Set against the backdrop of austerity Britain, this funny, feisty and heartbreaking new musical follows six unlikely friends as they stick two fingers up at THE STATE OF THINGS. Ahead of its opening next week at the Brockley Jack Theatre, composer and lyricist Elliot Clay writes a guest blog for StageFaves to tell us about the show and the story behind it.

We're spending our summer chatting to StageFaves about their holiday plans and this week we have an exciting exclusive video! Our #SummerMusicalMoment interview series continues with the talented Mamma Mia! star Richard Carson who chatted to us about his holiday plans and his eclectic taste in music...

It's been a dream run for the cast and crew of the stunning BAT OUT OF HELL. After TWO extensions and more standing ovations than you could possibly imagine, Andrew Polec made an emotional speech after its last show on 22 August 2017 before leaving the theatre with Christina Bennington on the back of a motorbike and announcing...it'll be back in 2018!! WATCH the full speech and the moment the team live-streamed their plans to return next year...

Rehearsals are already under way for the new production of THE SWORD AND THE DOPE opening at the Waterloo East Theatre next month and it's already sounding fantastic! They sent us over a little clip from behind the scenes and it's made us even more excited to see it for ourselves...

This week, #StageFaves vlogger Shalana Serafina gives us a glimpse of backstage life at Upstairs at the Gatehouse as they prepare for the opening night of 5,6,7,8 - a Steps Musical.

The fabulous Ryan Carter isn't just a brilliant performer. The StageFaves superstar, currently raising the roof in MOTOWN THE MUSICAL also runs creative company Ryca Creative who are currently rehearsing for an exciting new event, a new type of Musical Theatre cabaret - 'RyCa : Refresh' - on 20 August...

This week, newest #StageFaves vlogger Shalana Serafina takes us into the rehearsal room for 5,6,7,8 - A Steps Musical. Opening next week as part of Camden Fringe Festival, meet the cast as they get ready to bring the music almighty pop sensation Steps to the stage.

Faves founder Terri Paddock has been raving about Conor McPherson's new musical GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY, inspired by Bob Dylan songs, and judging by this video of Sheila Atim's performance in the show at the Old Vic Theatre, we can understand why! Have a watch...

The third instalment of James Corden's "Crosswalk Musical" segment is another long-running West End classic THE LION KING. "Crosswalk Musicals" take a famous musical theatre show and condense it into sections that last the time it takes to cross an American road. This time, James brought movie stars Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen along for the ride and we think it might be the funniest one yet...

Here at #StageFaves HQ, we're delighted to introduce you to our new #StageFaves Performer Ambassador and vlogger: Shalana Serafina! Who is she? Where did we find her? What will she be bringing to the world of #StageFaves? Shalana explains all - and 10 facts you should know about her and her musical theatre world - in this launch video.

Try saying that ten times at speed! The cast of the THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK paid a visit to the world famous Cutty Sark recently in search of that ever-absent snark! What followed was a series of fast-paced frolicks, silly searching and lack of good reading skills! Watch the full video below...

We all have our personal preferences, but there are a few traits all Musical Theatre nerds share. Whether it's arguing over who gets to sing lead in the car or spending most of our paycheques on tickets to see our favourite stars live onstage, we relate to a LOT of what this video has to say, and as if the concept it wasn't awesome enough, the geekery is sung as a musical number! Seriously...this may be the best video on the internet right now...

He already brought us GREASE but now it's time for a West End staple. As part of his "Crosswalk Musicals" segment, James Corden takes a classic show and condenses it into sections that last the time it takes to cross an American road. His second foray into this hilarious Musical style is the Andrew Lloyd Webber fave PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Get ready to laugh, cry and gasp...in 30 second segments...

We love our a capella groups here, and we love our musical theatre, so we LOVE a capella groups performing musical theatre! Add a slice of comedy to the mix and you've got a winning combination. We think it's awesome that the UK is getting on board with these a capella vocal groups, so we couldn't help but share one of our faves. The Bristol Suspensions are a student group who post a bunch of videos on Facebook, and here is their parody of the Cell Block Tango from the all-time classic show, CHICAGO...

James Corden may be a big American TV host these days but his heart still clearly beats in time with the musicals of the West End. On and off for the last two years, James has created a series of Crosswalk Musicals, taking a classic show and condensing it into sections that last the time it takes to cross an American road. He started this series back in 2015 with the all-time classic, GREASE...

Saturday 8 July is the biggest day of the year for gay Londoners - it's Pride 2017! The theatre has long been a safe and welcoming space for LGBT+ people, and Musical Theatre in particular has been a home both LGBT+ performers, audiences and stories. This year, in celebration of Pride, the cast of THE LION KING have teamed up with the London Gay Man's Chorus for this beautiful (and tear-jerking) rendition of "The Circle Of Life" and it's got us brimming with pride!

London has been taken over by DREAMGIRLS fever for a few months now and it's not looking like it's going away any time soon. With powerhouse performances from Olivier Award-winning Amber Riley and te incredible Marisha Wallace to keep coming back, are we really surprised? But we've found a version of the classing song "And I'm telling you I'm not going" which is a little different. 12-year-old Reuben de Maid from Wales, delivered a stunning performance of the song on American show Ellen, before opening up to Ellen DeGeneres about his love of singing and make-up. WATCH the full performance and inspiring interview in full...

We all remember the final day at school right? So many emotions rolled into one epic, long mix of tediousness, joy, sadness and relief. It's almost theatrical, right? Students, teachers (and sometimes parents) sitting in a stuffy room while people talk at them from a stage into a mic. Well, for one school in Bath, the long tradition of speeches and assemblys took a dramatic twist as their principal Chris Wheeler launched into a rousing rendition of the LES MISARABLES classic "One Day More". And that wasn't all...soon all the teachers were at it! Needless to say, they got a well deserved standing ovation...

The brilliant new one-man musical SUPERHERO has its opening night on 30 June at Southwark Playhouse and we can't wait to see it. In celebration of this wonderful show, we've got videos of the trailer and two awesome songs, including "Don't Look Down" (which won the Stiles and Drewe award) sung by the fabulous Michael Rouse. So pop on your Bat Man capes and fly on down to Southwark...