{"id":501599,"date":"2026-03-29T10:21:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T10:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/501599\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T10:21:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T10:21:14","slug":"bbc-big-night-of-musicals-viewers-say-same-thing-minutes-into-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/501599\/","title":{"rendered":"BBC Big Night of Musicals viewers say same thing minutes into show"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The National Lottery event has returned to BBC One for its fifth year<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The Big Night of Musicals returned to BBC One tonight\" loading=\"eager\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_bignightofmusicals1.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"BBC's The Big Night of Musicals returned to BBC One tonight with host Jason Manford\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">BBC&#8217;s The Big Night of Musicals returned to BBC One tonight with host Jason Manford(Image: BBC)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">BBC One viewers all said the same thing just minutes in to <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/tv\/tv-news\/bbc-big-night-musicals-viewers-36463058\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">The Big Night of Musicals<\/a> as the popular event returned to screens for its fifth year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The National Lottery&#8217;s Big Night of Musicals made a comeback on Saturday, March 28 on<a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/bbc1\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\"> BBC One<\/a> with<a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/3am\/celebrity-news\/jason-manfords-family-life-two-36937735\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\"> comedian Jason Manford<\/a> reprising his role as host. This year, fans were treated to special and well known performances from some of the UK&#8217;s biggest West End and touring productions such as from The Lion King and Wicked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Also taking to the stage were familiar faces such as<a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/uk-news\/life-sam-ryder-eurovision-triumph-36936920\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\"> Eurovision star Sam Ryde<\/a>r in a <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/world-news\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">world<\/a> first as he delivered an incredible performance from Jesus Christ Superstar ahead of his debut in the show this summer. X Factor&#8217;s Alexandra Burke was also set to take to the stage as Chaka Khan in I&#8217;m Every Woman.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The Big Night of Musicals kicked off with a special performance from The Lion King\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_bignightofmusicals2.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"BBC's The Big Night of Musicals kicked off with a special performance from The Lion King\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">BBC&#8217;s The Big Night of Musicals kicked off with a special performance from The Lion King(Image: BBC)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Airing on <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/bbc\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">BBC<\/a> One at 7.45pm, it had been teased: &#8220;Back for a fifth year and filmed in front of an audience of 12,000 at Manchester\u2019s AO Arena, the show brings together some of the biggest and most exciting productions currently on stage alongside exclusive previews of shows opening this year and unique one-off collaborations created especially for the night.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Just minutes into the show viewers said the same thing as they took to social media to share their excitement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Taking to X, one person said: &#8220;Hooray they&#8217;ve gone back to the original show and not showing clips.&#8221; Another wrote: &#8220;Been looking forward to this #BigNightofMusicals.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A third added: &#8220;#bignightofmusicals I defy anyone who says they don\u2019t get musical theatre to watch #thelionking and not be moved.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Also taking to the stage was Sam Ryder for a world first performance\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_bignightofmusicals3.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"The Big Night of Musicals also saw Sam Ryder for a world first performance\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">The Big Night of Musicals also saw Sam Ryder for a world first performance(Image: BBC)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A fourth commented: &#8220;I\u2019ve waited a very long time to watch #BigNightOfMusicals, it\u2019s finally here!!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">One person replied: &#8220;Love Big Night Of Musicals on <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/bbc1\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">BBC1<\/a> but I\u2019m in floods of tears as they started with Lion King. Great one this time as I\u2019ve seen most of the shows on tonight\u2019s one.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Another echoed: &#8220;Fuming I didn&#8217;t get tickets for The Big Night Of Musicals this year because Lion King would&#8217;ve had me sobbing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">One BBC viewer said: &#8220;I love Big Night of Musicals&#8221; as another added: &#8220;<a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/BigNightOfMusicals?src=hashtag_click\" rel=\"nofollow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">#BigNightOfMusicals<\/a> is pure joy. Love it!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The show kicked off with a special performance from The Lion King, leaving viewers in tears, before moving on to Oliver the musical as well as The Producers starring Andy Nyman and Marc Antolin.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Big Night of Musicals is available on BBC iPlayer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The National Lottery event has returned to BBC One for its fifth year BBC&#8217;s The Big Night of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[243,96,59,27012,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-501599","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-bbc","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-gb","11":"tag-talent-shows","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}