The show must go on!

Banish those lockdown blues as Sheridan Smith and Michael Ball celebrate musical theatre

- ELAINE REILLY, ALISON SLADE

NEW ENTERTAINMENT

Musicals: The Greatest Show Sunday, BBC1 HD, 7.40pm

If you’re missing the glitz and glamour of your favorite musicals, BBC1 has a treat in store this week with a special one-off show that lets you enjoy a night in the West End without leaving home…

Hosted by Sheridan Smith, Musicals: The Greatest Show is a musical extravaganza featuring performances and appearances from a dazzling line-up of stars including Michael Ball, Amanda Holden, Gavin Spokes, Aisha Jawando, Nicole Scherzinger and many more – accompanied by a socially distanced BBC Concert Orchestra at the London Palladium.

‘There’s nothing like a musical,’ says Ball. ‘Musicals take us out of our own lives for a couple of hours and create a real sense of community for the people on stage and the audience. It happens live in front of you and will never happen exactly the same ever again.’

The 58-year-old performer – who’s starred in Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – says viewers can expect ‘classic songs that everyone knows and loves’ as well familiar tunes from shows like Hamilton and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, plus a brand-new song from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella (see panel, right).

ENERGETIC

Ball was in rehearsals to appear as Edna Turnblad in