Bernadette Peters and Elaine Paige Host West End Woofs (and Meows) 2026 at Covent Garden's Actors' Church
Broadway legend Bernadette Peters and Dame Elaine Paige returned to host the fourth annual West End Woofs (and Meows) on Saturday 15 August 2026 at St Paul's Church in Covent Garden, bringing shelter dogs and cats together with potential adopters and raising funds for rescue groups across the UK. The event ran from 10:15am with the main performance at 11:00am at the historic Actors' Church, built by Inigo Jones and the Parish Church of Covent Garden since 1633 (WhatsOnStage).
The guest list drew from across the British theatre scene and beyond. Special guests included Bella Brown, Janie Dee, Richard Dempsey, Peter Egan, Cole Escola, Sarah Hadland, Bonnie Langford, Jak Malone, Joanna Riding, Jeremy Secomb, and Jac Yarrow. Current cast members from six West End productions also took part: Hamilton, Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, Oliver!, Paddington, and The Devil Wears Prada (WhatsOnStage).
Eight rescue organisations were on site with animals looking for homes: Pro Dogs Direct, Saving Saints Rescue, German Shepherd Rescue South, Noah's Ark Dog Rescue, Home Run Hounds, All Dogs Matter, Peterborough Cat Rescue, and Fetcher Dog. The event pairs those shelters with theatre audiences who might not otherwise visit a rescue centre, and Peters and Paige — both long associated with animal welfare — presented the performance alongside the adoption drives.
West End Woofs began life as a virtual event during the 2020 lockdown, a digital gathering of performers and animal charities when stages were dark. The first live version followed in 2023. Its transatlantic counterpart, Broadway Barks, co-founded by Peters herself, has been running for over 25 years (WhatsOnStage).
The venue itself is a fitting setting. The Actors' Church, as St Paul's is known, hosts over 400 events a year — including an outdoor summer season and a programme of chamber and choral music — alongside regular Sunday and Wednesday services. Its involvement as organiser places the event within a venue that has served the theatre community for nearly four centuries.
For the animals, the stakes are concrete: a platform in front of hundreds of potential adopters in the heart of London's theatre district, and funds directed to shelters operating on tight margins. For the performers, it is a chance to use their stagecraft in a cause that sits outside the usual press-night calendar. And for anyone who wandered into Covent Garden on a Saturday morning, it was a reminder that the West End's reach extends well beyond the box office.
