Presented under the title Sondheim at 80, the concert will take place July 31 and will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 as well as on BBC2 television. It will bring together leading figures form the opera and theatre worlds, led by bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, musical theatre star Maria Friedman and actor/singer Simon Russell Beale.
Terfel has previously appeared with Friedman in the Royal Festival Hall's 2007 concert staging of Sweeney Todd, in which Terfel played the title role to Friedman's Mrs. Lovett. Friedman has also appeared in the London premieres of Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George at the National Theatre and Passion in the West End, as well as a regional production of Merrily We Roll Along at Leicester Haymarket Theatre. Beale is currently appearing at the National in London Assurance (running in rep through June 29), and will next appear in the West End in a new production of Ira Levin's Deathtrap, that will begin performances at the Noel Coward Theatre Aug. 21, prior to an official opening Sept. 7.
The performance, which will feature excerpts from Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, Into the Woods, Company, Pacific Overtures and Sunday in the Park with George, will be directed by Martin Duncan, with David Charles Abell conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra and featuring singers from the BBC Performing Arts Fund.
Tickets, which go on sale May 4, can be purchased from the box office on 0845 401 5040, or online at www.royalalberthall.com.