Stage shows, musicals and more to watch on television this Easter

It’s time to dig out the Easter eggs and curl up on the sofa!

Kickstarting this year’s Bank Holidays, the extra time allows the chance to catch up and indulge in some extra theatricality. Fancy seeing a show in person? Why not check out our top picks for the month and see if you can make use of any of our money-saving tips…

Been busy this month? We get it. There’s no better time to catch up on this year’s Olivier Awards hosted by Beverley Knight and Billy Porter. That’s not all, we were backstage chatting to the winners and have compiled the interviews into a handy podcast for you.

If you fancy more musicals, have a big night in with Jason Manford and the casts of hit shows and stream the National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals to see performances from Bat Out of Hell, Calamity Jane, Dear Evan Hansen, Disney’s Hercules, Here and Now, and many more!

There’s plenty of fun to be had over at the BBC and on Sky Arts. Just this week, you can see the film versions of Easter Parade and Fiddler on the Roof, plus Kenneth Branagh in Henry V, and the Royal Albert Hall staging of The Phantom of the Opera at 8 pm, starring Ramin Karimloo, Sierra Boggess, and Hadley Fraser.

It’s worth flicking through the catch-up service for anything you may have missed live. May we suggest Adrian Lester in Company, the award-winning Anything Goes revival at the Barbican, and of course, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends – which just opened on Broadway – as just some of our picks, with plenty more to choose from.

If you’re after more live theatre, we always recommend National Theatre at Home. This Easter, there’s something for the whole family, with the newly added Life of Pi and The Wind in the Willows.

You can’t beat a musical movie, and we’ve compiled a list of the best of all time. Many are available to stream at home – like tick, tick… BOOM! directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda on Netflix, or The Greatest Showman, which is coming to the stage next year, on Disney+. Why not re-visit an old favourite or watch one that you haven’t gotten around to viewing? Oliver! will be on television on the afternoon of Sunday, 20 April, on Channel 4, with choc-tastic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory on at the same time on ITV1.

Wicked sing-along events are taking place up and down the country, but we know that most of you don’t need the lyrics on screen! Rent or buy the mega-movie, starring Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba), Ariana Grande (Glinda), and Jonathan Bailey (Fiyero), for a wickedly fun time, either solo or with your backing singers.