A one-night gala, celebrating the work of Jim Steinman at the London Coliseum – a glorious evening of music that proved music alone is not enough.

Total Eclipse is a new orchestral concert that brought Steinman’s greatest hits to the Coliseum stage in a full symphonic-rock hybrid fashion.

The award-winning Orchestra of the English National Opera shared the iconic stage with a live rock band for one night only, in a production from Tony Award nominee Tyce Green, who recorded with Steinman and remains closely associated with his work.

The line-up of guest vocalists was a strong one:

Glenn Adamson (Bat Out Of Hell The Musical, UK & International Tours; We Will Rock You, London Coliseum)
Danielle Steers (Bat Out Of Hell The Musical, Original Cast; Six, West End)
Christina Bianco (The Ballad of Johnny & June, UK & Ireland tour; The Wizard Of Oz, London Palladium)
Zoe Birkett (TINA – The Tina Turner Musical, West End; The Witches, National Theatre)
Tyce Green (Jesus Christ Superstar, North American Tour; vocalist who has worked with Jim Steinman, Heart, Air Supply)
Karine Hannah (Billboard Top 10 vocalist who has worked with Jim Steinman & Celine Dion)
Natalie May Paris (Six, Original Cast – West End, US Tour, Hampton Court; Pretty Woman, UK & Ireland tour)
RED (vocalist who has worked alongside Diana Ross, Ed Sheeran, Alicia Keys and more).

The setlist drew on Steinman’s most celebrated work, including Bat Out of Hell, Total Eclipse of the Heart, Holding Out for a Hero, I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That) and It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.

Orchestral power met amplified rock, and the guest vocalists were drawn directly from Steinman’s stage world, several of them with close links to Bat Out of Hell.

Hearing this music played by the ENO Orchestra was a dream I never knew I needed to dream and the performers brought it to life beautifully. But how would the audience have known any of those connections?

This was very much a concert rather than a tribute to the man himself, who passed away five years ago. There were no stories, no anecdotes, no introductions explaining who the performers were or why they were on that stage.

Glenn Adamson and Danielle Steers, both alumni of Bat Out of Hell The Musical, could easily have shared memories of their time in the show. Tyce Green and Karine Hannah both had longstanding personal connections to Steinman and his work, none of which was mentioned.

One of the evening’s standout moments came when Christina Bianco and Tyce Green delivered an incredible version of It’s All Coming Back to Me Now, the song made famous by Celine Dion. I have heard the two sing it together before at Christina’s Divas show (returning to London on 17 July at Wilton’s Music Hall), and their voices blend perfectly on it.

Even so, it felt like a missed opportunity not to hear Bianco sing the song she is most famous for. Her impressions video of Total Eclipse of the Heart, now sitting at nearly nine million views on YouTube, catapulted her to internet stardom over a decade ago, landed her on TV shows around the world and even led to her performing the song in front of Bonnie Tyler herself. Yet on a night literally titled Total Eclipse, none of this was acknowledged.

Aside from It’s All Coming Back to Me Now, other standout songs of the night were Safe Sex, Ravishing and Catwoman’s Song from Batman: The Musical (which I didn’t even know existed). Every performance was a sensation.

I could listen to Danielle Steers sing all day long and she hit notes I didn’t even know were possible. Zoe Birkett was incredible. Fresh off the heels of starring in the Tina Turner Musical, she gave us some iconic dance moves that Tina herself would be jealous of, while Natalie May Paris got her rock-chick on.

Total Eclipse: A Symphonic Celebration of Jim Steinman at the London Coliseum was a glorious evening of music, but it proved that music alone is not enough. A few words about Steinman, about the artists and about why those particular voices had been chosen to honour him would have turned a very fine concert into a proper celebration.

★★★

West End Wilma

Total Eclipse: A Symphonic Celebration of Jim Steinman, London Coliseum, Sunday 3 May 2026