Andrew Lloyd Webber to host a special gala performance of Cinderella with Malala Yousafzai
LONDON – Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit new musical Cinderella is to hold a special gala performance to raise money for Malala Yousafzai’s work to empower women and girls around the world.
With the backdrop of a worsening global refugee crisis, which has interrupted the education of millions of young women, Malala Fund wants those who have lost everything to retain access to the opportunities they need to build a better future.
More than 130 million girls are out of school today and Malala Fund is working for a world where every girl can learn and lead through access to a free, safe and quality education.
The Cinderella gala performance will be held on Monday 22nd November. The show has been donated by Andrew Lloyd Webber and every penny raised will be donated directly to Malala Fund.
Malala Yousafzai: “Since age 10, I’ve been fighting for a world where every girl can learn and lead. But in the past two years, girls in many countries have faced enormous setbacks to their education – from Covid to economic pressures to conflict and displacement. I am grateful to my friend Andrew for all his support, and I want to thank the cast and crew of Cinderella for arranging this special performance to support Malala Fund.”
Andrew Lloyd Webber: “I am an enormous admirer of Malala. She is an extraordinary person and you can imagine my delight when I discovered that she loved musical theatre. Malala and her fund work to empower women and girls to be the best version of themselves and the people they truly want to be. Recent events in Afghanistan, and the worsening of the global refugee crisis, which will be inevitably exacerbated by climate change in the years to come, have brought into sharp focus the importance of Malala’s work.
“We wanted to do this gala performance of Cinderella because our heroine is a strong-willed and mischievous young woman whose lesson is: don’t change to please others. I want to thank everyone who supports this gala and enables us to do more to help women and girls to achieve their dreams.”
Emerald Fennell: “Malala Yousafzai is a true hero and a beacon of light to so many of us. It is an honor to be able to support her work in any small way, especially at such an urgent and terrible time for the women and girls around the world.”
The Cinderella gala event will also feature the work of a contemporary Afghan artist, Shamsia Hassani, and the stories of female Afghan musicians.
“[Cinderella is]a romcom with a progressive message: you don’t have to change yourself to find love.”
The Daily Telegraph
Tickets for the gala performance of Cinderella are on sale here.