As a special thank you to our players, 12,000 free** tickets were made available on a first-come, first-served basis to the show at the AO Arena Manchester on January 27th 2025. If you weren’t lucky enough to be in the audience that night, there’s good news: highlights from this incredible show will be broadcast on BBC 1 at 6.50pm on Saturday 22nd March 2025.

The show, which is hosted by comedian and musical theatre star Jason Manford, features performances from no less than 10 musicals. They include Calamity Jane with musical theatre legend Carrie Hope Fletcher and the Tony and Olivier award-winning Dear Evan Hansen.

Other highlights include performances from the UK tour of Jim Steinman’s Bat Out of Hell The Musical and Here & Now – The Steps Musical. Also on the bill, a performance from the West End’s Mean Girls and a sneak peak of Hercules, a brand-new show from Disney.

The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals serves as a huge thank you to our players who, over the last 30 years, have helped support more than 20,000 theatre related projects to the tune of £1.3BN. National Lottery funding has helped restore theatres as well as enabling hundreds of performing arts projects.

Jason Manford said, “It’s an honour to be back hosting The National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals for the fourth time! It’s always a pleasure to host in Manchester to give a northern audience the chance to see some spectacular performances and appearances from the stars of the West End - and this year’s line-up is stronger than ever. Once again, one of the best aspects of the show is that tickets are free** as a thank you to National Lottery players who help ensure the performing arts industry thrives by playing each week.”

**Tickets were free of charge with a £2 booking fee per ticket.

Originally published 12th December 2024. Updated 12th December 2024, 9th, 10th January, 28th February and 14th March 2025.