A Night at The Musicals, hosted by West End veteran and SIX The Musicals’ original Anne Boleyn, Christina Modestou, is taking us through the ages and genres of musical theater in a four-part Cabaret series in London’s theater scene at the renowned Southwark Playhouse.
Firstly, do we NEED this?! Every theater lover has been craving a dose of in-person LIVE theater magic during this stressful time, and boy does she deliver! Christina hosts A Night at the Musicals with flare and ease, holding us with her through every note, regardless of whether we’re in the COVID-safe, retrofitted theater or streaming online at home.
Piano arrangements, by Richard Wetherall, include various Sondheim musicals and multiple extremely creative medleys packing some of the greatest 11 o’clock numbers from SIX, In The Heights and even Wicked! It is every musical theater lover’s dream. The subtly endearing Wetherall compliments Christina perfectly throughout the performance, and having played with artists such as Tony Bennet, it’s no surprise that he wows.
The show leads us through Christina’s career highlights, as well as the roles she is hoping to play in the future (and we can’t wait to witness her smash every single one of them).
But hold up for one minute, we can’t forget that Tony Award Nominated and Olivier Award Winning actress, Jenna Russell, joins Christina towards the end of the show and sings Stars and the Moon so beautifully. Jenna’s career has spanned stage and screen and unsurprisingly, you can hear a pin drop in the auditorium as she performs (thank you, JRB, for such incredible writing).
In addition to Jenna’s appearance, Christina and the creative team spent months hunting for incredible inspiring artists to come and support her in the production, hosting professional self-tape auditions, something every performer is becoming accustomed to, during the COVID-era. Bethany McDonald was cast as the supporting artist to round out the show with the amazing lineup of performers. She was most recently seen on international waters singing Bee Gee’s disco hits as one of the lead roles in Saturday Night Fever with Royal Caribbean. Bethany sang one of the hardest songs in the MT
repertoire, Don’t Rain On My Parade made famous by Barbara Streisand in Funny Girl. She commands the stage with the confidence and talent of a Broadway or West End star alongside the other veteran performers. What an incredible trio they make!
We can’t wait for things to be back to ‘normal’ and to be seeing such powerhouses on stage again!
Evie Freeman
