Radio 2 Spring highlights incl. TV & radio celebrations for Elaine Paige & specials on musicals
BBC Radio 2 today announces its Spring highlights… there’s a new weekly show with Zoe Ball, plus Zoe will be hosting two specials including a BBC TV show celebrating Elaine Paige’s 60 year career in showbusiness. There’s a spotlight on musicals, a focus on brass music with a Sunday Night is Music Night concert in Bradford as the centrepiece, a nostalgic schedule move for Pick of the Pops, a new show for Richie Anderson, Radio 2’s biggest ever commitment to Country music, a star-studded tribute to Johnnie Walker, plus lots more…
Musicals move into the spotlight on Radio 2 in April and May. Zoe Ball will host Elaine Paige: 60 Years in Showbusiness, a world exclusive concert honouring the extraordinary career of the station’s host of Elaine Paige on Sunday (1-3pm). On Friday 25th April, the cream of musical theatre – including Samantha Barks (winner of The Masked Singer 2025, Frozen, Les Misérables, Oliver!, Chicago), Mazz Murray (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Chicago, We Will Rock You), Julian Ovenden (Bridgerton, Downton Abbey, South Pacific), Charlie Stemp (Half a Sixpence, Hello, Dolly, Kiss Me, Kate), and Summer Strallen (Love Never Dies, The Sound of Music, Guys and Dolls) -will perform some of Elaine’s most adored songs at the London Palladium, which will be broadcast on Radio 2 on Sunday 4th May (8-10pm) – tickets are available HERE.
Plus, a special this April for Radio 2 and BBC TV, will see Elaine in conversation with Zoe in which Elaine tells the story of her incredible life and career. We’ll hear exclusive stories behind some of Elaine’s best known songs as well as her tales from behind the red velvet curtains of London’s glittering West End.
Additionally, in an hour long documentary, The Heat is On in Saigon, marking the 50thanniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, Jeremy Vine looks back at the history and legacy of the war through the music of that era, and through the prism of the hit musical, Miss Saigon. Through insights from historians and those at the show’s heart, Jeremy discovers what it took to make a musical about a war. He hears from the creatives behind it, and learns how this traumatic period in history in Saigon and Vietnam was put on the stage, and the role of its haunting music, including Last Night of the World, The Heat is on in Saigon, The Movie in My Mind, and more. We hear from Lea Salonga, Jon Jon Briones & Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil. A Telesgop production.
In Michelle Visage – The Musicals That Changed My Life, Michelle – a lifelong fan of musicals and currently sitting in for Elaine Paige on Sunday (1-3pm) until Sunday 9th March – presents a love letter to the shows which mean the most to her. Her love of musicals started as a child when she discovered the West Side Story soundtrack LP in her parents’ record collection. She then spent her childhood watching musicals of classics such as Bye Bye Birdie, On the Town, Fiddler on the Roof and The Sound of Music.
Michelle reflects on her favourite shows from Evita, Cabaret and A Chorus Line, through to recent hits such as SIX, Rent and Hamilton. We hear how they inspired her to perform at High School, later realising her dream of becoming a West End star inEverybody’s Talking About Jamie and The Addams Family. Michelle pays tribute to Liza Minnelli, Julie Andrews, Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Radio 2’s very own Queen of Musicals, Elaine Paige. The show reflects the history of musical theatre and is packed with Michelle’s personal stories and, of course, classic scores and songs. A Mostest production.
Michelle says: “I dreamed that dream, I wished upon that star, and you know what… it came true!”
Big Night of Musicals returns for a fourth year to Radio 2 – to air on Sunday 27th April, with its BBC One transmission date to be announced shortly. The show – which was recorded in January at Manchester AO Arena – brings together theatre’s biggest West End and touring shows for a night of spectacular celebrations. Jason Manford hosts 12,000 musical theatre fans, treating them to jaw-dropping and toe-tapping performances from Calamity Jane with Carrie Hope Fletcher, the multi-award-winning Dear Evan Hansen, Mean Girls, and Here & Now – The Official Steps Musical, plus a sneak peek at Disney’s brand-new show, Hercules. As well as the incredible musical performances, Radio 2 will once again be backstage bringing listeners exclusive interviews with all the stars, catching up with them as they get prepared for a massive night of performances as well as spilling the tea on all the West End goss! A TBI Media production.
Visit the BBC website for further info…
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