Manford has stated that before becoming a comedian he had believed he would follow a career in music: "I've been singing since I was a boy, I always thought I’d probably be a singer rather than a stand-up, but that’s just the way it happened".

[2] He made his West End debut as Italian barber Adolfo Pirelli in the musical Sweeney Todd in 2012.

[3] His decision to record an album of show tunes came after a version of him performing "Stars" from the musical Les Miserables alongside actor and singer Alfie Boe was uploaded to YouTube, where it proved to be popular, and after fans left messages on Manford's Facebook page urging him to record an album.

[4] As part of the album's launch, Manford attended a signing event at HMV in Manchester's Arndale Centre.

[7] Upon the release of A Different Stage, Manford announced plans for a music tour in 2018, consisting of "a handful of gigs of me with an orchestra going through songs on the album".