Mackintosh s Star-Studded Gala Set for June
Date: 16 April 1998
Andrew Lloyd Webber had his celebratory concert earlier this month and now its musical producer Cameron Mackintosh s turn. Hey Mr Producer!, a Royal Charity Gala Evening, will feature staged highlights from Mackintosh's career for a one-night only engagement at London's Lyceum Theatre on 8 June 1998. The event, specially put together in aid of the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) and the Combined Theatrical Charities, will be attended by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
The array of stars so far agreeing to appear reads like a theatrical who's who. They include Michael Ball, John Barrowman, Brian Blessed, Judi Dench, Maria Friedman, Ruthie Henshall, Tom Lehrer, Robert Lindsay, Julian Lloyd Webber, Julia McKenzie, Paul Nicholas, Elaine Paige, Bernadette Peters, Clarke Peters, Philip Quast, Joanna Riding, Ned Sherrin, Stephen Sondheim, and Sonia Swaby with a cast and orchestra of over 200 people.
Many of the stars will perform excerpts from many of Mackintosh's blockbuster musical productions - Lloyd Webber's Cats, Phantom of the Opera and Song & Dance; Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg's Les Miserables, Miss Saigon and Martin Guerre; Stephen Sondheim's Side by Side by Sondheim, Putting It Together and Follies; Louis Jordan's Five Guys Named Moe; and Dempsey and Rowe's The Fix. The evening's entertainment will also include selections from classic revivals - Cole Porter's Anything Goes; Rogers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! and Carousel; Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady; Ashman and Menken's Little Shop of Horrors; Sandy Wilson's The Boyfriend; Lionel Bart's Oliver! and Julian Slade's Salad Days, the play which inspired Mackintosh, at the age of eight, to become a theatrical producer.
Cameron Mackintosh has been producing musicals for over 30 years. This special Royal Gala is a result of the RNIB approaching him to stage an evening to raise funds for the charity in its 130th year. RNIB is the leading charity providing advice and support to people with serious sight problems throughout the UK. Proceeds from Hey Mr Producer! will help fund a centre of musical excellence at RNIB's Redhill College in Surrey which will offer music therapy and training to people of all ages with sight loss and other disabilities. The Combined Theatrical Charities represent the leading charities for the theatre, raising funds for needy and elderly members of the acting profession.
Booking opens Sunday, 19 April 1998.
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