Geri Halliwell, Stooshe, Joe McElderry and Macy Gray hit the West End stage!
Updated on 9 October 2023
As part of this year's Children In Need fundraising, some famous faces are doing their bit by joining a London musical for one night only as part of the charity's POP Goes The Musical venture. Ex-Spice Girl, X-Factor guest judge and all-round loveable loon Geri Halliwell will be joining the cast of Singin' In The Rain onstage this coming Thursday, 25th October at some point during the show. Then next month, hip girlgroup Stooshe, X Factor winner Joe McElderry and I Try singer Macy Gray will join the cast of Thriller Live! on Thursday 15th November.
It is not confirmed yet as to exactly what the stars will be doing, but it is safe to assume that the Thriller stars will each be performing one of Michael Jackson's signature hits, while Halliwell will no doubt be performing at least one track from Singin' In The Rain's dazzling score. This follows a long tradition of fundraising for Children In Need by West End shows as numerous gala performances have been performed over the years with takings going to the charity, as well as tv performances on the night of the telethon by West End casts.
Geri Halliwell is well known as one fifth of the world's most successful ever girlgroup, The Spice Girls. As well as featuring on 8 UK number one singles by the group, she has also chalked up 4 consecutive number ones as a soloist with Mi Chico Latino, Life Me Up, Bag It Up and It's Raining Men. She is preparing to relaunch her career and performed new track Phenomenal Woman from upcoming fourth album Putting On The Glitz at the Breast Cancer Care Show earlier this month. The long-awaited Spice Girls musical Viva Foreveris due to open at the Piccadilly Theatre at the end of November.
Stooshe, the new darlings of the UK pop scene, have secured Top 5 chart success with their two singles Love Me and Black Heart and their next release is a double a-side of their cover of TLC's Waterfalls, which has been a popular staple of their live shows, and new track See Me Like This. Their self-titled debut album will be released on the 26th November.
Joe McElderry won The X Factor in 2009, mentored by fellow Geordie, Cheryl Cole, and has gone on to chart four albums in the UK top 15. He is also the first X Factor winner to have released four albums. His winning appearance on the second series of Popstar to Operastar saw him expand his vocal range and led to his second album Classic, which has a distinctly more classical feel. His most recent album Here's What I Believe peaked at number 8 this September.
Macy Gray's signature raspy vocals captured the nation's hearts when her single I Try seemengly refused to leave the UK top 40 over winter 1999. It was taken from her multi-platinum debut album On How Life Is which also featured Do Something and Why Did You Call Me. As well as numerous film and tv credits, the American rnb/soul singer has released six studio albums, the most recent of which was this year's Covered, which featured her take on classic hits such as The Eurythmics' Here Comes The Rain Again, Radiohead's Creep and Metallica's Nothing Else Matters.
This year's Children In Need will be broadcast on BBC1 on Friday 16th November, the day after the special Thriller Live! show. Last year's televised event raised over £26million on the night for disadvantaged children and young people in the UK. The 2011 telecast featured performances from the West End casts of The Wizard Of Oz, Crazy For You and Rock Of Ages.
Book tickets for Singin' In The Rain at the Palace Theatre, here, and Thriller Live! at the Lyric Theatre, here.
