A year and a day after Gillian Lynne DBE sadly passed away, ‘To Gillie, With Love’ will see stars of the world of dance, theatre, film and TV come together on 2 July 2019 at London’s Gillian Lynne Theatre, to show their admiration and thanks. Already in the line-up are Sierra Boggess, Ben Forster, Linzi Hateley, Ramin Karimloo, Beverley Knight and the New Adventures Company. A special evening is in store.
Celebrating iconic moments from the prolific and dearly-loved director/choreographer’s 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; 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 benefited 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.
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.
