Smash hit West End and Broadway musical AVENUE Q, the secrets behind brand new musical The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole and a string of West End stars will all feature in the line-up for Stages – the UK’s only musical theatre festival at sea. Floating Festivals Stages cruise returns in October, bringing the glitz, glamour and iconic hits of the West End and Broadway to the seas.
Classical Brit Award winner Alfie Boe, Olivier and Bafta Award winner Sheridan Smith and the world’s most successful musical theatre group Collabro have already been announced as this year’s headliners. Organisers have also revealed they will be joined by the West End and Broadway award-winning musical AVENUE Q for three exclusive shows across the four-night cruise. The AVENUE Q shows are exclusive to Stages and will be the first time the show has ever been performed at a festival.
Elsewhere award-winning UK Musical Director Nick Barstow will present a series of events onboard including RE:Arrangement starring Alice Fearn (Wicked), Noel Sullivan (Hearsay and West End star), Andy Coxon (West Side Story) and Kelly Mathieson (Phantom of the Opera). They will all be performing a series of shows and solo performances, and there will also be a not-to-be-missed group performance celebrating everything from Hammerstein to Hamilton.
For classical lovers, West End stars Steph Parry and Luke Bayer (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie), Alyn Hawkes (Follies) and Emma Housley (The Wizard of Oz) will present songs from the musicals of Rodgers and Hammerstein. With a nod to today’s theatre scene, Pippa Clearly and Jake Brunger, the composers and writers of the West End’s newest musical, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole – The Musical, will also be onboard providing an exclusive insight into this new production.
For musical theatre lovers who want to join in and take part, Stages is introducing the Stages Academy – a fully interactive programme of seminars, workshops and events showcasing life behind the scenes of the West End and Broadway. There will be a series of Q&A events with industry experts and media, and each evening the West End’s best Cabaret Bar SingEasy will provide open mic sessions with all the stars, plus guests will be able to sing-along to their musical theatre favourites.
The four-night Stages cruise Southampton-Dublin-Southampton takes place onboard Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas from 14-18 October.