United Kingdom Anton Du Beke at the Musicals: Anton Du Beke, Lance Ellington (singer), Lucy Nolan and Lowri Beth Evans (singer/dancers), dancers and musicians. Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, 3.11.2025. (JPr)
While the surroundings in the Cliffs Pavilion will not make you think – in any way – that you are on Broadway or in Las Vegas, watching Anton Du Beke at the Musicals with its star, talented dancers and big band took me back several decades to the short cabaret-style residencies there used to be at the world-famous London Palladium. Most memorable, among many I saw, were those with Shirley MacLaine, Sammy Davis Jr, Liberace … and Sir Bruce Forsyth. There were often glitzy, colourful costumes and talented backing singers, dancers and musicians supporting the headline entertainer.
I can only repeat some of what I wrote after last year’s Showman – An Evening with Anton Du Beke, how At the Musicals is simply an old-fashioned – and no bad thing – variety show of the sort I used to see at the Palladium. Recalling the one with the legendary Sir Bruce, it is clear with every time I now see Anton ‘live’ how much he learnt from watching him right from that first Strictly Come Dancing series Anton danced in 21 years ago. At the Musicals again confirmed what a triple threat Anton is in his own right by singing some of his favourite songs, performing his signature dances, and making us genuinely laugh out loud with his quick-witted repartee whether with those around him on the stage or sitting in the front row of the audience. Most of this is family-friendly though it can occasionally be mildly risqué, but I defy anyone – if it is part of the show every night – not to do yourself a mischief laughing at Anton’s ‘nut allergy’ remark when larking around with his partner-in-crime the velvet-voiced Lance Ellington.
Whilst apparently not touring in his own show next year Anton can still be in the running for the title of the UK’s hardest working entertainer because – similar to 2024 – after the last At the Musicals show on 18 November, two days later he begins his Christmas with Anton Du Beke & Friends short tour which ends on 23 December (details here). All during this time he continues working at his Saturday job as a judge on Strictly and there will be the Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour during January and February 2026.
Anton hates the Cliffs Pavilion rake and warns his victims in the front row to push him back up if he tumbles off the stage! Although Anton Du Beke at the Musicals lit up at the back of the stage suggests it is all about him, it isn’t. An important part of the success of At the Musicals is the tight band of seven under Anton’s regular musical director/pianist Clive Dunstall, six supremely gifted dancers, with two, Lucy Nolan and Lowri Beth Evans, proving to be accomplished singers too. And last, but in absolutely no way least – it is great to see and hear Lance Ellington again as an integral part of the show. As a singer Lance has always been the epitome of style and sophistication, in the same way Anton is as a dancer. That it is not all about Anton was clear from the fact that – yes of course, he enjoys being centre stage and basking in the audience’s adulation – but he was equally happy to sometimes take a backseat when others were in the spotlight and just dance as part of the ensemble. I admire him even more for that.
At the Musicals has so many highlights that I can only mention a few because ‘Didn’t they do well?’ (!) from an opening ‘That’s Entertainment’ (The Band Wagon) to ‘There’s No Business Like Show Business’ (Annie Get Your Gun) with the audience in the Cliffs Pavilion on their feet. Anton sings ‘On the Street Where You Live’ (My Fair Lady) waltzing with three female dancers looking ‘Loverly’ in salmon pink. Lance leads a high-energy group number to ‘With a Little Bit of Luck’ from the classic Lerner and Loewe show and we are already being royally entertained. Lance and Anton’s bromance is shown at its best with Cole Porter’s ‘Friendship’ (DuBarry Was a Lady) and some spoof lyrics to The Sound of Music’s ‘Sixteen Going on Seventeen’ …now 60 and 70 with a mention of a care home!
All concerned tap dance to ‘Anything Goes’ and Lowri and Lucy look stunning in their black/silver showgirl’s costumes and bring back memories of Marylyn Monroe and Jane Russell with ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’ (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes). Anton’s best ‘solo’ dances are a Rumba with Lowri to Lance’s ‘Come What May’ followed by part-Argentine Tango, part-Paso Doble to ‘Roxanne’ (both Moulin Rouge). Familiar to all these Strictly-related shows is the Bob Fosse tribute and we saw and heard Cabaret’s ‘Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome!’ sung by Anton; Lucy channelling Liza Minnelli with ‘Mein Herr’; and Chicago’s ‘Razzle, Dazzle’ which, well, was .. an ostrich-feathered razzle-dazzle.
One of the running jokes throughout the show was Anton asking members of the audience what their favourite songs from the musicals are; with his response often being ‘We haven’t got that either!’ So, Anton and Lance have a wonderfully chaotic interlude where they make up for this by improvising some of these with Anton looking up the lyrics on his phone. These included renditions (you really need to be there!) of, amongst others, ‘Oh What a Beautiful Morning’ (Oklahoma!), a hilarious ‘The Music of the Night’ (The Phantom of the Opera) and ‘I Know Him So Well’ (Chess), as well as ‘Do You Hear the People Sing?’ (Les Misérables) and ABBA’s ‘Dancing Queen’. As you might imagine this all involves much audience participation.
An evening you might not want to end must and it did with some jiving and swinging to songs from Hairspray; an even more exuberant ‘One Night Only’ (Dreamgirls); Anton and Lance duetting to ‘The Rhythm of Life’ (Sweet Charity) – a song I have heard both Sir Bruce and Sammy Davis Jr sing – and everyone proving at the very last, ‘There’s No Business Like Show Business’.
Jim Pritchard
Featured Image: Anton Du Beke at the Musicals (Anton Du Beke, dancers and musicians)
Dancers – Kelly Chow (Dance Captain), Luke Field-Wright, Billy Lawrence, Ellie O’Gorman
Musicians – Clive Dunstall (MD and piano), Rob Buckland (Saxophone/Flute), Sam Burgess (bass), Andy Greenwood (trumpet), Pat Hartley (trombone), Chris Higginbottom (drums), Tim Rose (guitar)
Creatives:
Producers – Paul and Elizabeth Irving
Director/Choreographer – Anton Du Beke
Choreographer – Bill Deamer
Sound design – Pete Austin
Costume supervisor – Rachel Donoghue