West End star Clare Burt is set to replace Haydn Gwynne in Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends at the West End’s Gielgud Theatre in London.
The show was delayed when Haydn Gwynne withdrew from the production last week, and now starts on 21 September 2023.
Producer Cameron Mackintosh said in a statement: “I am so thrilled that another wonderfully talented Old Friend, Clare Burt, who started out with me in the early years of both CATS and LES MISÉRABLES and is now a much-loved leading stage and screen actress, has literally stepped off a plane in order to step in for Haydn Gwynne who, sadly, had to suddenly withdraw last week. Our Old Friends cast is now complete and this sensational all-star ensemble is raring to strut their extraordinary stuff from Thursday 21st September at the Gielgud Theatre”.
Clare Burt’s theatre credits include Flowers for Mrs Harris at Chichester Festival Theatre & Sheffield Crucible, for which she won a 2016 UK Theatre Award; London Road, The Miracle, DNA and Babygirl, Coram Boy and Sunday in the Park with George at the National Theatre; A Streetcar Named Desire and Vernon God Little at the Young Vic; and Sondheim’s Into the Woods and Company at the Donmar Warehouse.
Haydn Gwynne’s credits include When Winston Went To War, The Great British Bake off Musical, and Channel 4’s The Windsors.
The cast of Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends is led by Broadway legends Bernadette Peters, West End and Broadway superstar Lea Salonga, plus Christine Allado, Clare Burt, Janie Dee, Damian Humbley, Bradley Jaden, Bonnie Langford, Gavin Lee, Jason Pennycooke, Joanna Riding, Jeremy Secomb, Jac Yarrow, Marley Fenton and Beatrice Penny-Touré.
The company also includes Harry Apps, Bella Brown, Richard Dempsey and Monique Young, completing a cast that is truly the best of the West End and Broadway.
Devised and Produced by Cameron Mackintosh, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends has Direction and Musical staging by Matthew Bourne, side by side with Julia McKenzie, with choreography by Stephen Mear, conducted by Alfonso Casado Trigo, musical supervision is 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.
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 show is booking to 6 January 2024 in London.
Book tickets to Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends at the Gielgud Theatre in London
Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends – Trailer
