Andrew Lloyd Webber announces special gala performance of Cinderella with Malala Yousafzai
Every penny raised will go to the Malala Fund
A special gala performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella will be held to raise money for Malala Yousafzai’s work to empower women and girls around the world.
As the global refugee crisis worsens, the Malala Fund wants to make sure those who have lost everything can access the opportunities they need to build a better future.
The gala performance is to be held on Monday 22nd November 2021 and has been donated by Andrew Lloyd Webber and every penny raised will be donated directly to the Malala Fund. The event will also feature the work of a contemporary Afghan artist, Shamsia Hassani, and the stories of female Afghan musicians.
When speaking about the special charity performance Malala said: “Since age 10, I've been fighting for a world where every girl can learn and lead. But in the past two years, girls in many countries have faced enormous setbacks to their education – from Covid to economic pressures to conflict and displacement.
“I am grateful to my friend Andrew for all his support, and I want to thank the cast and crew of Cinderella for arranging this special performance to support Malala Fund.”
Andrew Lloyd Webber said: “I am an enormous admirer of Malala. She is an extraordinary person and you can imagine my delight when I discovered that she loved musical theatre. Malala and her fund work to empower women and girls to be the best version of themselves and the people they truly want to be. Recent events in Afghanistan, and the worsening of the global refugee crisis, which will be inevitably exacerbated by climate change in the years to come, have brought into sharp focus the importance of Malala’s work.
“We wanted to do this gala performance of Cinderella because our heroine is a strong-willed and mischievous young woman whose lesson is: don’t change to please others. I want to thank everyone who supports this gala and enables us to do more to help women and girls to achieve their dreams.”
How to get tickets to the Cinderella Gala performance in aid of the Malala Fund
Tickets for the special performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella can be found on the Cinderella website.
Scroll through Andrew Lloyd Webber's greatest musicals:
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Andrew's first real success came with his theatre adaptation of Joseph's story and his "coat of many colours". The show began life as a 15-minute school performance in London in 1968, and by 1974 it had developed into its current iteration. The show has starred many famous faces through the years including David Cassidy, Jason Donovan, Donny Osmond, Phillip Schofield, Stephen Gately and Lee Mead all playing the titular role. A 1999 film adaptation saw Donny reprise his role of Joseph.
The musical was revived in 2019 with a new production at the London Palladium with Jac Yarrow in the lead role. The production made a return in 2021 following the pandemic and is currently on tour.
Jesus Christ Superstar
Another of Andrew's musical to borrow its plot from the bible, Jesus Christ Superstar follows the last week of Jesus' life before he was crucified. The show started out as a rock opera album, before it was made into a fully-fledged musical. The show opened on Broadway in October 1971, with rock god Alice Cooper even playing King Herod in 1996 in London.
Evita
Releasing Jeeves after Jesus Christ Superstar, Andrew chose a biographical topic for his next musical - focusing on the life of Eva Perón, the second wife of Argentine President Juan Perón. The show's most famous song is 'Don't Cry For Me Argentina', and was made into a film in 1996 with Madonna in the lead role (pictured) starring alongside Antonio Banderas and Jonathan Pryce.
Cats
Taking inspiration from T. S. Eliot's poetry book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, the show's plot may be slightly tenuous but the production itself is always marvellous. Its most famous song is 'Memory', sang by the character of Grizabella who was originated by theatre legend Elaine Paige, reprising her role for the 1998 film. Other famous faces to have played the role are Pussycat Dolls' Nicole Scherzinger, Beverley Knight, Leona Lewis and Jennifer Hudson in the 2019 film adaptation. Fun fact: Judi Dench was all set to originate the role of Grizabella, but tore her Achilles tendon just before the show began. She later played Old Deuteronomy in the 2019 film.
Starlight Express
If cats weren't hard enough to emulate on stage for three hours, ALW then decided to write a musical purely about trains! The actors traditionally perform the show on roller skates, and the titular song is possibly the most well-known. Premiering in 1984, the original West End production ran for eight years before a revised version launched in 1992 and ran for 10 years.
The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera is the longest running Broadway musical and the second longest-running West End musical - and no surprise, as it's one of the most beloved shows of all time. Based on the novel of the same name by Gaston Leroux, the story follows the titular Phantom, a disfigured music genius who lives in a labyrinth underneath the Paris Opéra House who becomes obsessed with singer Christine.
Sunset Boulevard
Based on the 1950 film of the same name, Sunset Boulevard follows the story of a former Hollywood star who clings to her old life - ending in complete tragedy. The most well-known song is 'As If We Never Said Goodbye', and the show initially ran from 1993 until 1997.
Whistle Down the Wind
Another musical based on a film, Whistle Down the Wind premiered in 1996 and the story followed that of the 1961 movie. It originally opened in the US, before a reworked run in the West End in 1998. One of the most famous songs from the show is 'No Matter What', which was recorded at the time by Boyzone for the concept album and went onto become one of their biggest hits.
Love Never Dies
A sort-of sequel to Phantom, Love Never Dies premiered in 2010 and followed the characters of the Phantom, Christine, her husband Raoul and their son Gustave 10 years after the events of the original. It opened on the West End with Sierra Boggess and Ramin Karimloo reprising their roles from as Christine and the Phantom at the Royal Albert Hall 25th Anniversary Cast in 2011.
School of Rock
Yet another musical based on a film, School of Rock was something a bit different for Andrew, following the same story as the 2003 Jack Black movie: a rock singer who has fallen on hard times poses as a music teacher. It premiered in the US in 2015 before transferring to the West End in 2016. Its final performance was in March 2020, to make way for Andrew's upcoming musical, Cinderella.
Cinderella
Which brings us to... Cinderella! Andrew's most recent musical is a modern interpretation of the original story. The West End production starred Carrie Hope Fletcher in the titular role and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt as the Stepmother. The musical's opening was postponed multiple times by the COVID-19 Pandemic but eventually opened in 2021 to rave reviews.
The West End production ended its run in June 2022 with the show now running across the pond on Broadway under the new name 'Bad Cinderella'.
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