Jasmine as Meg is not a performance to be missed so when she’s on absolutely go and see her, you’re in for such a treat!!
The day I saw Jasmine as Meg I also got a bonus cheeky Gantom show (HE’S THERE, THE GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANTOM OF THE OPERAAAAAAAAAA) which was delightful. It was great to see Mr Gant don the mask once more. The vocal is out of this world and what a masterclass in performance! The man knows how to lead a West End show and I was smiling throughout as he smashed it out the park!! Again, go and see him, he’ll deliver a phenomenal show!
So that’s two years of theatre neatly wrapped up! First couple of years in my 30s and we certainly didn’t slow down, especially where theatre is concerned.
As always if you’re still here, thank you for reading and make sure to come back next year to see what chaos I cause and which shows make the cut in 2026! I was listening to my Stagey playlist as I was writing and a song I’ve not heard in a long time had this line before the vocal kicked in and after this year, oh boy does it resonate so I’m gonna leave you with this.
‘Sometimes the dreams you come in with, may not be the dreams you leave with. But hey - they still rock!’
Until next time, cheerio! ☺️🎭🎶💛
