Press Release: Gillian Lynne DBE – A Celebration

[Jan McNulty]

PRESS RELEASE – Friday 26 April  

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To Gillie, With Love
Gillian Lynne DBE – A Celebration

 

• A SPECIAL EVENING ‘TO GILLIE, WITH LOVE’ TO CELEBRATE GILLIAN LYNNE DBE AND LAUNCH THE LYNNE AND LAND FOUNDATION WILL TAKE PLACE ON 2 JULY AT THE GILLIAN LYNNE THEATRE, DRURY LANE. 
   
• THE EVENING WILL FEATURE STARS FROM THE WORLD OF THEATRE AND DANCE INCLUDING BEVERLEY KNIGHT, SERGEI POLUNIN, TAMARA ROJO, RICHARD O’BRIEN, SIERRA BOGGESS AND RAMIN KARIMLOO. 
   
• TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE HERE WITH ALL PROCEEDS GOING TO THE LYNNE AND LAND FOUNDATION.

 

An unforgettable evening of stellar performances in celebration of the prolific and dearly-loved director choreographer, Gillian Lynne DBE will take place on Tuesday 2nd July 2019 at 7.30pm at The Gillian Lynne Theatre, Drury Lane in London.

 

A year and a day after Gillian sadly passed away, ‘To Gillie, With Love’ will see stars of the world of dance, theatre, film and TV come together to show their admiration and thanks to this unique and remarkable individual who helped, guided and inspired so many.

 

Celebrating iconic moments from her lifelong and extensive career, the evening will feature Anthony Barclay; Christopher Biggins; Sierra Boggess; Greg Castiglioni; Lorna Dallas; Ben Forster; Anna Francolini; Jason Gardiner; Nickolas Grace; Linzi Hateley; Michael Howe; Ramin Karimloo; Hannah Kenna Thomas; Jeremy Kerridge; Beverley Knight; Peter Land; Emily Langham; Annabel Leventon; Iain Mackay; Robert Meadmore; New Adventures Company; Caroline O’Connor; Jonjo O’Neil; Richard O’Brien; Sergei Polunin; Stuart Matthew Price; Hugh Quarshie; Jack Rebaldi; Liz Robertson; Sir Ken Robinson; Tamara Rojo; Jamie Safir; Wayne Sleep; Scarlett Strallen; Una Stubbs and Hannah Waddingham.

 

The evening will also feature a choir with students from Arts Ed and the Royal Academy of Music.

As well as honouring Gillian, the evening will launch the Lynne and Land Foundation, which Gillian and her husband Peter Land established to enable talented young performers to achieve their dreams by providing scholarships and grants to reach their full potential in the choreographic arts, drama and musical theatre.

 

Peter Land said:
“Two years before my wife passed away we discussed the Foundation and she insisted on having it in both of our names. We both benefitted hugely in our careers from the kindness of others and that is what we want to do with the Foundation - to be the help that Gillian Lynne was to so many performers throughout her career. I remember the actor George Baker being wonderfully generous to me and Gillian always said that the support she got from Noël Coward, personally and professionally kept her going when times were tough.”

 

The evening will be curated and produced by Peter Land and Lean Two Productions and directed and staged by Chrissie Cartwright, Gillian’s long-time collaborator on Cats, musical direction by Peter McCarthy, scenic design by Matthew Kinley, lighting design by Michael Robertson, sound design by Adam Fisher.  The evening is supported by LW Theatres and Cameron Mackintosh Ltd. 

 

Gillian’s direction, staging and choreography broke records across the globe with her collaboration on two of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s most famous musicals: Cats and The Phantom of the Opera which can still be seen nightly throughout the world. The New London Theatre, where Gillian pioneered her ground-breaking choreography on Cats in 1981, was lovingly renamed in her honour by Andrew Lloyd Webber in June 2018 making Lynne the first non-royal woman to have a West End Theatre named after her. 
 
As a producer, director, choreographer and performer, throughout the course of her life Gillian was involved in more than 60 productions in the West End, 11 feature films and hundreds of TV productions. 

 

Tickets will go on sale on Friday 26th April 2019 with all proceeds going to the Lynne and Land Foundation. Website www.lynneandlandfoundation.co.uk.

 

Further details about the Foundation will be announced in due course. 

ENDS

 

LISTINGS

To Gillie, With Love
Gillian Lynne DBE – A Celebration
Curated and produced by Peter Land and Lean Two Productions
Directed and staged by Chrissie Cartwright
Musical Direction by Peter McCarthy
Tuesday 2 July at 7:30pm

Box office: 
166 Drury Ln, Holborn, London WC2B 5PW, UK
020 7087 7750
https://lwtheatres.co.uk/whats-on/to-gillie-with-love
Tickets from: £85

 

NOTES TO EDITORS 

Appearances subject to availability. 

 

Gillian Lynne DBE
(1926 – 2018)

Gillian Lynne’s career started at the age of fourteen: leap-frogging from the Sadler’s Wells Ballet to Star Dancer at the London Palladium to a film opposite Hollywood royalty Errol Flynn.  

 

It was this original style and energy that helped make Gillian the leading director/ choreographer of her generation; best-known for her ground-breaking staging and choreography for Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Aspects of Love and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. 

 

She directed over 60 productions in the West End and on Broadway; worked on 11 feature films and hundreds of television productions as producer, director, choreographer or performer. 

 

She received numerous accolades including two Olivier Awards; the first for Outstanding Achievement for her Choreography of Cats in 1981 – while in 2013 she was presented with a Lifetime Achievement ‘Special’ Olivier. Other awards include: Vienna’s 1983 Silver Order of Merit for the first proscenium arch production of Cats, Golden Rose of Montreux Award for The Muppet Show Series, Engel Television Award (USA) as director for her conceptual drama The Morte d’Arthur, a BAFTA for her dance drama A Simple Man directed for BBC TV, a Moliere Award for Cats in Paris in 1989. The Royal Academy of Dance elected her Vice-President in 2012. Gillian was honoured with CBE (1997) and DBE in the 2014 New Year’s Honours List for her services to Dance and Musical Theatre. In June 2018, Andrew Lloyd Webber officially renamed the New London Theatre after her, the first non-royal woman to be honoured in this way in the West End: the Gillian Lynne Theatre. The grace, energy and spirituality of Gillian Lynne’s artistry continues worldwide. 

 

About LW Theatres

LW Theatres own and operate seven of the most prestigious and desirable theatres in the world, including the iconic London Palladium and the stately Theatre Royal Drury Lane.  Wholly owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber, LW Theatres play host to some of the world’s best musicals and plays, as well as a popular variety of concerts and comedy.  

The LW Theatres portfolio also includes Her Majesty’s Theatre, the Cambridge Theatre, the Gillian Lynne Theatre, the Adelphi Theatre (owned in association with Nederlander International Limited) and The Other Palace.

LW Theatres is the largest operator of musical theatre in London with 1 in 3 of all visits to a London musical being to a LW Theatres venue.  Current shows include School of Rock, Matilda the Musical, Waitress, Toast and the world-famous The Phantom of the Opera. 
For more information www.lwtheatres.co.uk