MusicalTalk - The UK's Independent Musical Theatre Podcast

It's time to join MusicalTalk at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026 for another episode featuring some of the best and most interesting musical theatre offerings to be found at the world's largest and greatest arts festival. This week, Thos sits down with Jake Brasch and Nadja Leonhard-Hooper, the creative force behind the hilarious Hole!, a musical so large in scope it is literally (and we mean literally) out of this world! Let the Great Sucking commence!

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026 is here! Hoorah! It's the biggest arts festival in the world and MusicalTalk is there - as always - to see what's on offer for the lover of musical theatre (that's you!) and to provide extensive in-depth coverage of the best shows. This week, we look at the revival of War of the Worlds (On a Budget), the multi-star winning hit musical giving a unique, hilarious and brilliantly song-filled take on HG Wells' famous story.  Cue the cute martians....!

Nick and Hannah head to the theatre for two of the biggest musical revivals currently touring the UK—but come away with very different reactions.
It's sunshine, optimism and red-headed charm as they celebrate the UK tour of Annie, asking why this classic musical continues to captivate audiences nearly fifty years after its Broadway debut. 
Then, things take a decidedly darker turn as they tackle the West End production of Beetlejuice. With a hit Broadway incarnation and a devoted fanbase setting sky-high expectations, why does this London production leave them feeling so underwhelmed? Is it the direction? The performances? The staging? Or does the transfer simply lose the anarchic magic that made the original such a phenomenon? Nick and Hannah discuss why a musical with so much potential can end up feeling surprisingly lifeless.

In this episode of MusicalTalk, it's time to join Thos as he stomps at the Savoy - and perhaps not just stomp!  So take a sophisticated interwar sensibility, some reworked and reminaged songs from European operetta, spiced with an uber-modern take on the world of relationships, and you have the heady, intoxicating mix that makes the hit cabaret show, Savoy! Everybody's Doing It! so delicious.  When it comes to love, relationships, and sex, it seems that everybody's doing it (and always has done). So, why not join them in this enticing episode?!

Edward Easton never imagined his next role would see him leading a musical. With no previous musical theatre experience, taking on One Man Musical was a genuine leap of faith - but one that quickly proved to be worth it. 
Nick and he chat about learning the music, finding confidence in a new genre, working with Flo & Joan and making an established role his own.
You can see Edward in the role of portraying the superstar Lord (and we don't mean Jesus Christ) at the Edinburgh Fringe!