The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals will return to the AO Arena in Manchester early next year, with free tickets.
The huge event will be hosted by local comedian Jason Manford, and will bring together jaw-dropping performances from the biggest West End and touring musicals.
Audiences will be treated to hits from shows including Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, A Chorus Line, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, GREASE, Hadestown, and Guys & Dolls.
The massive glittering event will take place on Monday 22 January, to be aired on BBC One, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds at a later date.
And tickets for The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals are completely free – all you need to do is be a National Lottery player.
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The 12,000 free tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis from 1pm today, Thursday 30 November, at bignightofmusicals.com.
The event has been created to thank National Lottery players, who in the past year have helped support over 750 theatre-related projects across the UK.
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Jason Manford will be joined by special guest, West End legend and singing sensation, Beverley Knight, who has starred in theatre shows including The Bodyguard, Cats, Memphis, Sylvia, and Sister Act.
The National Lottery has awarded more than £517m to arts projects across the country, with £46m of this going towards theatre related projects.
For The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals, players will be able to reserve up to four tickets for free, plus a £2 booking fee applies per ticket and proof of purchase of a National Lottery product is required.
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Comedian, musical theatre performer and host Jason Manford said: “I’m thrilled to be hosting The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals once again.
“We’ve got another amazing line-up of smash hit shows for the Manchester Arena audience to enjoy. And the best thing about this show is that the tickets are free!
“It’s a thank you from The National Lottery to all the people who have supported the performing arts through these crucial years by playing each week.”
Beverley Knight, who also performed in the 2022 launch of The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals, said: “It’s great to be coming back to be part of this incredible show. The support National Lottery players make to the theatre industry is crucial to the performers and myriad of people – at large and small venues – who help make a night at the theatre so special.
“I can’t wait to see this astonishing line up of talent in Manchester belting out musical classics.”
Donald Glover announces surprise world tour along with new Childish Gambino album out of the blue
Danny Jones
Donald Glover, a.k.a. Childish Gambino, has just announced a brand-new world tour along with releasing his latest album, all in the space of just a few hours.
With virtually no warning whatsoever, the multi-talented musician, actor, writer, filmmaker producer and comedian decided to drop the completed version of 3.15.20, the experimental record he quietly dropped four years ago, along with a brand new music video and a series of global tour dates.
Titling the ‘finished’ fourth studio LP, Atavista, and releasing a music video for ‘Little Foot Big Foot’ – which features what we’re sure will go down as an equally iconic dance routine akin to that seen in ‘This Is America’ – it seems like he’s been quietly plugging away at new music in the background.
Just hours later, Manchester’s AO Arena confirmed that they would be hosting Childish Gambino’s Manc gig this fall, with the tour itself kicking off in the US this August.
But the surprises don’t stop there either.
As detailed in a statement on social media, in which he informed his fans that “there’s a special vinyl coming soon [with] visuals for each song” from Atavista, he also revealed that an “all new Childish Gambino album comes out in the summer.”
There’s so much information to take in right now we can barely catch our breath.
Joining him as the main support act for the newly announced world tour is Amaarae, a Ghanaian-American singer-songwriter and fellow R’nB star. Here’s what she sounds like if you’ve never come across her before:
With his gig at the AO Arena scheduled for Tuesday, 26 November, this isn’t just the first time he’s been in Manchester for a good long while but it’s also the first Childish Gambino tour since 2018/19.
Alongside his various TV and movie projects like Atlanta, the Amazon reboot of Mr. & Mrs. Smith franchise, as well as the upcoming standalone Star Wars film, Lando (just to name a few), it’s clear that Glover is still as busy as ever.
General admission for the Childish Gambino and ‘The New World Tour’ goes live at 10am on Friday, 17 May and if you think these things are going to stick around for long, think again.
You can be ready and waiting to grab your tickets HERE.
‘Manny’s Loudest’ brunch event returns this month with live performances and DJ sets
Daisy Jackson
A brunch event that showcases Manchester’s vast musical talent is returning to the city this month for its second instalment.
Manny’s Loudest, created by Loud__Mcr who provide a platform for untapped talent, will again be helping artists to kick-start their careers over the bank holiday weekend.
Alongside live performances and DJ sets, there’ll be food served up by NamFuzion, which blends Vietnamese and Jamaican grill.
The first Manny’s Loudest event in February pulled in 500 people, and organisers are hoping to push this even further for part two on 26 May.
It will all be taking place at the Manchester Recording Studios in Hulme, which has a capacity of 600.
Mervin and his team will be creating an immersive audience experience around the DJ decks, which Mervin describes as ‘a niche that can be scaled into the modern day talent show but with a party twist to it’.
And every penny made from Loud__Mcr’s brunch event is put back into the process, acquiring mainstream headliners to perform and become part of their community.
It means that up-and-coming and undiscovered talent can perform on the same stage as experienced artists, providing an unparalleled platform and a chance to learn from those who have been in the industry for longer.
Loud__Mcr are proud to be providing artists with a chance to show their creative work, but also offering a supportive community.
Event organisers are also looking for any possible sponsor opportunities to help promote the event.
Manny’s Loudest will take place at Manchester Recording Studios in Hulme (3 Archway, Birley Fields, M15 5QJ) on 26 May. You can get your tickets here, and follow @Loud__mcr on Instagram for updates.