Yahoo News London theatre shows: West End musical stars on the moments that give them goosebumps
There's not much that matches the thrill of watching a West End musical.
The combination of stunning singing, the buzz of a live band, dazzling dancing and magical costume and set designs are all enough to make you feel like you’re walking on air when you leave the theatre.
Research last year found that Dreamgirls audiences were so thrilled by what they were watching that their heart rates more than doubled, stimulating them as much as 30 minutes of cardio would.
With all that in mind, imagine what it must be like to actually be in one.
For the stars of musical theatre, the nightly experience of standing centre stage, belting out empowering stories of poetic justice and sharing it with an enraptured audience are difficult to describe. But we thought we’d ask them to try anyway.
Here, the brightest stars of some of the West End’s biggest shows tell us about the one moment that gives them goosebumps.
Brown Lindiwe Mkhize (Rafiki in Disney’s The Lion King at Lyceum Theatre)
"Even though I’ve been in the show for so long, I still get nervous. I can hear the buzz from the audience building, which makes me feel so excited to begin. Sometimes I can hear people clapping in the audience before I even start. Then stage management give me the pitch for the first note, and I know I have to be completely focused. That first note is so powerful - I make sure I give it everything. It has to really hit the audience in their hearts, wherever they are.
For me, when I’m singing Circle of Life, I feel like I am leading this amazing spectacle. I’m on stage for the whole song, as it builds from being just me alone in darkness, to a stage full of incredible costumes, masks, puppets and light. Each time I look at the animals around me, I feel an unexplainable joy. I can see people crying, and it really touches me. It’s amazing every time, and watching the audience is my favourite part. Circle of Life is everything. There’s nothing else like it. Circle of Life is like the whole show in a single song."
Kelly Mathieson (Christine in The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre)
"It’s hard to pick just one moment from The Phantom of the Opera. The piece has been running for 31 years, and a huge part of the its long-running success is down to the amount of climatic moments both theatrically and musically. If I had to pick one moment it would be during my opening number, Think of Me. At the beginning of the piece, Christine is introduced as a shy ballet girl. Despite audiences knowing the piece well, there's still that anticipation of 'will she? won't she?' as I step up to sing in front of the company. After impressing everyone with just a few lines, Christine runs back and is transformed into an operatic sensation.
At that moment on stage, I have four other company members fussing around me, with a costume change at the same time. As the orchestra crescendo to the song's epic climax, I step forward to the front of the stage and feel the excitement and energy all around me, with the strings bursting to a fortissimo. I have goosebumps all over and the hairs on my arms are standing on end."
Trevor Dion Nicholas (Genie in Disney’s Aladdin at Prince Edward Theatre)
"The song Friend Like Me puts me in a uniquely privileged position every night. From the moment I emerge from the lamp, the audience has already been waiting to see if I, as the Genie, can live up to the lofty expectation set by the animated film. However, when I begin, there’s an “ace up my sleeve”, as it were. My goal is never to try and surpass the iconic film, but to subvert their expectations, and create something new and unexpected. The connection that I get to share with the people watching is unlike anything I’ve experienced on stage before.
My enjoyment of the music, the humour, the over the top switches of characterization and delivery mirror the audiences enjoyment of it. We bond, we form an unspoken alliance in joy, and that creates the sense of wonder and magic that we both are allowed to revel in. They fuel the moment just as much as I do, and it’s borderline spiritual."
John McCrea’s (Jamie in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at Apollo Theatre)
"Theatres are such transient places. The idea that an entire world can exist on stage in an evening and be gone by morning has always had such a profound effect on me. This is why personally, the real adrenaline lies not on the stage itself, but in the dressing room, in the quiet hours beforehand.
To sit alone and watch in the mirror as the actor disappears from view is thrilling, terrifying and like all other highs powerful and intoxicating. With the final knot of a school tie begins the heady rush that propels Jamie onto his journey through his own little universe."
Gina Beck (Miss Honey in Matilda The Musical at Cambridge Theatre)
One of my favourite moments in Matilda The Musical is the song When I Grow Up. Every night I stand at the back of the auditorium waiting for my entrance into Act 2. The lights come up and suddenly the audience are transported to a children’s playground where two little boys sit on swings and sing about what they will be when they grow up. More children appear and the stage is full of life, they swing and run about the stage like mad.
Then suddenly they launch themselves on to the swings like they are Superman and soar high above the audience. The crowd gasps with delight, then there’s laughter as they turn to one another in amazement. The adults in the audience have become children again and the children look on in awe."
Alice Fearn (Elphaba in Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre)
“Will I ever forget the first time I flew as Elphaba? That would be impossible. Yes, you’ve rehearsed it with the creative team, you’ve seen others do it before you, you’ve even had a dress run, but the moment you hear the orchestra play the Defying Gravity intro you are thrust into a moment.
It’s so perfect and hard to believe you’re really there. It’s extraordinary. A moment that, after nearly 300 shows playing Elphaba, I still find breathtaking. In fact, the only thing I recall saying to myself on that first show is 'just remember to keep breathing'."
David Hunter (Charlie Price in Kinky Boots at the Adelphi Theatre)
The moment in our show I look forward to most is the big reveal of our iconic, thigh-high, red-leather Kinky Boots. They even get their own round of applause! The big reveal happens at the very end of Act One just before the song Everybody Say Yeah. The treadmills arrive, and we spend five glorious minutes running, dancing, singing and generally having a ball!
After all of Charlie's Act One angst, it's such a pleasure to give in to the Kinky Boots joy and celebrate with the company. The song ends, the crowd goes wild and I nip to my dressing room for a well-deserved cuppa. Bliss."
