Theatre
Call To Stage | Killian Donnelly on the Oscars, Royal Variety, Kinky Boots & Les Miserables
Call To Stage is the podcast from Amber Davies, where musical theatre takes centre stage.
Amber Davies
Published 20 May 2026
Call To Stage with Amber Davies / W!ZARD Studios

This is Call To Stage, the podcast from Amber Davies, where musical theatre takes centre stage. From unforgettable backstage stories to exclusive news and insights, each week musical theatre and Dancing On Ice star Amber is joined by stars of the stage (and sometimes just fans of it!) to chat, laugh… and maybe even sing.

On this episode of Call To Stage, Amber is joined by the extraordinarily talented, endlessly wise and brilliantly warm Killian Donnelly.

Killian is one of the most decorated and versatile performers of his generation. A GRAMMY Award nominee and two-time Olivier Award nominee, his remarkable career began — with no formal training — as a swing in Les Misérables in the West End, a show he has returned to time and again, eventually playing Jean Valjean in the West End, World Arena Tour and the iconic 40th Anniversary Royal Variety Performance at the Royal Albert Hall.

His other landmark credits include Charlie Price in Kinky Boots in the West End and on Broadway, Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera, Hughie Calhoun in Memphis The Musical, Tony in Billy Elliot, and Deco in The Commitments under the direction of Jamie Lloyd.

On this episode of Call To Stage, Amber and Killian talk about the extraordinary moment he performed at the Academy Awards in LA, what it was like standing on the Royal Albert Hall stage surrounded by 400 amateur theatre performers for the Les Misérables 40th Anniversary Royal Variety Performance and how he went from no training to becoming one of the most sought-after leading men in British musical theatre.

There are also brilliant stories from Kinky Boots, Memphis, Billy Elliot and his time on Broadway, as well as a masterclass in acting — the power of the pause, honouring the most important thing in the room, and why banging a table always means you've lost the argument.

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