The List

Chelmsford Theatre

What's On @ Chelmsford Theatre

Whitney: Queen of the Night

Whitney: Queen of the Night

9 Apr 2026 - 25 Mar 2027

Queen Of The Night – A Tribute to Whitney Houston returns for another show-stopping celebration, following sold-out tours across the UK. This breathtaking production honours the music, legacy, and unmatched talent of the legendary Whitney Houston. Celebrate Whitney’s remarkable musical repertoire in an electrifying production that honours her timeless songs with sensational vocalists and a full live band. Prepare to be captivated by an extraordinary journey through three decades of all-time hits such as I Wanna Dance With Somebody, One Moment In Time, I’m Every Woman, I Will Always Love You, My Love Is Your Love, So Emotional, Run To You, Saving All My Love, How Will I Know, Million Dollar Bill, The Greatest Love Of All, and many more. Join us for an unmissable evening filled with live music, captivating choreography, and powerful vocals, as we pay homage to the one and only queen of the night. Please note that this is a tribute production not associated with the Estate of Whitney Houston.
Matt Forde: Defying Calamity

Matt Forde: Defying Calamity

8 Apr 2026 - 16 Jul 2026

Host of hit political podcast The Political Party Matt Forde (Spitting Image, Have I Got News For You, The British Scandal, The Last Leg, The Royal Variety Performance) explores the dark comedy horror that is British politics, ahead of the next election. Plus silly voices.
Daniel O'Reilly: Let's Have It!

Daniel O'Reilly: Let's Have It!

2 Apr 2026 - 31 Oct 2026

Hold on to your seats and brace yourself for a night of outrageous laughs and no-holds-barred comedy, as the one and only Daniel O’Reilly returns to the stage with his brand new, in-your-face tour. Famous for his unapologetic humour, quick-fire crowd work, and electric stage presence, Daniel is back and funnier than ever – and he’s not holding back. Whether you've seen him go viral online or live on stage, you’ll know one thing for sure: no topic is off-limits, and nothing is safe!
Murder Trial Tonight

Murder Trial Tonight

2 Apr 2026 - 5 Jul 2026

Tigerslane Studios, renowned for its captivating true-crime productions, is thrilled to announce the launch of the new season of ‘Murder Trial Tonight – The Doorstep Case.’ A West-End production touring the UK & Ireland with glowing 5-star reviews. This unique theatrical experience brings true-crime stories to life. In the third season, a mother returns home in the early hours of the morning after a night out celebrating her birthday, only to find her daughter murdered on her doorstep. The boyfriend of the daughter has been charged with the murder. Is he guilty, or is the killer still at large? The story begins on screen, giving the audience the backdrop and opening to the true-crime story. Then, the action moves to the stage for a live murder trial, immersing the audience in a fast-paced courtroom experience. As members of the jury, the audience plays a crucial role in this thrilling murder mystery. Both the prosecution and defence present their cases, cross-examine witnesses, and at the end of the show, the audience deliberates and delivers their verdict: guilty or not guilty. The production then returns to the screen where it is revealed what really happened in the true case. Question is – did you deliver the correct verdict?
John Kearns: Tilting at Windmills

John Kearns: Tilting at Windmills

2 Apr 2026 - 6 Nov 2026

Tilting at Windmills is the brand-new stand-up show from Taskmaster alumni and double Edinburgh Comedy Award Winner, John Kearns. A fragmented, digressing portrayal of a 38-year-old man’s life, alluding to books he hasn't read, touching on the modern condition. Plus VAT! More allusive and bleak as ever, it is unreal the comedian you become. And for who? Decent craic with the right crowd. A show for those who have read about but not committed to the Guinness Nitrosurge.
Laura Smyth: Born Aggy

Laura Smyth: Born Aggy

24 Sept 2026 - 26 Nov 2026

What if all your dreams come true and you’ve still got the hump? Laura Smyth has had a meteoric rise in comedy! Her debut tour ‘Living My Best Life’ sold out up and down the country; she has supported Jack Whitehall, Michelle de Swarte, Alan Davies, and Jason Manford and appeared on multiple panel shows. She’s even beaten cancer; she’s done all the alternative healing shit you could shake a stick at – and she still thinks everyone’s a dkhead. It can’t just be her, can it?
Gary Delaney: Gary on Laughing

Gary Delaney: Gary on Laughing

1 Apr 2026 - 28 May 2027

Gary Delaney's last UK tour ran for two and a half years across 378 dates. People laughed a lot and kept coming back. His videos have hundreds of millions of views. So now he's doing it all again with a brand new show. All new jokes and utterly splendid filth.  Come along. It'll be fun. Don't bring the kids or people who like to get their knickers in a twist. Do wear a TENA pad or dark trousers. 
T'Pau & Carol Decker

T'Pau & Carol Decker

10 Apr 2026 - 9 Jul 2026

T’Pau became one of the most successful and biggest selling bands of the 1980s with huge hits like China In Your Hand, Heart and Soul and Valentine. Led by flame-haired singer Carol Decker, they rode the crest of a wave, also enjoying a quadruple platinum number one hit with their debut album, Bridge Of Spies. The album produced a string of worldwide hits, which saw Heart & Soul, staying on the U.S billboard chart for 6 months, peaking at No 4, & of course most notably China In Your Hand, which occupied the No1 slot in the UK for 5 weeks. Performing a rare full band show, Carol is looking forward to rocking out with her army of amazing musicians and fans.
Ruby Wax: Absolutely Famous

Ruby Wax: Absolutely Famous

1 Apr 2026 - 10 Sept 2026

Her provocative, abrasive, incomparable style was - just about - kept in check by lifelong friend and A-list producer, Clive Tulloh. Together live on stage they review clips from the extraordinary shows, tell scandalous stories never before heard - and take the audience along for the ride. Featuring Ruby Wax & Clive Tulloh.
Flo & Joan

Flo & Joan

19 Apr 2026 - 3 Dec 2026

Multi-award winning musical comedy duo (and sisters) Flo & Joan are climbing out of their pits, armed with a piano and percussion section to bring you a brand new show of their critically acclaimed songs and comedy. Their unique, sharp-tongued style has taken them around the world with multiple sell-out tours and appearances at the Just For Laughs Festival Montreal and Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Now they are back with their biggest ever UK national tour, poking around all the classic topics of the day: over-thinking, alien lovers and fringes. As seen on Live at the Apollo (BBC2), The Royal Variety Performance (ITV), The Russell Howard Hour (Sky), Jonathan Ross’ Comedy Club (ITV), online with over 50 million views of their viral songs, in your personal nightmares, and in ‘Alive on Stage’, their own special available worldwide on Amazon Prime.
Christopher Hall: Pizazz

Christopher Hall: Pizazz

5 Aug 2026 - 18 Nov 2026

Showman, Jester, Attention Chaser, come with Chris on the ultimate hometown holiday night out. From your 1.5 star hotel, he’ll give you a hilariously fun soirée and have you tucked up back in bed at a sensible time. Christopher Hall, once first on the dancefloor and last on the night bus is now in his early mid 30s (very different to the late early's) and reflecting on his younger life-of-the-party self. This theatrical showboy started out putting on shows in the front room for his parents then spent his early and late mid 20s have danceoffs in Soho’s gay bars and performing in musicals on cruise ships. Background Singers featuring collabs with Sugababes, Natasha Bedingfield, Sophie Ellis Bextor and Shania Twain shot him to fame on Instagram and TikTok. Now Chris is back IRL with his new, brilliantly hilarious stand up show, with a high possibility of an outbreak of dancing. This chorus boy takes centre stage for a fun, glamorous and unforgettable night, don't miss your chance to get your dose of ‘Pizazz’. Presented by Mick Perrin Worldwide. Suitable 18+
Simon Evans: Simon Evans is Staring at the Sun
BBC Radio 4 stalwart and veteran of a quarter century of highly acclaimed stand-up comedy Simon Evans has announced a huge UK tour of his new stand up show Staring at the Sun with over 50 dates from January - June 2026. Staring at the Sun sees Simon Evans (Live at the Apollo, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, Simon Evans Goes to Market, One Person Found This Helpful) squinting at an uncertain future, revisiting the blue remembered hills of his youth and trying to stay human as the world around him gets smarter. With the AI singularity looming and “reality” feeling increasingly unstable, Evans looks ahead to the coming shockwaves of technology, and back to the analogue pleasures of hitch-hiking, pub bets, and getting properly lost. Turning his famously dry, surgically precise style on the big modern questions: Are we living in a computer simulation? What happens when your body starts issuing software updates you didn’t request? And is staring straight at a solar eclipse, against expert advice, actually an act of courageous self-sacrifice on the road to true enlightenment? Part philosophical exploration, part nostalgic joyride, Staring at the Sun is a hilarious analysis of reality and trust from a man desperately trying to keep his balance while the floor keeps moving. The tone is unmistakably Evans: provocative, literate, and playfully combative, but also soaked in self-awareness. Evans draws on theories propounded by philosophers and mystics since the days of Plato and Ecclesiastes, casting himself as a public intellectual but constantly undercutting his points with brutally funny domestic truths. Simon Evans is one of the UK’s most respected and best loved comedians who has been at the top of his game for over twenty-five years. His TV credits include two appearances on BBC One’s Live at the Apollo, one on Michael McIntyre’s Roadshow, and a season of Channel 4’s Stand Up for the Week. On BBC Radio 4 his series Simon Evans Goes to Market, delighting audiences with his witty and insightful take on the comedically-unpromising territory of economics, has had six seasons. He is also a regular on Radio 4’s The News Quiz, and various other panel games, and from 1998 to 2002 wrote and hosted eight series of the news satire, The Way It Is. He also stars in One Person Found This Helpful – a Radio 4 show he co-devised with Jason Hazely and Pozzitive Productions, that has fun with on-line customer reviews and hosted Headliners – a regular preview of the following day’s newspapers with two other comedians on GB News. Evans is also in demand as a columnist and has written extensively for The Spectator, The Telegraph and Spiked.
Michelle Wolf: Best Job in the World

Michelle Wolf: Best Job in the World

11 Jun 2026 - 30 Jul 2026

Primetime Emmy Nominee Michelle Wolf has established herself as one of the most influential voices in the comedy landscape. Her stand-up specials across HBO and Netflix have garnered critical acclaim and top viewing figures. Wolf has headlined across the world, including her infamous appearance at the White House Correspondents Dinner. Her last sold-out Edinburgh Fringe run scored a prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination. Wolf is also known for her appearances on The Daily Show (Comedy Central) and The Break with Michelle Wolf (Netflix).
Paul Merton & Suki Webster's Improv Show
“Paul Merton and Suki Webster’s Improv Show” is a night of fast, and fabulously funny improvised games, scenes, stories, songs and laugh out loud surrealism. All deftly conjured up on the spot and based on suggestions by you: The Audience! These two masters of Comedy Improvisation are joined by two fabulous guests each week to create cascades of laughter and joyful silliness.
Aurie Styla: Maverick

Aurie Styla: Maverick

12 Sept 2026 - 23 Apr 2027

Aurie Styla is one of the most naturally charismatic and hilarious comedians around. Following his acclaimed 100+ date worldwide tour, he’s back on the road with his brand new show ‘MAVERICK’. ‘MAVERICK’ looks at life from the end of ‘The Aurator’ Tour onwards, and although everything seems nice and ‘cushty’, something is throwing off the scales of wins and fails. The show hilariously explores his bad work-life balance, family influence, relationships, health and more. Aurie has appeared on 'Richard Osman's House Of Games' (BBC), ‘Comedy Central Live’, ‘Jonathan Ross’ Comedy Club’ (ITV), ‘Don’t Hate The Playaz’ (ITV), multiple seasons of ‘The Stand-Up Sketch Show’ (ITV2), and many more shows. He’s the host of his very popular BBC Radio 4 show ‘Tech Talk’ which is returning for a second series. In 2025 he was selected as a New Face Of Comedy at the prestigious Just For Laughs Montreal festival, and in 2026 will debut at the Netflix Is A Joke Festival in Los Angeles. “Masterful Entertainment” - British Comedy Guide “Perfect & Polished! There is an effortlessness to his style that’s rare.” - ITalkTelly “Energy was on another level... polished, virtuoso performance!” - TimeoTalk “There’s a natural warmth to his presence that’s intoxicating and makes for one of the most moreish hours.” - Chortle “Combines laughs and vulnerability to winning effect” - The Times Run-time: 110 mins approx inc. interval. Age guidance: 14+ live stand-up. Photography Credit: Garry Carbon
Joe Wells: Daddy Autism

Joe Wells: Daddy Autism

4 Jun 2026 - 15 Nov 2026

Joe and his wife are having a baby. He's autistic so statistically it's quite likely the baby will be too. In this new show, critically acclaimed comedian Joe Wells explores fatherhood through the lense of neurodiversity. Plus, there's a really good joke about a parrot. As seen on: Rosie Jones Disability Comedy Extravaganza, BBC Two's Ouch Storytelling Live and Channel 4's Jokes Only a Neurodivergent Can Tell.

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