Theatre News

Old Vic stages first ever 24 Hour Musicals Celebrity Gala, 9 Dec

The Old Vic’s annual 24 Hour Celebrity Gala will have a musical theme this year to coincide with the venue’s staging of Kiss Me Kate.

For the first time ever the event will be titled The 24 Hour Musicals Celebrity Gala and see established actors, singers, writers, composers and directors come
together to create a series of four musicals in the space of just 24
hours.

The event, now in its ninth year, raises funds for The Old Vic Theatre Trust. This year’s gala, which will be hosted by a yet-to-be-announced “leading actor/comedian”, takes place at The Old Vic on Sunday 9 December, followed as always by post-show party The 25th Hour.

Over the past eight years, The 24 Hour Plays Celebrity Gala has involved participants and hosts include: Jim Broadbent, Kelly Brook, John Cleese, Lily Cole, Benedict Cumberbatch, Joseph Fiennes, Stephen Fry, Tom Hardy, James Nesbitt, Sophie Okonedo, Tamsin Outhwaite, Rosumund Pike, Rufus Sewell, Michael Sheen, Brooke Shields, Catherine Tate, Vince Vaughn and Old Vic artistic director Kevin Spacey.

Tickets for The 24 Hour Musicals Celebrity Gala are on general release from today (3 September 2012) through The Old Vic Box Office on 0844 871 7628 or at www.oldvictheatre.com

Trevor Nunn’s revival of Cole Porter’s classic musical Kiss Me, Kate opens on 3 December (previews from 20 November). The production, which premiered at Chichester Festival
Theatre in June, stars Adam Garcia, Clive Rowe, Hannah
Waddingham
, David Burt and Alex Bourne, and will run at the Old Vic
until 2 March 2013.