Review: Samantha Barks - Live At The London Palladium

Review by Daz Gale

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Musical theatre fans up and down the country found themselves screaming at a pufferfish earlier this year. We hadn’t lost our collective minds (this time) – we just recognised the iconic voice of Samantha Barks on The Masked Singer (even if I did think she was Perrie Edwards at first). When Samantha was deservedly crowned the winner of the series, she wasted no time in announcing a big headline concert at the London Palladium. Having reviewed her last headline show at Theatre Royal Drury Lane two years ago, there was no way I was missing this Queen – however, even I wasn’t prepared for the new level of brilliance she reached with this concert.

For anyone who has been living under the sea, Samantha Barks has become one of the biggest names in musical theatre. First appearing on screen in the TV series ‘I’d Do Anything’, the search for a new Nancy in Oliver. Her career went from strength to strength despite not winning the show, landing her the role of Eponine both on stage and in the film of Les Miserables, taking her to Broadway to originate the role of Vivian in Pretty Woman and taking on the Disney Queen Elsa in Frozen for three years in the West End. Samantha was also recently seen as a judge on the TV series Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream in a full circle moment, though her time as a pufferfish has earned her a whole new legion of fans.

Samantha’s time on The Masked Singer has given her a new collection of songs to play with, ensuring this concert was more than just musical theatre, with contemporary pop songs bookending the show. Numbers she performed on the show from Chappell Roan, Teddy Swims and Billie Eilish showed the versatility in her voice and that she really can sing anything. Her musical director Adam Hoskins commented during the show about how exciting it is working with her as her setlists are always so varied and this was reflected in the numbers she chose in this carefully curated setlist.

Of course, she wasn’t going to leave out the musical theatre fans. Frozen fans were not just treated to a spine-tinglingly beautiful ‘Dangerous To Dream’ from the show as well as a particularly rousing ‘Let It Go’ that showed Samantha at her very best, but also a medley of numbers from Frozen II leaving me longing or a stage adaptation of the sequel starring her. A special mention has to go to her wildly talented backing singers during ‘Into The Unknown’. Samantha also treated musical theatre lovers to numbers from Waitress, Cabaret and Funny Girl before sending the audience home with an uplifting ‘One Night Only’ from Dreamgirls, a song she performed on The Masked Singer and a fairly apt number to end on, as I wished a concert as spectacular as this would be on for more than one night only.

Samantha had a trio of special guests joining her at this concert, with Natalie May Paris and Mamma Mia! I Have A Dream winner Stevie Doc joining her for a fantastic ‘I Know It’s Today’ from Shrek with harmonies for days. The standout number of the whole evening came with the appearance of Samantha’s Les Mis co-star and best friend Lucie Jones. After a fun take on Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Please Please Please’, the pair gave the audience exactly what they wanted with a medley of their signature numbers from Les Miserables. To call this moment musical theatre heaven would be an understatement. This number was as perfect as any performance can get, setting the gold standard for any other concert to follow and an impossibly high bar to match. ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ and ‘On My Own’ are strikingly beautiful songs on their own – put them together and it’s magic but add to that the phenomenal voices of two of the greatest talents in the West End and you are left with a moment that left tears in my eyes and goosebumps all over.

There’s a rather unique quality to Samantha Barks on stage. Though she has an undeniable stage presence and ability to fill even the grandest of stages, a feat she proved by tackling the iconic Palladium stage in this dream performance, she also has the ability to connect with an audience on an individual level. You may be surrounded by 2000 other people but there is an intimacy to her performance that can feel one on one. I put this down to the warmth of Samantha’s personality, ironic given she has played the ice Queen herself. I experienced this myself when I sat down with her recently to record a podcast– her sunny demeanour and energy radiate out of her showcasing the beauty of her personality, and I experienced this again at the concert. Choosing the concert to reveal some family news, she connected with the audience on a personal level few manage. Launching into a blisteringly beautiful version of ABBA’s ‘Slipping Through My Fingers’, it added more sentiment to an already emotional number. Few performers could manage this as authentically and beautifully as Samantha managed, demonstrating there are many reasons why she has become one of the biggest stars in the West End in recent years.

If you go to a Samantha Barks concert, you already know you are going to be in for a vocal masterclass. Her stunning voice reveals hidden beauties to the variety of songs she tackles. What made this concert at the Palladium even more special was the care that was taken to deliver a setlist, reflective of her versatile career and appealing to her fans new and old. Stunning songs and incredible guests elevated the evening but it was Samantha’s energy herself that made this a night to remember. This was obviously a dream venue for Samantha to headline and her choice to share parts of herself the audience weren’t expecting made it impossible not to love her and this impeccable concert. While her 2023 concert was fantastic in its own right, she took things to another level with this Palladium concert, crafting one of the singular best concerts I have been to – a flawless testament to all of her many talents, this dream of a concert really was as perfect as it gets.

Setlist:

Good Luck, Babe (Chappell Roan cover)

Lose Control (Teddy Swims cover)

Dangerous To Dream (from Frozen)

Slipping Through My Fingers (ABBA cover)

Journey To The Past (from Anastasia) (Stevie Doc solo)

What Was I Made For? (Billie Eilish cover)

Please Please Please (Sabrina Carpenter cover) (with Lucie Jones)

I Dreamed A Dream/On My Own (from Les Miserables) (with Lucie Jones)

Let It Go (from Frozen)

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What Baking Can Do (from Waitress)

Maybe This Time (from Cabaret)

Love Me Anyway (P!nk cover) (with Natalie May Paris)

I Know It’s Today (from Shrek) (with Natalie May Paris and Stevie Doc)

I’m Not Afraid Of Anything (from Songs For A New World)

Into The Unknown/Show Yourself (from Frozen II)

…Baby One More Time (Britney Spears cover)

Don’t Rain On My Parade (from Funny Girl)

One Night Only (from Dreamgirls)

Samantha Barks: Live At The London Palladium took place on 5th April 2025.

You can listen to my podcast All That Chat with Samantha here

Photos by Danny Kaan