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Listen to the Flash Audios of :
A Special Thank You to Terlene, UK, for
sharing this Recording
London
Concert for Peace Lisa generously donated three programmes
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Link above to go to the Special Auction Page
Dame Judi outside the Stage Door after the Concert Thanks to Lisa S. -- UK -- for sharing this photo.
Dame Judi Dench sang the song "Cabaret" at the concert
Roy Tan has added a new photo of Dame Judi on stage
See Roy's photo of Dame
Judi that was up for bid
First of all I have to tell
you that I'm absolutely worn out so if this review jumps around a lot,
I've read the two reviews of the concert that Chris has on the site (see below) and I'd agree with most of the things they said. DJD did steal the show and the concert def. needed the 'songs' to balance out the rest of the programme. It was a great shame that more people couldn't have made the effort to attend the concert. The organiser commented that up until Wednesday they had only sold 250 tickets - the Drury Lane theatre is huge, it seats over 2,000 people - but the start of the war obviously spurred some more people into action although there were still plenty of seats to be had. The program - see below - was a mixture of songs and readings. Stand outs for me were: * the cast of 'Anything Goes' I really wish I'd been able to see this production, they were stunning. Was also nice to see them singing/dancing in their civvies too, made a pleasant change :) * The cast of 'Ragtime',
see above for superlatives *g* * Some famous actress, or so they tell me, who sang 'Cabaret' at full throttle in a very nice dress which unfortunately wouldn't co-operate with it's wearer. More on this later ... * Finty Williams and the whole cast singing 'Seasons of Love' from Rent. Stunning. * "Quotes" - yes, the Donald Rumsfield quote was very funny :) But also one of the actors taking part in this section was Janet Henfry (Mrs. Bale from ATGB) - upon closer reading of my programme I discovered that Ms Henfry was also on the organising committee for the concert. *am I rambling on?* Back to the Cabaret. Rapturous applause greeted JD's entrance to the stage. Leaning against the piano, hand on hip, she gave the song everything she had. It was all delivered in a very 'dead pan' style which made the later dance movements (during the bits which are almost spoken, there were 2 shrugs of the shoulder for "alone in your room" and a wiggle of the hips for "hear the music play") even more of a joy. I'm sure you've seen the picture of the dress JD was wearing. It was lovely, but unfortunately the left shoulder strap wasn't behaving itself at all and there was almost an accident with it! Fortunately, JD rescued the errant strap and sang the rest of the song holding it on her shoulder! Much applause, whistles, cheers, ovations followed and JD had a quick kiss for daughter Finty before she left the stage. Finty read 'Is love' by Maya Angelou and started off the full company singing 'Seasons of Love' from Rent - one of my favourite songs and this rendition was a joy. Curtain calls followed and then it was all over. And I was left singing 'Cabaret' all evening and surprising my Maxilliofacial Consultant with a rendition of it this morning at my hospital appointment ;) I did have the pleasure of meeting JD after the show but I'll write about that later if anyone's interested. And with that ... I'm off for another coffee to keep me awake :) - Lisa
Cover design by Roy Tan A Special Thanks to Lisa for sharing all of this with us.
Life's still a Cabaret for Dame Judi This is
London Website Thousands of miles from the front lines in the desert some of Britain's best actors gathered at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane to voice their concern at the war in Iraq. A 1,200-strong audience was treated to a never-to be repeated West End performance last night - the London Concert For Peace. Dame Judi Dench stole the show, belting out a rip-roaring rendition of Cabaret 35 years after she first acted the role of Sally Bowles. Dressed in a black satin gown Dame Judi, 68, shimmied her way across the stage as she sung the bittersweet ode and won roars of approval from the crowd. So too did Sir Ian McKellen - but with a very different performance. The actor read Suicide in the Trenches by First World War poet Siegfried Sassoon - a dark poem about the difference between watching war and being in the midst of war. Evening Standard Best Actor winner Alex Jennings read extracts from Fergal Keane's Letter to Daniel - a lament for children wounded and killed in wars. His reading was followed by
a song from 30 children from the Fox School in Notting Hill. There was also a stirring performance from the cast of new musical Ragtime, led by Maria Friedman, as well as performances from Les Miserables, The Beautiful Game, Company and Blood Brothers. Adrian Lester and Samantha Bond appeared to read from Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet, and Mark Rylance gave a stirring soliloquy from Henry V. There were then words from the Stop The War Coalition, but more effective were a series of quotes on war read out by five actors. One quote, from US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, had the audience lost in despairing laughter. Taken from a press conference last year at Nato about the "war against terrorism", Rumsfeld said: "The message is that there are no 'knowns'. There are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know." Speaking about the war after the show, Dame Judi told the Standard: "I feel very strongly about it. I think there are other ways of going about things. I suppose my generation is the last that remembers the Second World War. And I am so happy that so many people came out tonight." Last night's concert, the brainchild of actress Janie Dee, showed that concerns about this war spread all across Britain's artistic community.
Some of the biggest names in British showbusiness have shown their support for the victims of war with a charity concert at London's Theatre Royal on Sunday. Dame Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen were among the performers at the Concert For Peace, which was arranged in just four weeks in response to the war in Iraq and previous conflicts. The concert was the brainchild of West End actress Janie Dee, who recently starred in Stephen Sondheim's Anyone Can Whistle at the Bridewell Theatre. "The concert is a huge effort by lots of people," said Dee. "I pushed the ball and it just rolled." Dee and her friends called on their showbiz contacts to bring together a stellar cast of 150 performers. Each artist presented a song or piece which is important to them. In a departure from her usual role, Dame Judi performed a musical number, as Sally Bowles in Cabaret. Mark Rylance, Alison Steadman, Samantha Bond, Lindsay Duncan, Josie Lawrence and the Blood Brothers and Anything Goes companies were also in the cast. "It's a response to the war in Iraq and to what happened in Afghanistan. For the sake of two men, it seems we are killing innocent people," said Dee, referring to Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden. The people who live in Iraq did not choose for this to happen to them." She said she was overwhelmed by the support she has received from her showbiz colleagues. "It's bigger than I ever thought it would be. We are doing what we do best to express our concern and profound unhappiness at what is going on in the world. This concert is full of life and vitality. It's bringing out the best in human nature." The concert will raise funds for Red Cross, Oxfam, Care and Amnesty International.
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