Backstage With...

Backstage With...

Backstage With… takes you behind the scenes with the biggest names in musical theatre. We tell stories of shows people have worked on, actors they’ve worked with, and things that didn’t necessarily go to plan, on stage and off. Expect industry secrets, eyebrow raising stories and behind the scenes access.

Episodes

July 21, 2020

The host of New York 1's On Stage joins Mikey to compare what's happening in the theatre industries in the UK and US. 

Follow Frank online, on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. You can see his work at ny1.com.

Follow Backstage With... online, on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

You can send Mikey your guest requests and questions on Twitter and Instagram.

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Alexia Khadime was the first woman of colour in the world to be cast as the principal Elphaba in Wicked. 

She's also known for playing Nabalungi in the original London cast of The Book of Mormon, Eponine in Les Miserables, and Nala in The Lion King.

This episode was recorded prior to the announcement of the Government's arts rescue package. 

We discussed the issue of race and how it relates to the theatre industry at length...

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Best known as the first British Elphaba in Wicked, Kerry Ellis made her name as the one of the most popular actors in musical theatre.

Follow Kerry on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Follow Backstage With... online, on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

You can send Mikey your guest requests and questions on Twitter and Instagram.

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This week's guests are currently touring the UK in Rufus Norris's production of Cabaret.

Kara Lily Hayworth (Sally Bowles) is best known for playing the title role in Cilla the musical on tour in 2017. 

Charlie Hagerty (Cliff Bradshaw) has worked extensively in the US, Europe and in the UK where he now lives with his husband. He was also in the original Broadway cast of If/Then alongside Idina Menzel in 2014. 

Mikey Worrall...

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Miriam-Teak Lee is the WhatsOnStage award winning, Olivier nominated star of & Juliet the musical. 

The show won six WhatsOnStage awards and has been nominated for nine Oliviers. 

Mikey Worrall chats to Miriam-Teak in her dressing room at the Shaftesbury Theatre.

Subscribe to the podcast for more interviews with the artists and creatives you love. You can find more on our YouTube channel and at Backstagewith.com.

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Stephen Schwartz is an Oscar, Grammy, Golden Globe and Honorary Tony award winning composer and lyricist.

His work has spanned six decades and includes Wicked, Godspell, Pippin, The Baker’s Wife, and London’s newest musical, The Prince of Egypt, which is based on the 1998 Dreamworks animated film. 

Stephen also wrote the lyrics for the Disney films Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Enchanted, on which he collaborated with...

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Rachel Tucker is flying off to New York next week to join the cast of Come From Away on Broadway.

Before that she's starring in a one-off charity performance of The Pirate Queen (by Les Mis writers Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg) in aid of Leukaemia UK. You can get tickets here.

Rachel is best known for playing Elphaba in Wicked in London and on Broadway. She was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Act...

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This week's guest is Carley Stenson who's currently starring the UK tour of Curtains, the musical comedy. 

After 10 years in Hollyoaks, Carley moved into theatre where she's remained ever since. She's played Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, Princess Fiona in Shrek, The Lady of the Lake in Spamalot as well as appearing in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and, most recently, as Fantine in Les Miserables. 

We had a chat at the New...

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Sara Bareilles and Gavin Creel are getting ready to join the cast of Waitress the musical in London's West End for six weeks from 27th January.

Sara Bareilles wrote the music and lyrics for the show and has previously played Jenna for three engagements on Broadway, most recently alongside Gavin Creel.

Gavin returns to London as a Tony award winner (Hello Dolly!), after winning the Olivier award for best actor in a musical for T...

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Rachel John is currently playing Mrs Neilsen in Girl from the North Country at the Gielgud Theatre in the West End. 

You may have previously seen her as Angelica in the Original London Cast of Hamilton, for which she received an Olivier nomination. Her other credits include The Bodyguard, Memphis, We Will Rock You and Sister Act. 

You can follow Backstage With… on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to find out which stage door we’re g...

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In this episode we meet some of the 2020 WhatsOnStage Awards nominees from shows including &Juliet, Waitress and Dear Evan Hansen at the awards launch in the West End. 

Mikey Worrall went along to the reception at The Hospital Club in Covent Garden where he spoke to &Juliet's Miriam-Teak Lee, Cassidy Janson and Jordan Luke Gage, Waitress's David Hunter and Marisha Wallace, and Dear Evan Hansen's Sam Tutty. 

You ...

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Oliver Ormson is currently playing Rob in High Fidelity at the Turbine Theatre in south London. 

The theatre was recently founded by its Artistic Director, Paul Taylor Mills. High Fidelity is the theatre’s second production and its first musical. 

The show originally opened on Broadway in 2006 where it closed 10 days after its opening night. 

The show is about a north London record shop owner called Rob who ranks everything in his ...

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It’s 25 years since Melissa Jacques left Sheffield to pursue her musical theatre dreams in London. 

A year-long course at the London School of Musical Theatre led her to summer seasons, pantomimes and rep work where she cut her teeth before she joined the original cast of Mamma Mia. That’s where Melissa says she grew up and really learned her trade.

This autumn she was promoted to the role of Margaret, one of the roles she previous...

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Daniel Boys is currently playing Marvin in Falsettos at The Other Palace, just around the corner from where he saw his first West End musical as a child, Starlight Express, at the Apollo Victoria.

After graduating from Guildford School of Acting, Daniel appeared in Rent, Sunset Boulevard and Grease before auditioning for the BBC’s Any Dream Will Do, the search for a man to play Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat...

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Jon Robyns is about to take on the role of Jean Valjean in the new production of Les Misérables which is due to open at the newly renamed and renovated Sondheim Theatre in December. 

Jon is currently playing King George III in the West End production of Hamilton at the Victoria Palace Theatre. He will handover to an as yet unnamed heir in the coming months before moving across town to Shaftesbury Avenue to tell another revolutionar...

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Lucie Jones is currently playing Jenna in the West End production of Waitress.

Since appearing on The X Factor in 2009, Lucie has played Cosette in Les Misérables (West End), Elle in Legally Blonde (Curve and national tour), Molly in Ghost (Chinese tour), Maureen in Rent (UK tour) before returning to London to play Jenna.

This episode was recorded in Lucie’s enormous dressing room at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End.

You...

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Caroline Sheen is currently playing Violet in 9 to 5 the musical in the West End.

She joined the original cast of the production after Louise Redknapp injured her wrist, giving her only a week to learn the show before having to perform it.

Over the years Caroline has starred in Mary Poppins (UK and US tours), City of Angels, Les Miserables (as Eponine and Fantine), The Witches of Eastwick, Mamma Mia, Into the Woods and Grease -...

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Andy Mientus is currently playing Patrick in The View UpStairs at the Soho Theatre in London.

Andy is thrilled to be making his London theatre debut, it’s something he’s wanted to do for a long time.

You might know him from the TV shows Smash, The Flash and Gone. He also played Marius in the recent broadway revival of Les Miserables, and Hanschen in the original US touring production of Spring Awakening. Andy played that role for a...

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Jamie Armitage is the co-director of the the hit musical, Six.

He took a break from rehearsing with new cast members to chat about his most recent project, Southern Belles, which is currently running at the King’s Head Theatre, in London.

You can buy tickets to see Southern Belles on the King’s Head Theatre website.

You can follow Backstage With... on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to find out which stage door we’re going thro...

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Whose Mind is it Anyway? is a theatrical experience combining hypnosis, improv and movie musicals.

My guests this week are the creators of the show, Michelle and Simon. They’ve taken the show to the Edinburgh Festival where it’s running at Gilded Balloon’s Patter Hoose.

We recorded this episode in Michelle’s voiceover booth, which was extremely cosy, on one of the hottest days of the year so far.

Click here for tickets to the s...

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