Judi Dench, Stephen Fry & Emma Thompson amongst stars celebrating Noel Coward in online streaming event
Photo credit: Anthony Harvey (above left)
It has been 100 years since Noel Coward made his debut in the West End and to celebrate this anniversary, a new online streaming event, A Marvellous Party, has been announced.
The piece will celebrate the words and music of Coward and will feature appearances from a number of stars including Kate Burton, Judi Dench, Stephen Fry, Montego Glover, Derek Jacobi, Josh James, Cush Jumbo, Robert Lindsay, Kristine Nielsen, Bebe Neuwirth, Julian Ovenden, Patricia Routledge, Emma Thompson, Kate Royal, Indira Varma, Lia Williams, and Giles Terera.
The event will herald the launch of “Stream.Theatre”, the new streaming service created by Broadway on Demand.
All the performances recorded for the show were either filmed at home by the performers or filmed under Covid-19 regulations on location.
It will be streamed here from 7:30pm BST on Sunday 20 September and will be available on YouTube/on demand for 14 days afterwards. The piece will support Acting for Others (UK) and the Actor’s Fund (US).
The Chair of the Noël Coward Foundation, Alan Brodie, said: "Noël Coward, a man of the theatre and one of the first transatlantic theatre celebrities, used his celebrity status to assist others. He galvanised his famous friends into raising considerable sums for charitable causes on both sides of the Atlantic and was also a founder member of The Combined Theatrical Charities, the predecessor organisation to Acting For Others.
"Noël would have been very distressed by the shutdowns of the West End, Broadway and theatres across the world resulting in hardship for so many. It is therefore imperative, on Noël's behalf, to help those in need by collaborating with Acting For Others in the UK and the Actors Fund in the US demonstrating just how much his influence and legacy lives on 100 years from that first play. The performers have given their services for free and we are most grateful to them for offering their time and their talent to this important cause."
