Idina Menzel, Alfie Boe, and More Set For Royal Variety Performance 2026

The Royal Variety Performance in support of the Royal Variety Charity, will return to the Royal Albert Hall in London, in the presence of Their Majesties, King Charles III and Queen Camilla, on Friday, 20th November 2026.

Comedian, actor and presenter Jason Manford is hosting for his third time, making this his sixth appearance on The Royal Variety Performance in line with legends such as Tommy Cooper and Ken Dodd.

The King, who is the sole Patron of the Royal Variety Charity, will be watching alongside Queen Camilla, who will be attending the performance for the first time as The Queen.

The lineup will include a TV world exclusive and sneak preview performance of ‘The Greatest Show’ from the highly anticipated West End musical, The Greatest Showman.

Multi-award winning Idina Menzel, the original Elphaba, will fly in from the States to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Wicked with her rendition of ‘The Wizard & I’ as she is joined on stage by the musical's acclaimed composer Stephen Schwartz.

The Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir will be taking to the stage to perform a special song following their amazing Britain’s Got Talent performance which saw them become the first choir ever to win the show.

Brit Award winner and Celebrity Traitors star James Blunt, and Vanessa Williams will perform her massive hit ‘Save The Best For Last’. Plus, Jack Savoretti, who will make his Royal Variety debut, rising star in British music Mulaa Joans and maestro Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, who will make an exclusive appearance to celebrate 30 years since he first became an international superstar.

Ahead of its return to the West End, and marking 21 years since the stage musical first opened, the cast of Billy Elliot the Musical will perform ‘Electricity’.

Surprise star cameos will also appear in a specially re-written version of ‘For Now’ and ‘It Sucks To Be Me’, from the outrageously funny musical Avenue Q and there’ll be a supersized medley straight from the current hit revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s classic Jesus Christ Superstar, led by Sam Ryder.

The Ramadhani Brothers and head balancer Veronika Ivanova, from the breathtaking acrobatic circus show Cirque Alice, will make their European debuts.

The evening will also feature comedy from surreal comedian and star of Mock The Week Milton Jones, as well as more laughs from comedian Phil Wang.

Plus the award-winning musical Operation Mincemeat will be bringing current and original cast members together as they are joined on stage by the Royal Naval Association Choir, members of The Band of His Majesty’s Royal Marines, The Band of the Irish Guards and the Band of the Welsh Guards Fanfare Team.

Tenor Alfie Boe will lead the National Anthem.

Jason Manford said: “What a huge privilege to be asked to host The Royal Variety Performance for a third time. It’s an amazing line up, in aid of a wonderful charity so I can’t wait for everybody to see what surprises we have up our sleeves this year."

The RVP will be produced by Lifted Entertainment, part of ITV Studios.

The Royal Variety Performance has been commissioned by Katie Rawcliffe, Director of Entertainment, Reality & Daytime Commissioning ITV and David Smyth, Entertainment Commissioning Editor ITV. Executive Producer for Lifted Entertainment, part of ITV Studios, is Fiona Clark and Line Producer for Lifted Entertainment is Catherine Saint. Executive Producers for the Royal Variety Charity are Giles Cooper OBE and Phil Dale.