"AN ENCHANTED EVENING"
A CELEBRATION FOR THE CENTENARY OF COMPOSER RICHARD RODGERS AND
20TH BIRTHDAY OF THE NEUROFIBROMATOSIS ASSOCIATION
INTRODUCED BY GILLIAN ANDERSON - DIRECTED BY SIMON CALLOW
To celebrate the centenary of popular composer Richard Rodgers and the 20th Birthday of the Neurofibromatosis Association, Gillian Anderson (X-Files), patron of the charity, will be hosting "An Enchanted Evening" at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on Sunday 12th May 2002.
"An Enchanted Evening", directed by Simon Callow and conducted by the internationally acclaimed David Charles Abell, is a narrative and musical journey through the life and works of Richard Rodgers starring some of the world's leading performers including: Patti Boulaye, Serena Gordon, Maureen Lipman, Richard Shepherd (16 year old saxophonist), Imogen Stubbs and Julie T Wallace.
The Concert will feature a unique mix of Rodgers' more famous hits as well as his rarely heard works including: "Manhattan", "Isn't it Romantic", "Blue Room", "Have you Met Miss Jones" as well as works from hit musicals such as "The King and I", "Carousel" and "The Sound of Music".
Lending their support to this glittering Charity Concert, will be members of an honorary committee chaired by Gillian Anderson including: Tamara Beckwith, Lisa Butcher, Susan George, Marie Helvin, Kelly Hoppen, Nick Mason, Tamara Mellon, Roger Moore OBE, Bruce Oldfield OBE, Anneka Rice, Miranda Richardson, Angela Rippon, Tasha de Vasconcelos, Amanda Wakeley, Finty Williams.
The Neurofibromatosis Association is a charity dedicated to improving the lives of those affected with Neurofibromatosis (type 1-Nf1 or type 2 - Nf2), two genetic conditions that together affect more than 24,000 people in the UK. Both are progressive so disfigurement and disability increase with age; Nf1 can be life threatening, Nf2 usually leads to premature death. The NF Association employs a team of support workers around the country, each hospital-based, to provide help, support and advice needed. "An Enchanted Evening" will help raise awareness and funds to support this crucially important charity.
"It sounds as if this event will be a fun-filled evening and I anticipate a good deal of support for Neurofibromatosis as a result! So what more can one ask? Come, enjoy and support a great cause!" Gillian Anderson, Patron of the Neurofibromatosis Association.
Notes:
For all other tickets call the box office T 020 7494 5055
To call from the U.S. dial 011 44 20 7494 5055
General tickets @ £17.50 - £50
If you are unable to attend but would like to make a donation, please send a cheque made payable to "The Neurofibromatosis Association" to:
Roberta Tweedy
The Neurofibromatosis Association
82 London Road
Kingston On Thames
KT2 6PX
All profits from this event will benefit the Neurofibromatosis Association, registered charity
No: 1078790
And the second press release states:
"AN ENCHANTED EVENING"
to celebrate the Centenary of Richard Rodgers
and the
20th Birthday of The Neurofibromatosis Association
Introduced by Gillian Anderson and friends
Directed by Simon Callow
We would like to invite you to take part in this event which promises to be one of the charity highlights on the London stage next year.
2002 is the centenary of one of the twentieth century’s great songwriters, Richard Rodgers, and to mark the event we’re organising a concert on Sunday May 12th 2002 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, at the same time celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the Neurofibromatosis Association. Gillian Anderson, work schedule permitting, has agreed to host the show; Simon Callow will be directing. We are particularly delighted to have the conductor David Charles Abell on board, as a music director of international standing, and a renowned Rodgers specialist.
Act I of the show focuses on Rodgers’ stormy, inspired relationship with Lorenz "Larry" Hart, while Act II celebrates his uniquely productive partnership with Oscar Hammerstein. We’ll be cleaning the dust off some rarely-heard works as well as looking at the obscure backgrounds to some of his most famous. “Blue Room,” for example, a perennial favourite with jazz musicians, came from an early outing of Rodgers and Hart, “The Girl Friend,” unperformed for many years, while “Ten Cents a Dance” from the Ziegfeld show “Simple Simon” had Ruth Etting on top of a piano mounted on wheels; the pianist was the comedian Ed Wynn and he rode the piano and Etting round the stage like a bicycle. Crazy stuff.
The Neurofibromatosis Association is a charity dedicated to improving the lives of those affected with either neurofibromatosis type 1 (Nf1) or neurofibromatosis type 2 (Nf2) which together affect more than 24,000 people in the UK. Both conditions are genetic and both are extremely variable, though we can say with certainty that Nf2 is always life-shortening while Nf1 is often life-threatening. Both are also progressive, so disfigurement and disability inevitably increase with age. The Nf association employs a team of support workers around the country, each hospital-based, to provide the help, support and advice needed; it also runs Summer activity holidays for children and young adults with Nf1 and weekends for the support of people with Nf2.
The concert’s a long way off, but it would be a marvellous boost both to the show’s success and to this crucially important charity if you could at this stage agree in principle to take part. It is not necessary to be an expert singer or a dancer, we would just love you to be there.
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