Ed Balls

Ed Balls, former Shadow Chancellor and Strictly contestant – presents a concert devoted to his favourite passion – musicals.

The BBC Concert Orchestra is conducted by Richard Balcombe and Ed is joined by musical theatre's finest: Sophie Louise Dann, Ria Jones, Danny Mac, Rachel Tucker and Michael Xavier.

There will also be performances from cast members hot-footing from their theatre shows to perform a song or two. Moya Angela from Dreamgirls performs And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going; Disney’s Aladdin star Matthew Croke performs Proud of Your Boy by Alan Menken; and the cast of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Matilda the Musical line up to perform the delightful When I Grow Up .

Ria Jones and Danny Mac recreate their roles as Norma Desmond and Joe Gillis from the UK tour of Sunset Boulevard (Lloyd Webber); Rachel Tucker dons the green face paint for Defying Gravity from Wicked and Sophie-Louise Dann dons the twin set and pearls to portray Labour legend Barbara Castle from the David Arnold musical Made in Dagenham.

The concert also includes music from Gypsy, Les Misérables, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Producers, Guys and Dolls, Sweet Charity, Company, My Fair Lady, and Ed’s all-time favourite The Sound of Music.

And if you think the Ed’s love of musicals is just his guilty pleasure during the interval he takes a look at how the world of musicals and politics often collide - with examples from Hamilton, Evita, Stephen Ward, Iolanthe and Annie.

First broadcast in 2018.