Nina Wadia, Sinitta, Sonia, and More Will Lead NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL A MUSICAL UK Tour

Nina Wadia will star as Gemma in the world premiere of NOW That’s What I Call A Musical, a brand-new British musical written by award-winning comedian Pippa Evans and directed and choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood. NOW That’s What I Call A Musical will begin performances on 6 September 2024 at Aylesbury’s Waterside Theatre before commencing a major UK and Ireland tour.

Joining Nina in 2024 at certain performances will be an array of special guest stars playing themselves and singing the songs that made them NOW icons. Sinitta will perform in Aylesbury, Sheffield, Canterbury, Nottingham and Norwich with Sonia in Newcastle, Cardiff, Milton Keynes and Brighton, Carol Deckerin Truro, Belfast and Woking, and Jay Osmond in Bradford and Dartford.

 Further guest stars and musical cast members are to be announced.

Nina said “I grew up listening to the NOW tapes so for me being a part of this musical is like going home. When I read the script I immediately fell in love with the characters and Pippa’s story. I can’t wait to get started on my first ever musical and to see you all there later this year.”

Sinitta said “The most exciting thing about being involved in this project is the music. Dust off your spandex, crimp your hair and I’ll see you there.”

Sonia said “We are going to take people back on a nostalgic road of all their favourite songs. Everybody has memories of where they were when that song was out and what they were doing.

Carol added “Being part of the musical is a real compliment. T’Pau are on several of the [NOW] albums, it’s part of my life, part of my career.”

Jay said “I am so excited to be back in the UK and performing live on stage in NOW That’s What I Call A Musical.’ My brothers and I were featured in many NOW albums over the years and it’s an honour to be asked to be a part of this brand-new show.”

Nina Wadia OBE is an award winning actress renowned for her timeless sketch show Goodness Gracious Me, as well as her role as Zainab Masood in BBC One's Eastenders for which she won ‘Best Comedy Performance’ and ‘Best Onscreen Partnership’ at the British Soap Awards. Nina’s film credits include: Disney’s Aladdin, A Streetcat Named Bob, and its sequel A Gift From Bob. She can also currently be seen in the movies, Repeat, The Stranger in our Bed and I. Her television credits include: Count Abdulla (ITVX) The Sandman (Netflix), The Hitmen (Amazon Prime), The Outlaws (BBC/Amazon Prime) and Still Open All Hours (BBC). Nina’s theatre credits include Bleak Expectations (Criterion Theatre), the Tony Award Winning The Vagina Monologues, Macbeth with Sir Mark Rylance and Matchbox Theatre (Hampstead Theatre).

SINITTA is an '80s pop legend, presenter, and a regular fixture on British television. As a mother of two, she began her career as a model and professional dancer, collaborating with top choreographers such as Arlene Phillips, Gillian Gregory, Gillian Lynne, and the formidable Charles Augins. Sinitta rose to fame as a successful recording artist with hits like So Macho, Toy Boy, G.T.O., Right Back Where We Started From, and Cross My Broken Heart. Her debut pop hit So Macho stayed at No. 2 in the UK charts for nine months, securing her a place in the Guinness Book of Records for the biggest-selling single of the year, despite missing the No. 1 position! Throughout her career, Sinitta has released five albums and achieved 14 Top Ten singles worldwide, including No. 1s in the USA, Japan, and all over Europe and the United Arab Emirates. She has garnered over 12 music awards across the globe, from Japan to Australia and the UK, notably being recognised as Best Club Act on the LGBTQIA+ scene and the Japanese Grammy. Sinitta has starred on the West End in The Wiz, Masquerade, Cats, Little Shop of Horrors, Mutiny, Smokey Joe's Café and Hair and starred as Mamma Morton in the UK Tour of Chicago. Her film and television credits include: Shock Treatment, Foreign Bodies, The Friends, The Wall Game, Would I Lie To You, The X-Factor and I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!

SONIA was just seventeen when she became a pop star. She was spotted by record producer Pete Waterman whilst playing the Liverpool club circuit. Sonia’s catchy debut single You’ll Never Stop Me Loving You shot to number one in the UK and sold a staggering 350,000 copies. The debut album which followed, Everybody Knows, sold a million copies and included a string of top singles such as Can’t Forget You, Listen to Your Heart, Counting Every Minute and End of the World. Sonia became the first female UK artist to achieve five top 20 hit singles from one album. In 1993 Sonia was invited by the BBC to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest where she finished second. Sonia returned to the Eurovision stage in Liverpool in 2023 and performed as a special interval act. Her theatre credits include: A Slice of Saturday Night (Strand Theatre, West End), Grease (Dominion Theatre, West End), What A Feeling (UK and European tour), The Lily Savage Show (Blackpool), The Lily Savage Show (UK tour) and Good Golly Miss Molly (Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool). She also has 20 pantomime credits over the years. Her TV credits include Celebrities Under Pressure, Greasemania, The Lurics Board, The Lily Savage Show and Hollyoaks. In 2023 Sonia was proud to be made a Companion of LIPA (Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts) By Sir Paul McCartney.

CAROL DECKER burst onto the music scene as the lead singer of the band T’pau in 1987 with the hit Heart & Soul which reached No. 4 in both the UK & US charts. T’pau’s next single China In Your Hand stayed at No. 1 for five weeks - the longest serving No. 1 of the year. Simultaneously, their debut album Bridge of Spies occupied the No. 1 album slot for two weeks and went on to become a certified quadruple platinum in the UK - selling 1.2 million copies. In 2017 T’pau proudly promoted The 30th Anniversary Virgin Anthology Boxset. The band are now a regular fixture on the Festival & Arena circuit, annually rocking IOW, Rewind, Let’s Rock, W-Fest, Here and Now, StepBack, Ibiza & Children of the 80’s. Carol starred in the hit stage comedy Mum’s The Word at The Albery Theatre alongside Patsy Palmer, Imogen Stubbs, Jennie Eclair & Cathy Tyson. Her TV credits include Doctors, Star with Nicholas Hoult, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Celebrity Mastermind and Celebrity MasterChef. Her film credits include Nine Dead Gay Guys and Running Time.

JAY OSMOND was the instigator on many of the projects that kept the Osmond family together and moving forward during all the years of success.  Jay is the youngest of the original Osmond Brothers group, with a career in entertainment that started at the age of two and a half.  Jay was eight years old when he learned to play the drums, and went on to be voted one of the top 5 drummers in the country during the 1970s.  Jay, along with the brothers, collaborated on many of the hit records.  In 1972, Jay sang lead on Crazy Horses, which skyrocketed to be the Osmonds’ best-selling international single.  Jay choreographed the shows for the Brothers, as well as Donny & Marie’s.  His style was influenced by his karate skills learned from his personal instructor, Chuck Norris.  Jay has also worked behind the scenes as a producer.  His production credits include the 1970s television programmes, The Donny & Marie Show and The Osmond Family Hour, the 1980s variety show Marie, the movie depicting the life of the Osmond family Side by Side, and the family’s 50th Anniversary PBS special and DVD projects.  Jay released a solo CD, It’s About Time Again, in 2009, and his autobiography, Stages. In 2022, The Osmonds: A New Musical told Jay’s story of his and his family’s successes which wowed audiences around the UK. Most recently, Jay is starring in his own show in Branson Missouri.

Get ready to relive the playlist of your life by celebrating 40 years of the iconic and chart-topping compilations brand NOW That’s What I Call Music, which has sold an estimated 200 million copies worldwide. This fun-filled evening is bursting with hits from Whitney Houston, Wham! Blondie, Tears For Fears, Spandau Ballet and so many more.

It’s Birmingham, 1989. Two school friends, Gemma and April, are busy with very important business - planning their lives based on Number One Magazine quizzes and dreaming of snogging Rick Astley. Cut to Birmingham 2009 and it’s the most dreaded event of their lives– the school reunion. Drama, old flames and receding hairlines come together as friends reunite and everything from the past starts to slot into place. The biggest question is: what was with all that hairspray?

The creative team will include Set and Costume Design by Tom Rogers & Toots Butcher, Musical Supervision and Arrangements by Mark Crossland, Lighting Design by Ben Cracknell, Sound Design by Adam Fisher, Wigs & Hair Design by Sam Cox, Associate Direction by Guy Woolf, Associate Choreography by Aaron Renfree, Associate Sound Design by Ollie Durrant and Casting by Annelie Powell CDG.

NOW is produced by ROYO, Universal Music UK, SONY Music Entertainment and Mighty Village.

 Tour Dates 

6 – 7 September                               
Aylesbury Waterside Theatre                  

10 – 14 September                           
Sheffield Lyceum                                    
0114 249 6000                     

17 – 21 September                           
Canterbury Marlowe Theatre                  
01227 787787

24 – 28 September                           
Nottingham Theatre Royal                      
0115 989 5555

1 – 5 October                                    
Norwich Theatre Royal                           
01603 630 000

8 – 12 October                                  
Newcastle Theatre Royal                        
0191 232 7010

15 – 19 October                                
Bradford Alhambra Theatre                    
01274 432000

22 – 26 October                                
Dartford Orchard Theatre                        
01322 220000

29 October – 2 November                 
Cardiff New Theatre                                
0343 310 0041

5 – 9 November                                
Truro Hall For Cornwall                           
01872 262466

12 – 16 November                            
Milton Keynes Theatre 

19 – 23 November                            
Belfast Grand Opera House                   

25 – 30 November                            
Woking New Victoria Theatre

2 – 7 December                                
Theatre Royal Brighton

14 – 18 January                                
Southampton’s Mayflower Theatre         
02380 711811

21 – 25 January                                
Dublin Bord Gais Energy Theatre           
0818719 377 (ROI)                                                                                                                

28 January – 1 February                   
Manchester Opera House

4 – 8 February                                   
Hull New Theatre                                     
01482 300 306

11 – 15 February                               
Southend Cliffs Pavilion 

18 – 22 February                               
Glasgow Kings Theatre

25 February – 1 March                      
Edinburgh Playhouse

4 – 8 March                                       
Liverpool Empire Theatre 

11 – 15 March                                   
Birmingham Alexandra     

18 – 22 March                                   
York Grand Opera House

25 – 29 March                                   
Oxford New Theatre 

1 – 5 April                                          
Bristol Hippodrome

8 – 12 April                                        
London New Wimbledon Theatre

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