Galas: Bean at Ambassadors, Barrowman Bares

As well as Wicked, Bean has also starred in Hairspray and in an Off-Broadway revival of Godspell. Most recently, she headlined the Las Vegas burlesque revue Peepshow, conceived and directed by Jerry Mitchell.

Also at the Ambassadors, West End stars Daniel Boys, Chloe Hart and Patina Miller will headline Homemade Fusion, a concert celebration of New York songwriting team Michael Kooman and Christopher Dimond, on 12 August 2010.

Composer Kooman and lyricist Dimond, who recently won a Jonathan Larson Grant for emerging composers, met while studying at Carnegie Mellon University. They have since collaborated on musicals including Junior Claus, Golden Gate and the song cycle Homemade Fusion.

Also performing will be Lucy May Barker (Spring Awakening), Andrew Kober (Hair), Jeremy Legat (Wicked), Hannah Shankman (Hair) and Matt Shingledecker (Spring Awakening on Broadway).

Long-running Broadway charity gala Broadway Bares is coming to the West End in September, hosted by John Barrowman.

West End Bares: Strip Britannia! will take place at London’s Cafe de Paris on 5 September 2010 (9.30pm and midnight) in aid of TheatreMAD and the Make a Difference Trust.

The Broadway Bares series, in which actors and dancers perform burlesque and strip tease to raise money for the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS initiative, was created by director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell in 1992.

Barrowman said: “I’m thrilled to be hosting West End Bares. What a way to make a difference – being a little naughty on stage for a wonderful cause.”