Five-time Tony Award winner Angela Lansbury will be joined by original Sweeney Todd cast members Len Cariou and Ken Jennings when she introduces Sondheim at Seven, a gala benefit for the Off-Broadway company Irish Repertory Theatre, scheduled for June 13 at Town Hall in New York.
Cariou played Sweeney and Jennings played Tobias opposite Lansbury in the original cast of the 1979 Sondheim musical. Lansbury will get some performing help from other newly announced members of the “galaxy of Broadway stars” promised for the evening, including Michael Cerveris, Donna Kane, and Ciaran Sheehan, plus the previously announced Jeremy Jordan, Rebecca Luker Melissa Errico, Danielle Ferland, Malcolm Gets, Nancy Anderson, Howard McGillin, Max von Essen, Ryan Silverman, and Max Evans.
Irish Rep is promising that the guests will perform “as many hit songs as we can fit into 90 minutes” from Stephen Sondheim musicals Sweeney Todd, Follies, Into The Woods, Assassins, Gypsy, Passion, Merrily We Roll Along, A Little Night Music, Company, West Side Story, and others. More names are expected to be announced.
Lansbury starred in the original Broadway productions of Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd and Anyone Can Whistle, and revivals of his Gypsy and A Little Night Music.
Performance-only tickets, starting at $100, are on sale at IrishRep.org or by calling (212) 727-2737. The performance will be followed by dinner at Bryant Park Grill, 25 West 40th Street. Premium seating/dinner packages start at $500 and can be arranged by calling (212) 213-1166 or emailing [email protected].
The event will honor Carmine D. Boccuzzi Jr., partner at Cleary Gottlieb LLP, and will recognize the “extraordinary contributions” of Anne Anderson, ambassador of Ireland to the United States; Barbara Jones, consul general of Ireland in New York; and David Donoghue, ambassador of Ireland to the United Nations.
The 7 PM concert will be held at The Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street in Manhattan. It will be directed by Charlotte Moore, with musical direction by John Bell.
“We look forward to toasting to our first full season back in our beautiful new home,” said Ciarán O’Reilly, producing director of Irish Rep, which has specialized in Irish and Irish-American stage works since its founding in 1988.
Artistic Director Charlotte Moore said, “To have the music of Stephen Sondheim, performed by some of best voices in New York City, is a fitting way to celebrate and will make this a truly special occasion. We’re also thrilled to be honoring Carmine, who, with his colleagues at Cleary Gottlieb LLP, has been with the Irish Rep since the beginning, as well as recognizing the lasting contributions of our Irish government representatives who will all three be stepping down from their posts this year. This past amazing season would not have been possible without them.”
Luker, Errico, and McGillin have been special guest performers on Playbill’s Broadway on the High Seas cruises. Cabins are available for Playbill’s Rhine River cruise in August 2017, featuring Seth Rudetsky, Andréa Burns, Faith Prince, Terrence Mann, Charlotte d’Amboise, and Santino Fontana. Playbill Travel is now also booking Broadway on the Danube River for November 2017, with Carmen Cusack, Christopher Fitzgerald, Marc Kudisch, Julia Murney, Christopher Sieber, Brandon Uranowitz, and Seth Rudetsky, as well as other exciting talent to be announced. Visit PlaybillTravel.com for booking and information.
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