Cadogan Hall Cancels Fisher’s Bernstein Concert
Cadogan Hall’s upcoming concert celebration Simply Bernstein – which was to be Connie Fisher’s first stage role after leaving The Sound of Music (where her contract finishes on 23 February) – has been cancelled.
The concert – in which Fisher was due to be joined by fellow West End stars Sally Dexter, Annette McLaughlin and Hal Fowler – was scheduled to run for five performances only from 4 to 6 April 2008 at the Sloane Square concert venue. However, producer Daniel Wood has pulled the show for personal reasons, a spokesperson told Whatsonstage.com.
Cadogan Hall is looking into the feasibility of producing its own concert with Connie Fisher (pictured) on alternative dates. Theatregoers who have already booked for Simply Bernstein will be offered refunds or exchanges.
Simply Bernstein was meant to follow the similarly musical-themed Simply Sondheim concert starring Daniel Evans and Maria Friedman, which was presented last August at Cadogan Hall, ordinarily a classical music venue (See News, 31 Jul 2007). Fiona Laird was signed up to direct Simply Bernstein, with the singers accompanied by the Southbank Sinfonia orchestra.
Fisher won her role as nun-turned-nanny Maria von Trapp in Jeremy Sams’ revival of The Sound of Music, which opened at the London Palladium in November 2006, after winning the BBC reality TV contest How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?. Amongst other accolades, she went on to win Best Newcomer prizes at both the Critics’ Circle and Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers’ Choice Awards last year.
A separate, subsequent Connie Fisher tour has also been called off. Its producers, Really Useful Group and Phil McIntyre, have cited a clash of commitments. Connie Fisher on Tour was due to open at Blackpool Opera House on 31 May 2008 and then play a series of one-night only stints in Edinburgh, Sheffield, Manchester, Bournemouth, Bristol, Nottingham, Oxford, Liverpool, Cardiff, Plymouth, Brighton and Birmingham, where the schedule would have ended on 25 June 2008. Again, producers are hoping to reschedule the concert tour on alternative dates.
– by Terri Paddock
