SYDNIE CHRISTMAS and MADALENA ALBERTO
complete the star line-up for
To Maury, With Love
Danielle Tarento is proud to announce
SYDNIE CHRISTMAS
and
MADALENA ALBERTO
complete the star line-up joining
RAMIN KARIMLOO
GRAHAM BICKLEY
ROB HOUCHEN
KELLY MATHIESON
in
To Maury, With Love
A celebration of the works of Maury Yeston on the occasion of his 80th birthday
Sunday February 22, 2026 at 7.30pm
Theatre Royal Drury Lane,
Catherine St, London WC2B 5JF
Sydnie Christmas (the first female vocalist to win Britain’s Got Talent) and Madalena Alberto (Eva Perón in Evita and Fantine in the 25th Anniversary production of Les Misérables) complete the star line-up joining Ramin Karimloo, Graham Bickley, Ron Houchen and Kelly Mathieson to celebrate multi-Tony Award winning composer Maury Yeston’s 80th birthday.
To Maury, With Love is a concert of his most well know and loved music, directed by Thom Southerland and produced by Danielle Tarento.
Tarento and Southerland have collaborated previously on several of Yeston’s shows in the UK, including the London premieres of Titanic the Musical and Death Takes a Holiday and a critically acclaimed revival of Grand Hotel.
These musicals will be represented in the concert, along with music from Nine, Phantom (Maury’s 1991 version of The Phantom of the Opera has received over 1,000 productions globally) and many others, including never-before heard songs and an overture written especially for the occasion.
Sydnie Christmas captured the nation’s heart as the first female vocalist to win Britain’s Got Talent. Her Golden Buzzer audition of “Tomorrow” from Annie amassed over 50 million views worldwide. She went on to win the competition with spellbinding performances of “My Way” and “Over the Rainbow.” Sydnie starred as Cruella de Vil in Disney’s 101 Dalmatians: The Musical (Eventim Apollo) and starred in the West End premiere of Oscar-winning lyricist Don Black’s musical revue, From the Heart at the Fortune Theatre.
Madalena Alberto is best known for playing Eva Perón in Evita (Dominion Theatre) and Gloria Fajardo in Gloria Estefan’s musical On Your Feet! (London Coliseum). Her other West End roles include Fantine in the 25th Anniversary production of Les Misérables (Barbican), Grizabella in Cats and Zorro the Musical She played Alice Beane in Maury Yeston’s Titanic, when it toured mainland Republic of China.
West End and Broadway star Ramin Karimloo is no stranger to Yeston’s work, Karimloo played Barrett in the recent Encores production of Titanic the Musical at NYCityCenter and Guido Contini in Nine in Concert for Hope Mill Theatre at The Lowry.
Graham Bickley made his West End debut in 1981 in They’re Playing Our Song. His other West End credits include The Pirates of Penzance, Metropolis, Which Witch, Maddie, The Pajama Game (Best Actor nomination, Toronto), Les Misérables (as Enjolras and Marius), Miss Saigon (as Chris), and Sunset Boulevard (as Joe Gillis, playing opposite Petula Clark). He played Tateh in the 2003 London premiere of Ragtime (nominated for the Laurence Olivier and The Whatsonstage Award for Best Actor in a Musical). In 2023, he toured the UK as Captain EJ Smith in Maury Yeston’s Titanic the Musical.
Rob Houchen played Jack in the West End premiere of Titanique. He made his West End debut in Les Misérables (as Marius Pontmercy) and later played Marius in the staged concert version of Les Misérables at the Gielgud Theatre. He was Lieutenant Joseph Cable in the Chichester Festival Theatre production of South Pacific (Manchester Opera House, Sadler’s Wells and UK tour). He was Frederick Fleet in the Maury Yeston’s Titanic the Musical at Charing Cross Theatre.
Kelly Mathieson made her name in the musical theatre industry when she landed the lead role of Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera in the West End. During her nearly three-year, award-winning run as Christine, Kelly also built a flourishing concert career, performing as a soloist at prestigious venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Concert Hall Glasgow, and Cadogan Hall, where she played Tonia in the UK premiere of Dr Zhivago.
The concert will feature a 30-piece London Musical Theatre Orchestra and a 30-strong choir of this year’s graduating MA Musical Theatre students from the Royal Academy of Music, under the baton of Mark Aspinall.
Tarento said “My working relationship and friendship with Maury is one of the great joys of my life. His musicals resonate so deeply with me and have framed so much of the past 15 years of my career. To be able to celebrate his 80th birthday in such a significant way is a privilege and an honour.”
The concert is raising funds for Bowel Cancer UK.
Maury Yeston is one of Broadway’s most celebrated composer lyricists. In addition to winning a Tony Award for Best Score for Titanic the Musical (which won another four Tonys including Best Musical), Yeston won a Tony Award and two Drama Desk Awards for his music and lyrics to Nine (based on Fellini’s 1963 movie 8½). That production also won four additional Tonys including Best Musical. The Broadway revival of Nine, starring Antonio Banderas, won the Tony Award for Best Musical Revival. Yeston’s contribution to the score for Grand Hotel was nominated for a Tony and two Drama Desk Awards, and the Donmar Warehouse production won an Olivier Award. His score for Phantom has received national and international acclaim. More recently, he wrote music and lyrics to Death Takes A Holiday, which was nominated for 11 Drama Desk Awards, the first entirely American full length ballet, Tom Sawyer: A Ballet In Three Acts, which premiered in Kansas City and Anything Can Happen in The Theater – The Musical World of Maury Yeston, a new musical revue conceived and directed by Gerard Alessandrini which premièred in March 2020 at Manhattan’s York Theater Company.
In 2009, Nine was adapted into a film with a screenplay by Anthony Minghella and Michael Tolkin, directed by Rob Marshall and featuring Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Dame Judi Dench, Kate Hudson, Fergie, and Sophia Loren. It was nominated for five Golden Globes and four Academy Awards. Yeston was nominated for a Critics Choice and Golden Globe for Best Original Song, Cinema Italiano, and an Academy Award for Best Original Song, “Take It All”.
Other works include: Cello Concerto, premièred by Yo Yo Ma; the concert album Goya – A Life In Song, featuring Placido Domingo and Gloria Estefan; December Songs, a song cycle commissioned by Carnegie Hall for its centennial celebration; An American Cantata – 2000 Voices, a choral symphony in three movements for the National Symphony Orchestra and 2000 singers commissioned by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.LISTINGS INFO
Danielle Tarento
presents
To Maury, With Love
Directed by
Thom Southerland
Orchestrated and Conducted by
Mark Aspinall
Lighting Designed by Howard Hudson
Sound Designed by Andrew Johnson
Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Catherine St,
London
WC2B 5JF
Sunday February 22, 2026
at 7.30pm
Running time: to be confirmed
Age recommendation: PG
Tickets from £25 (booking fees apply)
Booking link:
https://lwtheatres.co.uk/whats-on/maury-yeston-80th-birthday/