This is London Magazine February Edition 2026 - Flipbook - Page 26
MATT WILLIS JOINS THE CAST OF
CABARET
From the beginning of this month,
presenter and Brit Award winner Matt
Willis will play Emcee and West End star
Katie Hall will play Sally Bowles in the
West End production of Cabaret at the
Kit Kat Club.
Matt Willis is an actor, television
presenter and performer with a career
spanning television, theatre and music.
He rose to fame as a founding member
of the multi-platinum, chart-topping
pop-rock band Busted, before
establishing a career onstage playing the
role of Fiyero in Wicked at the Apollo
Victoria, Orin Scrivello in Little Shop of
Horrors at Regent’s Park Open Air
Theatre and Nick Hurley in Flashdance
at the Shaftesbury Theatre.
Katie Hall most recently starred as
Fantine in Les Misérables for the 40th
Anniversary at the Sondheim Theatre, as
well as its UK and Ireland tour and Les
Misérables: The Arena Concert
Spectacular world tour.
This unique production of Cabaret
opened in December 2021 to critical and
audience acclaim, widely praised as the
ultimate theatrical experience. In April
2022 it won a record-breaking seven
Olivier Awards. The production has also
won three prestigious Critics Circle
Awards as well as the Evening Standard
Theatre Award for Best Design for
designer Tom Scutt.
Transforming one of London’s most
famous theatres with an in-the-round
auditorium and reimagined spaces,
before the show guests are invited to
enjoy and explore the Kit Kat Club with
pre-show entertainment, drinks and
dining all on offer. When booking,
guests receive a 'club entry time' to
allow enough time to take in the world of
the Kit Kat Club before the show starts.
But of course, the show really starts
when you first enter the club...
One of the most successful musicals
of all time CABARET features the songs
Wilkommen, Don’t Tell Mama, Mein
Herr, Maybe This Time, Money and the
title number. It has music by John
Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, book by Joe
Masteroff. Based on the play by John
Van Druten and stories by Christopher
Isherwood.
Cabaret is currently booking until
Saturday 26 September. The production
has surpassed its 1,500th performance,
making it the longest running production
of Cabaret in West End history. Tickets
at kitkat.club
Matt Willis is not scheduled to
perform on Wednesday 18 March at
14.00 and 19.30, Thursday 26 March at
19.30, Friday 27 March at 19.30 and
Saturday 28 March at 14.00 and 19.30.
At these performances, the role of
Emcee will be played by Joe Atkinson.
HIGHLY ANTICIPATED
SHADOWLANDS OPENS
The highly anticipated West End
production of William Nicholson’s
beloved and deeply moving play
Shadowlands, directed by Rachel
Kavanaugh, opens at London’s Aldwych
Theatre with performances from Tuesday
5 February to Saturday 9 May.
Hugh Bonneville will play C.S. Lewis
– celebrated author of The Chronicles of
Narnia – whose orderly academic life is
upturned and transformed by the
unexpected love of American poet Joy
Davidman, played by Maggie Siff.
Photo: Manuel Harlan.
Matt Willis.
Photo: Jay Brooks
26
Hugh Bonneville in Shadowlands.
Based on a true story, Shadlowlands
is written by William Nicholson and was
adapted from his own original BAFTA
Award-winning TV Movie. It soon
became a West End hit winning the
Evening Standard Award for Best Play,
followed by a triumphant Tony Awardwinning Broadway transfer. In 1993 the
play was adapted into a major film
directed by Richard Attenborough and
starring Anthony Hopkins and Debra
Winger, which won the BAFTA Award for
Outstanding British Film.
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