Steps, Melanie C and Gary Barlow are among the stars taking the stage at the at The Royal Variety Performance 2020.
Following the release of their sixth album What The Future Holds on November 27th, Steps will hit the stage for their second performance of their most recent era, amid the pandemic.
They join the line-up alongside Melanie C – whose self-titled eighth LP gave the star her highest chart placement since 2003 in October – and Take That’s Barlow, who also drops his fourth solo album, Music Played By Humans, in November.
Funnyman Jason Manford will host this year’s Royal Variety event in Blackpool in front of a virtual audience – marking the fist time it’s taken place outside of London since 2011, and the first show in the seaside town since 2009.
Soul star Celeste also joins the billing, along with Captain Sir Thomas Moore, who captured the nation’s hearts with his fundraising efforts during the pandemic. He’ll appear from his home for a performance with Michael Ball and the NHS choir of their chart-topping anthem, You’ll Never Walk Alone.
The Royal Variety Performance will also herald the welcome return of musical theatre with a performance from Sheridan Smith as Cilla Black in Cilla The Musical along with a cut from Frozen the Musical, starring Samantha Barks.
Magician and TV presenter Stephen Mulhern, West End singing sensation Marisha Wallace and Kenyan acrobats The Black Blues Brothers also appear. They’ll be joined by musical comedian and Britain’s Got Talent 2020 winner Jon Courtenay, plus stand up comics Jo Caulfield and Daliso Chaponda.
The star-studded spectacular, which will see Prince Charles will step in for the Queen and will deliver a special message to the charity and the stars of the show, will be recorded on November 29th and is set to air on ITV in December, with a date and time to be confirmed.
