Dench in line for Sondheim gala

Published Wednesday 26 April 2006 at 12:15 by Alistair Smith

Exclusive - Judi Dench has been lined up to join a host of musical theatre stars for a charity gala celebrating the 30th anniversary of Stephen Sondheim’s Side by Side in the West End.

The show’s original cast - Millicent Martin, Julia McKenzie, David Kernan and Ned Sherrin as the narrator - will be united with guest stars including Maureen Lipman, Sally Anne Triplett and Scarlet Strallen. Meanwhile, Trevor McDonald, Nicholas Parsons and Christopher Biggins are among the narrators announced for the show. Organisers are hopeful that Dench will appear as part of the proceedings.

Speaking to The Stage, Kernan, who conceived and performed in the 1976 production and this revival, commented: “The original production was a wonderful success story. Now it’s 30 years later and I thought we should celebrate it. It will feature the three of us [original performers], enforced with some real young talent. It is a very emotional time for us because it was a show that changed our lives.”

He added Sondheim himself would attend the gala and had written to Dench asking her to take part in the performance. According to Kernan, when he asked Sondheim for permission to stage the show in 1976, he was told: “By all means have a go, but apart from the Book of Kells, I can’t think of anything more boring.”

The original staging ran for three years in London followed by a further two in New York. The gala event, which will be held at the Novello Theatre from 7.30pm on May 21, will be in aid of The Shooting Star Children’s Hospice. Tickets are available from the Novello box office on 0870 950 0939.