A Worthy Cause: Excitement mounts as star studded charity concert approaches

Preparations for the upcoming Side By Side By Sondheim charity concert are in full swing with only 3 days until the star studded event takes place at the Theatre Royal, Sydney.

International music theatre star Ruthie Henshall, currently en route to Australia for her first ever visit down under, will headline the concert which features some of composer Stephen Sondheim’s most memorable music.

Producer Enda Markey is thrilled with the way the event is shaping up, and has great hopes for the performance on Friday 20 April.

“There’s so much love around for this show, and the amazing cast! There has been some long days, but all absolutely worth it to raise money for such a great cause”, he told AussieTheatre today.

[pull_left]I’ve been getting emails from people who are travelling from interstate, and even as far as New Zealand and Bali![/pull_left]

Side By Side By Sondheim will be fundraising for the White Ribbon Foundation, Australia’s campaign to stop violence against women, and tickets are selling fast.

“There are some seats left, but I’m happy to say they’re being snapped up!”, Markey said. “I’ve been getting emails from people who are travelling from interstate, and even as far as New Zealand and Bali!”

Side By Side By Sondheim is usually performed with four cast members and two pianos, but this larger than life concert will feature over 20 performers from Australia’s music theatre industry and an orchestra, under the musical direction of Craig Renshaw.

“Craig Renshaw, our musical director, has been orchestrating for the past few weeks. It’s such a thrill to hear this wonderful music with an orchestra”, Markey said.

Having been in the works for several months now, this charity event has come to fruition thanks to the efforts of Markey and his wonderful behind-the-scenes team.

“As well as the people on-stage, that everyone (hopefully) knows about, there is also an amazing team offstage that have been working tirelessly to make the concert a really special night”, Markey explained.

“Andrew Pole is directing the concert – our first time working together and he’s fantastic too. Add to that our talented stage management team (Andrew Cutts, Phoebe Williams), set designer (James Browne), lighting (Christopher Page) and Thomas Brickhill, who is designing the sound for Coda. We’ve got the best possible team together. I can’t rave about them enough!”

The Side By Side By Sondheim team are hoping to raise $100,000 for the White Ribbon Foundation, whom Markey hails as being fantastic to work alongside.

“White Ribbon see this as a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness about a serious issue, but through an enjoyable evening”, he said.

“I really wanted to support a charity that I believe in, and White Ribbon does such amazing work towards preventing violence against women. While we’re hoping to raise a significant amount of money for them on the night, it’s also about raising their profile, so people know about the great work they do.”

Also featured in the concert will be Rachael Beck, Peter Cousens, Margi de Ferranti, Michael Falzon, Ben Lewis, Stephen Mahy, Enda Markey, Amanda Muggleton, Anna O’Byrne, Geraldine Turner, Mitchell Butel, Alinta Chidzey, Helen Dallimore, Lucy Durack, Melissa Langton, Lara Mulcahy, Josh Piterman, Shaun Rennie, Belinda Wollaston, Erin James, Elise McCann, Anita Plateris, Meow Meow, Garry Scale and Lyn Shakespeare.

Narrating the show will be some of Australia’s most well-known television stars, including Paula Duncan, Judy Nunn, Andrew O’Keefe, Jessica Rowe, and Bruce Venables.

So jump on to www.ticketek.com.au and purchase your tickets for this exciting one-off event!

All proceeds will go to The White Ribbon Foundation, and tickets can be purchased through www.ticketek.com.au

You can learn more about the White Ribbon Foundation at www.whiteribbon.org.au