It's the beginning of January and theatre news has been slow since the Christmas holidays, so in West End Frame Towers we've been spending lots of time geeking out over stagey YouTube videos. Below are five you should be obsessed with:
5. Everybody say HEAVY METAL
Tim Prottey-Jones is currently appearing in the ensemble of Kinky Boots at the Adelphi Theatre and has recently been uploading heavy metal versions of musical theatre classics such as 'I Still Believe' and 'On My Own' onto YouTube. Listen to his cover of 'Land of Lola' below and check out more of his covers here. I think a musical theatre heavy metal album/concert could go down a storm!
4. Oh what a celebration we'll have today!
Everybody loves a good showmance! On Christmas day Daniel Robinson and Joshua Green - who both play flying monkeys in the Broadway production of Wicked - got engaged onstage at the Gershwin Theatre. After the performance the cast gathered for a company photo before Robinson stood up and proposed to Green in full flying monkey costume! Of course it was all captured on camera and has now gone viral! Watch below:
When I was sent this video by a friend last year and watched it for the first time I almost died of laughter. It's an interview from a promotional video for the 1989 Broadway production of Grand Hotel with an audience member who had quite an experience! I'm not going to give away anymore, but you have to watch it below!
2. Understudy of the Year winners unite!
Fresh from winning West End Frame's 2015 Understudy of the Year for standing by as Elphaba in the UK tour of Wicked, last year Jacqueline Hughes played a sold out solo concert at Above The Arts. Hughes invited along Carolyn Maitland - who won the award in 2014 - to perform a special duet, marking one of my theatrical highlights of 2015! You can re-live their stunning rendition of 'Who Will Love Me As I Am' from Slide Show below, plus check out Hughes belting out a magnificent rendition of 'The Wizard and I'.
1. The language of riff!
And finally... the ultimate stagey video of all-time... is... Willemijn Verkaik's 'Obsessed' episode with Seth Rudetsky, obviously! Back in 2013 Verkaik joined Rudetsky to perform a very special rendition of 'Defying Gravity' in different languages and accents. It's the most amazing thing ever, and you can check it out below!
What are your favourite stagey videos on YouTube?
Tweet us (@West_End_Frame) and let us know!
Andrew Tomlins (Editor)