Well, it’s that time of the year again as I now reveal what were my 10 favourite 2024 musicals!
For this year’s list, I’ve decided to be a bit more lenient with the rules as some will be productions that premiered in 2023 but returned for 2024, more often than not a West End transfer that I felt improved from its previous iteration. So while I enjoyed Standing at the Sky’s Edge‘s West End transfer this year, I enjoyed it equally to its National Theatre production and won’t be included. Also, I want to highlight more diverse array of musicals than most of them being copy-paste of last year’s.
My 10 Favourite 2024 Musicals
10) Starlight Express – The Troubadour Park Theatre Wembley
Much was hinging on this revival as soon as it was announced, and I think Luke Sheppard succeeded bringing a new version of Starlight Express to life while paying respect to what the four decades worth of audiences have loved about it. Fully embracing the camp and spectacle, it’s the perfect switch off your brain escapist musical for the whole family to get blown away by as its laser-filled extravaganza consumes the theatre. With an uber-talented group of performers in their professional debuts including Jeevan Braich, Kayna Montecillo and Al Knott, it’s one of those style over substance musicals that just works.
Is it the definitive Starlight Express? I don’t think there ever will be one, but this will convince you there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
9) Titanique – The Criterion Theatre
This is a VERY late addition, but I just had to include it in My 10 Favourite 2024 Musicals list because I hadn’t laughed so hard in a while. A campy parody of the James Cameron film, it is utterly stupid yet is entirely aware of it. Poking fun at the plot and characters with a canon’s worth of Celine Dion glitter in the mix, its cast is simply perfection in carrying the humour including Lauren Drew’s bombastic Celine Dion, Layton Williams’ glamorous Iceberg (no spoilers) and Jordan Luke Gage’s petulant Cal. By the end, you’ll gladly give into the madness and sing along to My Heart Will Go On at the top of your lungs.
8) Fiddler on the Roof – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
In a tumultuous year including an alarming rise in antisemitic hate crime, the timing of Jordan Fein’s Fiddler on the Roof revival felt somewhat cathartic. Unlike his radical re-imagining of Oklahoma!, Fein subtly steers away from the sentimental nostalgia associated with the musical to focus on community, family and tradition. Balancing the lightheartedness with the haunting realities, it created a gripping and emotional experience that felt wholly relevant today. Add in a wonderful cast including Adam Dannheisser, Lara Pulver and Liv Andruiser, I hope we see this production get some recognition come awards season.
7) Hello Dolly – The London Palladium
After a pandemic and a venue change, the long-awaited Hello Dolly revival starring Imelda Staunton finally arrived in London, and boy did it deliver. Clearly no expense was turned in this dazzling production that filled the Palladium’s gargantuan. The feel-good Golden Age vibes are all anchored by one of the most gripping performances of the year by Imelda Staunton, offering a more melancholy take on Dolly who struggles to move on as she plays matchmaker with everyone around her. With equally bombastic performances from Jenna Russell, Andy Nyman, Harry Hepple and Tyrone Huntley, Hello Dolly’s fleeting yet time in London showed it was back where it belonged.
6) Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 – The Donmar Warehouse
Another relatively late entry on my list, the much-anticipated UK premiere of Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 didn’t disappoint in the Donmar’s vivacious production. Tim Sheader’s intimate yet creative staging allows Dave Malloy’s genre-defying score to be the star, creating an exuberant atmosphere as we watch a complicated Russian novel condensed down to 70 pages. With incredible performances including Declan Bennett, Chumisa Dornford-May, Jamie Muscato and Maimuna Memon who bring such passion emotional depth to their characters, it made for one of the most riveting shows this year.
5) Hadestown – The Lyric Theatre
It’s been a long road to get Hadestown back into London, and it’s one that was worth waiting for. Anais Mitchell’s folk musical of Orpheus and Eurydice is an emotionally raw experience to witness onstage, one that adds genius metatextual elements to the concept as you wait for its inevitable end. Add one of the most gorgeous scores and phenomenal performances including Donal Finn, Grace Hodgett Young and Melanie La Barrie, you may as well ignore my original four-star rating as my opinion has improved over time.
Yes, I’ll be seeing Hadestown again to see the original Broadway cast in February 2025.
4) Come From Away – New Wimbledon Theatre
Come From Away was one of my go-to shows while it was on in the West End and it felt like there was a hole that couldn’t be filled once it departed. So as soon as its tour was announced, it became one my most anticipated shows of year, and it was just as emotional to watch as in London. A heartfelt story about the power of community, it neither strides into ‘Murica jingoism nor saccharine sentimentality as we watch how 9/11 impacts both the people in Gander and the passengers stranded. With an incredible ensemble cast that offered refreshing takes on their multiple characters, its timeless message of kindness transcending people’s differences feels so relevant now.
Among the touring productions I’ve seen over the last few years, Come From Away is easily one of the best West End run to UK tour transfers I’ve seen.
3) Next To Normal – The Wyndham’s Theatre
Considering how high up Next To Normal is from how I ranked its Donmar Warehouse iteration last year, it’s safe to say I found its West End transfer much stronger. While ostensibly the same production, director Michael Longhurst and the entire returning cast used this move as an opportunity to play around with the family dynamic and provide new edges to the story. The bigger staging also allowed Kitt and Yorkey’s songs to radiate across the auditorium that made them feel larger than life compared to the Donmar’s intimacy. Add in utterly raw performances from its six-piece ensemble including Caissie Levy, Jack Wolfe and Eleanor Worthington-Cox, is it no surprise why this is among my favourite 2024 musicals?
This may sound like a hot take, but had this version of Next To Normal ran in 2023, I think it would have had a better chance at the Oliviers in an already strong season.
2) Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York) – The Criterion Theatre
After a sold-out run at the Kiln Theatre, I immediately jumped at the chance to see Two Strangers when it transferred to the Criterion. A funny and heartfelt romcom that plays with the usual cliches of the wide-eyed idealist vs. the pessimist, its stellar performances by duo Sam Tutty and Dujonna Gift glue the show together and provide the humanity underneath their characters’ stereotypes. With catchy songs (I’ve had New York stuck in my head all year), a creative set design and a simple yet universal message, I hope the show gets a future that takes it beyond the Big Apple.
1) The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttton – The Ambassadors Theatre
What a shock – I may as well get it out of the way and say The Curious Case of Benjamin Button doesn’t just reign supreme as the top of my favourite 2024 musicals – it’s also my favourite show of the year.
I know of my reputation as that one woman who’s never shut up about the show since its Southwark Playhouse Elephant run, but seeing all the love its West End transfer is getting is exactly why I was rooting for the show to succeed. As for my thoughts, the West End transfer not only gave me everything I wished for – it gave me more. One of the most life-affirming shows you’ll see right now, Jethro Compton and Darren Clark have done the impossible of adapting a piece of work and creating something entirely new out of it – something I feel other adaptations have struggled with lately.
The enchanting folk score captures every emotion you could experience in life, all performed by an utterly talented actor-muso company who seamlessly juggle their multiple characters. Anchored by mesmerising performances by John Dagleish and Clare Foster, I can’t wait to see where the tides take this beautiful musical.
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