“MY FAVORITE THINGS:
THE RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN
80TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT”
COMES TO CINEMAS IN THE UK AND IRELAND FOR TWO DAYS ONLY
IN 2024
CinemaLive, in partnership with Concord Originals and The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, announces that this week’s star-studded My Favorite Things: The Rodgers & Hammerstein 80th Anniversary Concert will be screened in more than 400 cinemas across the UK and Ireland on 14 February and 18 February 2024. Directed for the screen by five-time BAFTA® winner Julia Knowles, tickets are now on sale at RH80Concert.com. Plans for a North America, Australia and New Zealand release will be announced in the New Year.
The landmark event was headlined by recent R&H leading lady Joanna Ampil (Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific); two-time Olivier Award® winner Michael Ball; television, film and stage actor Daniel Dae Kim; four-time Olivier Award winner Maria Friedman; Emmy®, two-time GRAMMY® and six-time Tony Award® winner Audra McDonald; Olivier Award® nominee Julian Ovenden; West End sensation Lucy St. Louis; Tony Award winner Aaron Tveit; Olivier Award nominee Marisha Wallace; and two-time Tony, two-time Golden Globe® and Emmy Awardnominee Patrick Wilson. The performance also featured Anna-Jane Casey, Lily Kerhoas and Jordan Shaw, along with special appearances by EGOT winners Andrew Lloyd Webber and Rita Moreno.
Completing the company were Jade Albertsen, Alex Louize Bird, Matthew Caputo, Dan Cooke, Barry Drummond, Harry Francis, Matt Gibson, Bethany Huckle, Jonny Labey, Brenda Newhouse, Emily Ann Potter, Sophie Pourret, Stephen Quildan and Rachel Wang-Hei Lau.
The celebration of the historic partnership of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II featured the 40-piece Rodgers & Hammerstein Concert Orchestra, conducted by Simon Lee, with stage direction by Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Christopher Gattelli, and associate choreography by Simon Hardwick.
The gala took place onTuesday, 12 December, at London’s newly restored Theatre Royal Drury Lane – the same venue that premiered the original West End productions of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific and The King and I.
Presented by The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, the concert was produced by Concord Originals, Concord Theatricals, Kilimanjaro Live/JAS Theatricals, Austin Shaw and Rob Bagshaw.
My Favorite Things: The Rodgers & Hammerstein 80th Anniversary Concert forms part of a new Season of Musicals presented by CinemaLive in 2024.
BIOGRAPHIES
RICHARD RODGERS & OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II
After long and highly distinguished careers with other collaborators, Richard Rodgers (Composer, 1902-79) and Oscar Hammerstein II (Librettist/Lyricist, 1895-1960) joined forces in 1943 to create the most successful partnership in American Musical Theatre. Prior to joining forces, Rodgers collaborated with lyricist Lorenz Hart on musical comedies that epitomized wit and sophistication (Pal Joey, On Your Toes, Babes In Arms and more), while Hammerstein brought new life to operetta and created the classic Show Boat with Jerome Kern. Oklahoma!, the first Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, introduced an integrated form that became known as “the musical play.” Their shows that followed included Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music. Collectively, the Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals have earned Tony, Oscar, GRAMMY, Emmy, Pulitzer, and Olivier Awards. The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization is a Concord Company, www.concord.com.
Julia Knowles (Screen Director) is a five-time BAFTA Award winner with more than 30 years experience producing and directing for television. She’s directed recent TV specials including “The State Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II,” “The Royal Wedding: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle,” “The Earthshot Prize,” “Global Citizen Festival: Take Action Now” and “The Brit Awards.” TV series include “Dancing on Ice,” “The X Factor UK,” “The Greatest Dancer,” “America’s Most Musical Family,” “American Idol” and “I Can See Your Voice: UK.” She’s also directed televised concerts including “The Coronation Concert,” “Beyonce” and “Platinum Jubilee: Party at the Palace.”
CinemaLive
CinemaLive is one of the world’s leading producers and distributors of premium Event Cinema/Alternate Content and one of the world’s few distributors of live concerts to cinemas. With offices in the UK and Australia, the CinemaLive subsidiary (of the Shooting Star Group) has quickly become one of the fastest growing theatrical distributors, delivering the very best music, cultural and family entertainment around the world – www.cinemalive.com
Concord Originals is the narrative content creation division for Concord, the world’s leading independent music company and licensor of stage productions. Ready access to Concord’s vast well of iconic intellectual property and award-winning Concord-represented writers, along with robust in-house production capabilities, uniquely positions the Concord Originals team to swiftly develop and produce stories that satisfy the growing demand for fresh takes on beloved content. The division’s slate is comprised of feature films, series, documentaries and podcasts, including remakes and re-imaginings of properties from Concord’s legendary artists, music and theatrical works. Upcoming projects include a multi-part docuseries about the culture-defining Stax Records for HBO, and three feature documentaries that Concord Originals co-financed: Let the Canary Sing about music icon Cyndi Lauper which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival 2023, and Shari & Lamb Chop and Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks which both premiered at DOC NYC 2023. Concord Originals also has an active scripted slate, including a remake of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King and I with Temple Hill for Paramount Pictures, and a limited series adaptation of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella with Skydance TV and Jennifer Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions.
Austin Shaw is the leading producer of live theatre capture, with award-winning productions of 42nd Street, An American in Paris, Anything Goes, From Here to Eternity, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King And I, Kinky Boots, Message in a Bottle, The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage!, Titanic and Wind in the Willows. For PBS, Austin staged and filmed “Great Performances: Chess in Concert” and “Andrew Lloyd Webber Celebration” (both at Royal Albert Hall), “Andrew Lloyd Webber: Masterpiece” (Great Hall of the People in Beijing), “Swan Lake 3D” (Live from Mariinsky Theater) and “Mick Fleetwood & Friends” (London Palladium). As MD of Really Useful Films, he produced stage captures of CATS, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, By Jeeves, Jesus Christ Superstar and the Academy Award-winning feature film The Phantom of the Opera.
Rob Bagshaw is a multiple Emmy Award winner with 25+ years of international production experience. Theatre trained, Rob is now one of the leading creatives in broadcast events. He has worked for all major platforms, producing 2000+ hours with UK daytime series “The Big Breakfast” and “This Morning”; US docu-series “Breaking Pointe” and “So Cosmo”; multi-cam location series “Castaway” and “Paradise Hotel,” and award-winning global competitions “Project Runway All Stars” and “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” A prolific format creator and showrunner, highlights include “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader,” “Australia’s Perfect Couple,” “The Crystal Maze,” “Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge” and “Top Chef Masters.” Formerly EVP, Kids & Family for Paramount Global (Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, TIME Kid of the Year, NFL Superbowl LV, The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage!); EVP, Creative at Dick Clark Productions (Academy of Country Music Awards, American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, The Golden Globes, “So You Think You Can Dance”) and East Coast head of Bunim Murray Productions (“Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” “Project Runway,” “The Real World”). Currently SVP, Live Events & Specials with NBCUniversal, creating content across NBCU’s portfolio including “Barry Manilow’s A Very Barry Christmas,” “Christmas at Graceland LIVE,” “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade” and “Wicked.”
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