麻豆约拍

For anyone that loves musical theatre, there's no greater call to get than the one which asks if you'd go to New York for three days with Elaine Paige to cover The Tony Awards for Radio 2. It was the second year for us, along with assistant producer James Carpenter from the Breakfast Show, and this season had an air of inevitability about it as the 16-time nominated musical Hamilton was expected to sweep the board. The lone exception was that “Leading Actress in a Musical” was always tipped to belong to British star Cynthia Erivo for her astonishing Broadway debut in The Color Purple.

All of that came true, but please carry on reading anyway...

The Tonys are a big deal in the States. They celebrate the best of both straight plays and musicals, but unlike here in London, Broadway has a designated theatre season which revolves around The Tonys, and the telecast of the show, which this year was hosted by our very own James Corden, is watched by millions. My challenge, as I see it, is to make a very American event accessible to a British audience, and my key weapon in achieving that is Elaine Paige. Elaine is an icon on Broadway, she's revered and lauded there to the point where it can be hard to manoeuvre around in public - but the respect she garners means booking guests for our highlights show is a cakewalk as everyone wants to meet her. Indeed when she interviewed Rory O’Malley who plays George The Third in Hamilton he said it was a real honour to speak to theatre royalty – that from a king!

We stepped straight off the plane and into the Music Box Theater to see the musical Shuffle Along, which was nominated 10 times but came away empty-handed. In the interval, we were taken to see a tiny secret vault which housed a piano that Irving Berlin played during The Prohibition. Elaine loved that and she fitted nicely into the chamber...

Our first full day was a complete whirlwind, beginning with a visit to Cynthia Erivo's dressing room - she has a very serene way about her and she gave us a lovely interview in which she told us that Spielberg's been calling about the possibility of her doing a film with him. Then in quick succession came the two things both Elaine and I had been dreaming of - meeting the cast and creatives of Hamilton, and James Corden. Hamilton is an absolute phenomenon over there. The buzz around its creator and star Lin Manuel-Miranda has been likened to Beatlemania, and getting a piece of the show right now at the peak of its popularity was an experience I'll never forget. We both watched it in complete awe, somewhat huddled together because of the ferocious air conditioning, before interviewing its cast, and as an added bonus, we chatted backstage to basketball legend Magic Johnson (pictured above) who was also in to see it.  

James Corden was always intended as our star guest - and I wanted to find a way to reflect both his meteoric rise and his British roots, so I asked him and Elaine if they'd perform. I didn't expect two yeses but that's what I got, and the result was truly joyful. James said it was a dream achieved. They also had a little spat about the lyrics to “Memory” which James said he doesn’t understand. Elaine said that Barbra Streisand felt exactly the same, and since Barbra was at the Tonys for the first time in 46 years, Elaine was geographically close to having a chance to explain them to her in person, just as she did to James. James was charming, erudite, humble and down to earth, and we are both forever fans now.  

The following day Elaine interviewed the singer songwriter Sara Bareilles who's written the musical Waitress. It's set in a diner where they make pies, and when we saw the show in the evening we were thrilled to discover that pie-baking odours are piped into the foyer. Well, I was. Sara hadn't heard of Mary Berry though. Shocking.

We also went to a rehearsal room on 42nd Street where we met Andrew Lloyd Webber who was overseeing a rehearsal of his upcoming Broadway production of Cats. Elaine had a Grizabella to Grizabella chat with the show's new lead; Leona Lewis, then Elaine was thrown in front of the whole company to talk about her time prowling around on all fours in a fake fur coat. Andrew - or "my understudy" as we like to call him after he sat in for Elaine for one performance only on Radio 2 back in January - chatted about how impressive it is that Hamilton has reinvented the musical, and Elaine grilled him about Cats and School of Rock in a way that only someone who knows him well would dare.

Sunday was Awards day, and the landscape of the occasion and its celebratory feel was irrevocably altered by the tragedy in Orlando. But the show went on, and we were positioned a couple of blocks away from the Beacon Theatre ceremony in a school classroom which we'd commandeered to do our winners' interviews. There Elaine chatted to 92-year-old Lifetime Achievement Award recipient; lyricist Sheldon Harnick who has two revivals on Broadway this season - Fiddler on the Roof and She Loves Me. She also interviewed, amongst others, Hollywood legend Frank Langella who shared some great advice for actors. Plus Cynthia Erivo, Tony in hand, brought her Mum back for a selfie with Elaine.

For a lifelong musical theatre fan, this project is a true career highlight. Quite apart from going to the best city in the world, seeing three Broadway shows in three days and meeting the great and good of international theatre, Elaine is the most wonderful colleague, and every moment spent with her makes ordinary life seem uneventful.

I'll end as I began - what an opportunity. And it's not up for grabs!

Radio 2 is the Tony Awards' official broadcast partner, and - which is on Friday at 8pm and repeated Sunday at 1pm - is the only UK coverage.

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