Dreamscape | The Toyah Willcox Fansite

A new interview with Toyah, by Liam Rudden for Must See Theatre, which is also a great “Toyah in Edinburgh” history feature!

Interview: Toyah Willcox returns to Edinburgh Playhouse! Now that’s what I call an Eighties’ icon…

“I’m not going to tell you,” laughs Toyah Willcox, her face beaming, “because it’s a big impact moment that works really, really well…”

It’s 25 years since I first interviewed the effervescent Eighties’ punk princess, and more than I care to remember since I first listened to her music. Tracks like Ieya, Danced and It’s A Mystery were a huge part of my youth, along with the songs of the Pet Shop Boys and hits of Meatloaf, all of which is fitting as today, via Zoom, we are talking Now That’s What I Call A Musical, the 80’s jukebox musical in which the Birmingham-born singer makes a special, one week only, guest appearance during its Edinburgh run.

No stranger to the Scottish capital’s stages, Now That’s What I Call A Musical brings Toyah back to The Playhouse, a venue she has appeared in concert many times; her Changeling Tour stopped off there in 1982 then she returned, revisiting her early hits in 2004’s Best of the 80’s Tour and again for 2017 with the 80’s Invasion Tour. And it wasn’t just her pop persona, however, that brought Toyah to 3,039 capacity theatre, in 2009 she appeared as the Queen of The Night there, in Steve Steinman’s Vampires Rock, a show she describes as “a lot of fun”.

• Continue reading at Must See Theatre. See also The Edinburgh Reporter. Buy Now That’s What I Call A Musical at Edinburgh Playhouse tickets here.

Toyah Willcox set for Edinburgh shows with Now That’s What I Call A Musical – ‘the songs connect in an instant’

The Spotify generation will never know just how big the ‘Now That’s What I Call Music’ brand was back in the 1980s.

Compilation albums were nothing new – K-Tel mastered the genre a decade earlier – but they became multi-platinum selling albums which took the best of the charts and delivered the perfect package of hits to millions of turntables and CD players.

Pretty much every single iconic single of the 80s can be found on the albums, so the only surprise it has taken this long to use that as the basis of a musical. Written by comedian Pippa Evans and choreographed by Strictly judge, Craig Revel Horwood, Now That’s I Call A Musical celebrates the decade of pop that still resonates to this day.

• Continue reading at Fife Today. Buy Now That’s What I Call A Musical at Edinburgh Playhouse tickets here.

Toyah guested on BBC Radio Scotland’s Afternoons show yesterday, presented by Michelle McManus.

Toyah Willcox on NOW That’s What I Call a Musical!
Toyah Willcox joins Michelle to talk about her role in NOW That’s What I Call a Musical! and her career in music, acting and TV presenting spanning 40 years.

• Listen to the show at BBC Sounds for the next four weeks.

From Oliver and the Artful Dodger to Mary Poppins, Roxie Hart, drag queen Lola and not forgetting punk princess Toyah Willcox, there’s a host of musical stars just waiting to entertain you in February.

It’s the Playhouse, however, that has the show I’m looking forward to most this month, Now That’s What I Call A Musical (25 February-1 March). I’m keen to see it not because I’m expecting the most earth-shattering jukebox musical ever, it’ll likely be a the usual feel-good evening of nostalgia, but because the Edinburgh shows are the only ones on the tour to feature my own teenage heroine, punk princess Toyah Willcox, as a special guest.

Celebrating 40 years of the iconic compilation albums and starring EastEnders’ star, Nina Wadia, and 2013 X Factor winner, Sam Bailey, the musical comedy tells the story of Gemma and April, two school friends busy with very important business… planning their lives based on Number One Magazine quizzes and dreaming of snogging Rick Astley.

• Continue reading at The Edinburgh Reporter. Further details on Toyah in the Edinburgh performances of Now That’s What I call A Musical at toyahwillcox.com.

Browse Toyah’s, officially confirmed, live schedule for 2025 – including gigs, festivals and more!

Toyah will join the cast of NOW That’s What I Call A Musical, as a special guest star at Edinburgh Playhouse, 25 Feb – 1 Mar 2025.

Written by award-winning comedian Pippa Evans and directed/choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood. Buy tickets by clicking below…