Hundreds more tickets for The Big Night of Musicals have just been been released ahead of the show here in Manchester later this month.
And the best bit? They’re all FREE and up for grabs tomorrow.
In case you haven’t heard, the huge event will be taking to the stage at the AO Arena in the heart of Manchester city centre in just a couple of weeks time – with families and musical theatre fans of all ages set to be treated to a lineup of jaw-dropping performances from the biggest West End and touring musicals.
The cast of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, A Chorus Line, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Guys & Dolls, and the UK and Ireland tour of GREASE are just a handful of the superstars on the lineup.
Taking place on Monday 22 January, the National Lottery’s massive musical theatre celebration will be hosted by local comedian Jason Manford for the third year running, alongside special guest presenter, West End legend Beverley Knight.
Hundreds more free tickets to The Big Night of Musicals at the AO Arena have been released / Credit: Supplied
Manford and Knight are gearing up to guide the audience through a whistle-stop tour of an impressive selection of “the most mesmerising shows”.
“I’m thrilled to be back hosting The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals,” Jason Manford commented.
“[The show] once again has an incredible lineup of smash hit shows for the Manchester Arena audience to enjoy, and is a huge thank you to National Lottery players who have helped keep the magic of theatre alive across the UK.”
If some the already-announced musicals on the lineup aren’t enough to get you all excited as it is, just today, the show’s organisers have revealed that Hamilton, Disney’s Aladdin, Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, and Mrs Doubtfire have all been announced to perform at the musical extravaganza too.
Echoing Manford’s commented, Beverly Knight added: “It’s great to be coming back to be part of this incredible show, as the support National Lottery players make to the theatre industry is crucial to the performers and myriad of people, both at large and small venues, who help make a night at the theatre so special.
The highly-anticipated show will be hosted by Jason Manford and Beverly Knight / Credit: Supplied
“I can’t wait to see this astonishing lineup of talent all under one roof.”
And, following the first ticket release for the hugely-anticipated event selling out in less than 24 hours, The National Lottery is offering fans one last chance to be a part of the musical spectacle by releasing hundreds more free tickets.
They’ll be up for grabs tomorrow morning (4 January).
All National Lottery players need to do is head on over to The Big Night of Musicals website here at 10am to be in the running for grabbing one of the final tickets.
The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals returns on Monday 22 January at the AO Arena, and is also set to be aired on BBC One, BBC Radio 2, and BBC Sounds at a later date too.
Featured Image – Supplied
What's On
Aitch is playing a huge hometown set at The Warehouse Project
Danny Jones
Aitch has booked another massive hometown slot as the Moston-born rapper will be playing none other than the home of clubbing here in Manchester: The Warehouse Project.
Joining the WHP25 programme, which is already stacked right up until New Year’s Eve, the 25-year-old is the latest rapper to take on the famous club venue, following the likes of Little Simz and Loyle Carner, who played the event series back in October.
Aitch‘s new album, 4 – which denotes the number of studio LPs he’s made to date and acts as a nod to the M4 postcode – was released on June 20 and has already proved popular with fans.
Having just played Parklife as well as a secret set at Glastonbury this year, he’s already performed most of his biggest slots for the year, but the ever-rising local rapper thought he’d given Manchester another big gig and one more chance to see him live in 2025.
As an increasingly popular main event act across the UK, a headline show at Warehouse Project is nothing short of a massive deal for any artist, let alone a Manc.
The date itself will see him see him performing songs from the new record, which is his second to hit the top 10, as well as a selection of multiple platinum-selling hits.
Sharing details of early access tickets on Instagram stories shortly after the announcement, the UK hip-hop and grime star reminded fans: “This is the only chance to see me shut this sh*t down this year!!!”
It’s actually his only major domestic show in full stop, so if you’re a die-hard fan of Harrison Armstrong and his music, you really don’t want to miss this one.
He’s not the only big name coming to Mayfield this season either.
WHP25 /// FISHER – TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Don’t miss out on what’s set to be an unmissable night – packed with infectious energy from beginning to end – as he takes over Depot Mayfield alongside a lineup coming very soon.
Featured Images — Jahnay Tennai (supplied)/Aitch (via TikTok)
What's On
‘Dazzling’ Victorian silver sculpture goes on public display in Greater Manchester after fears it was lost
Emily Sergeant
A long-lost masterpiece of Victorian silverwork has been saved and is now on display to the public in Greater Manchester.
Anyone taking a trip over to the National Trust’s historic Dunham Massey property, on the border of Greater Manchester into Cheshire, this summer will get to see the ‘dazzling’ sculpture called Stags in Bradgate Park – which was commissioned by a former owner in a defiant gesture to the society that shunned him.
The dramatic sculpture of two rutting Red Deer stags, commissioned in 1855 by George Harry Grey, 7th Earl of Stamford, was said to be an ‘act of love and rebellion’.
It also serves as a symbol of ‘locking horns’ with the society that ostracised him over his marriage to a woman considered ‘beneath him’.
“This isn’t just silver – it’s a story,” says James Rothwell, who is the National Trust‘s curator for decorative arts.
“A story of a man who fell in love with a woman that society deemed unworthy. When the Earl married Catherine Cox, whose colourful past was said to have included performing in a circus, Victorian high society was scandalised. Even Queen Victoria shunned the couple at the opera and local gentry at the horse races in Cheshire turned their backs on them.”
Modelled by Alfred Brown and crafted by royal goldsmiths Hunt & Roskell, Stags in Bradgate Park is a meticulously-detailed depiction of nature, and was considered a ‘sensation’ in its day.
Showing the rutting deer positioned on a rocky outcrop with gnarled hollow oaks, it graced the pages of the Illustrated London News, was exhibited at the London International Exhibition of 1862, and at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1867 – both of which were events that drew millions of visitors.
A ‘dazzling’ Victorian silver sculpture has gone on public display in Greater Manchester / Credit: Joe Wainwright | James Dobson (via Supplied)
The silver centrepiece was the celebrity art of its time, paraded through streets and admired by the public like no other.
Gradually over the years, some of the Earl of Stamford’s silver collection has been re-acquired for Dunham Massey, and this particular world-renowned sculpture, thought to be lost for decades and feared to have been melted down, has miraculously survived with its ‘dramatic’ central component being all that is left.
“The sculpture is not only a technical marvel, with its lifelike depiction of Bradgate Park’s rugged landscape and wildlife, but also a dramatic human story key to the history of Dunham Massey,” added Emma Campagnaro, who is the Property Curator at Dunham Massey.
Emily Sergeant -
3rd January 2024 
