The starry cast of Cameron Mackintosh’s new musical review Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends have gathered in London to start rehearsals.
Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends is a celebration of the legendary lyricist and composer Stephen Sondheim, and was originally staged as a one-off tribute concert in 2022.
This new show will run for a limited 16 weeks at the Gielgud Theatre, from 16 September 2023 to 6 January 2024.
Devised and produced by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, a fabulous cast includes Broadway stars Bernadette Peters (Sunday in the Park with George, Into The Woods) and Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon), alongside West End big-hitters Janie Dee (Follies), Joanna Riding (Follies), ), Jeremy Secomb (Sweeney Todd), Haydn Gwynne (The Windsors, The Great British Bake off Musical), Bonnie Langford (Anything Goes and Bradley Jaden (Wicked, Les Miserables).
The line up also includes some of our finest West End performers, including Damian Humbley (Merrily We Roll Along, The Great British Bake off Musical), Gavin Lee (Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast), Jason Pennycooke (Hamilton, La Cage Aux Folles), Christine Allado (Hamilton), Beatrice Penny-Touré (The Phantom of the Opera) and Jac Yarrow (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat).
The company will also include Harry Apps, Bella Brown and Monique Young.
Legendary composer Stephen Sondheim died in 2021 at the age of 91, having written some of the Twentieth Century’s most accomplished musicals, including Sweeney Todd, Follies, A Little Night Music, Company, Into the Woods, and Sunday in the Park with George.
The show will be directed by Matthew Bourne, side by side with Julia McKenzie, with choreography by Stephen Mear. Alfonso Casado Trigo will conduct with musical supervision by Stephen Brooker, musical arrangements by Stephen Metcalfe, set design by Matt Kinley, projection design by George Reeve, costume design by Jill Parker, lighting design by Warren Letton and sound design by Mick Potter.
Book tickets to Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends at the Gielgud Theatre in London
Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends – Trailer
