West End shows for free at Leicester Square festival
The UK’s biggest free theatre festival will be returning to central London next month.
Now in its fourth year, West End LIVE will feature world-class acts from musicals such as Avenue Q, Buddy, Chicago, Dirty Dancing and Grease The Musical.
Also performing in Leicester Square will be the casts of The Sound of Music, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Mamma Mia! Stomp and The Lord of the Rings.
Gay entertainer Christopher Biggins will compere the Westminster City Council event, which takes place from 11am to 6pm on Saturday 21st June and 12noon to 6pm on Sunday 22nd June 2008.
London’s West End boasts 40 theatres, the highest concentration in the world. They contribute £1.5billion a year to London’s economy.
Performers on the main stage will include the London Gay Men’s Chorus.
Councillor Robert Davis, Westminster’s Cabinet Member for Special Events, said:
“West End LIVE is going from strength to strength.
“We’ve got some fantastic acts lined up including performances from new shows Buddy, Jersey Boys and Never Forget, which form more proof, if any were needed, of the high regard in which West End LIVE is held across the Theatreland district.
“The festival keeps growing and is the only free event of its kind in London.
“It is a magnificent showcase for everything the West End has to offer from classic stage routines and costumes through to blockbuster films and all kinds of other entertainment.
“I am confident everyone, no matter what their age, will find something to enjoy.”
Pride London, which takes over Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square on July 5th, will be represented at the event through a 15-minute performance by the London Gay Men’s Chorus.
They are expected to perform a selection classic and contemporary favourites from their upcoming show, Songs of Innocence and Experience, such as What a Wonderful World, I Feel Pretty, My Way, Jerusalem and set pieces by Beethoven, Weill and The Doors.
There will also be performances by the King Lear musicians from Shakespeare’s Globe, who play a series of rare medieval instruments such as the hurdy-gurdy, bone flutes and long wooden trumpets.
There will also be a celebration of 50 years of LEGO, where children and the young at heart can create their own structures and marvel at amazing creations.
More than 150,000 people are expected to attend this year’s event.
