Picture: Matt Crockett
Award-winning actress Clare Burt will join the cast of the highly anticipated West End return of Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends following the departure of Hadyn Gwynne who was forced to withdraw due to ‘sudden personal circumstances’.
The winner of the 2016 UK Theatre Award for her performance in the title role in Sheffield Theatres’ original production of Flowers For Mrs Harris, Burt’s extensive stage credits include Sunday in the Park With George (National Theatre) and The Hired Man (Astoria Theatre).
Announcing the last minute addition to the cast, producer, Cameron Mackintosh said: “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 21 September at the Gielgud Theatre.”
Originally due to begin preview performances at the Gielgud Theatre on 16 September, the curtain will now rise on the production on 21 September, to allow time for rehearsals with the new cast member.
Broadway legend Bernadette Peters (Follies, Into the Woods, Sunday in the Park With George) is due to make her British stage debut in the production alongside Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon, Les Misérables) who will return to the London stage for the first time in 27 years. The production will also feature a number of stars who featured in the Gala company last year including Christine Allado (Hamilton, In The Heights), Janie Dee (Carousel, Follies), Bonnie Langford (9 to 5 The Musical, 42nd Street) and Jeremy Secomb (Sister Act, Sweeney Todd), along with Joanna Riding (My Fair Lady, Follies), Jac Yarrow (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Newsies), recent Arts Educational School graduate Marley Fenton (The Wizard of Oz) and Beatrice Penny-Touré (The Phantom of the Opera, Mary Poppins).
The cast is completed by Damian Humbley (The Great British Bake Off Musical, Local Hero), Bradley Jaden (Les Misérables, Wicked), Gavin Lee (Mary Poppins, Top Hat) and Jason Pennycooke (Hamilton, La Cage Aux Folles), with Harry Apps, Bella Brown and Monique Young.
The winner of the 2023 WhatsOnStage award for the Best Theatre Event, the celebration of Sondheim’s timeless work which was devised and produced by Cameron Mackintosh will play a 16-week season until 6 January 2024.
The creative team also includes conductor Alfonso Casado Trigo and musical supervisor Stephen Brooker, with musical arrangements by Stephen Metcalfe, set design by Matt Kinley, projection design by George Reeve, lighting design by Warren Letton and sound design by Mick Potter.
The original Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends at the Sondheim Theatre sold out within hours with a simultaneous screening at the Prince Edward quickly arranged in response to public demand.
Angela Thomas
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