Photo from Lea Salonga's Instagram page
Lea Salonga is set to join the West End restaging of the Stephen Sondheim tribute “Old Friends.”
As reported by What's On Stage, which was shared by Salonga on sociala media, the production will have a limited 16-week run at the Gielgud Theatre, starting September 16, according to Cameron Mackintosh.
Mackintosh said the idea for "Old Friends" came about during a conversation with Sondheim during the pandemic lockdown.
“We commenced work on it but as theatres and shows started to reopen post COVID, we got distracted and then suddenly on Thanksgiving just over a year ago Steve sadly left us, leaving his extraordinary legacy of work to live on forever,” he said.
“Over Christmas ‘21 I put together all our thoughts, and inspired by the shows I had worked on with him and Julia McKenzie, and the desire to showcase his greatest music as well as his great lyrics, the material of 'Old Friends' miraculously fell onto the page pretty much as it is,” Mackintosh added.
Aside from Salonga, the production will also feature Filipina-British actress Christine Allado, as well as Bernadette Peters, Janie Dee, Bonnie Langford and Jeremy Secomb.
They will also be joined by Beatrice Penny-Touré, Joanna Riding and Jac Yarrow.