Hey Mr. Producer!

An Amazing Tribute to an Amazing Man

Over 200 of theatre's most talented performers come together to celebrate Sir Cameron Mackintosh's thirty years as a producer.

Comments and reviews from those who attended

It opened with a reminder of the show which sparked Cameron's interest in musical theatre at the age of eight - Julian Slade's Salad Days. Moving on through the Cat's Overture and Food Glorious Food from Oliver (which was performed by over 80 children who had appeared in the show during it's recent run at the Palladium) we reached a sizable section devoted to My Fair Lady and featuring Liz Robertson and Jonathan Pryce. There then followed a show medley, highlights of which for me were John Barrowman singing One, Two, Three from The Fix, Ellen Greene with two songs from Little Shop Of Horrors, and Bernadette Peters with a stunning performance of Unexpected Song from Song & Dance.

Oliver was featured again, with Adam Searles (Gavroche) as the Artful Dodger. Martin Guerre was the only disappointment of the evening for me. What seemed to be a new arrangement of I'm Martin Guerre completely detracted from David Campbell's spirited performance. And a new song How Many Tears which has been written for the forthcoming tour, although beautifully sung by Maria Friedman, doesn't match up to anything in the last London production. David Campbell appeared again, this time as Chris in Miss Saigon, singing the lovely duet Last Night Of The World with Lea Salonga. The star of this five-number set however was Jonathan Pryce as the Engineer in the American Dream. The first act drew to a close with three songs from Phantom Of The Opera performed by Colm Wilkinson, Lisa Vroman and Michael Ball.

Act Two included a sizable section devoted to the works of Stephen Sondheim and, next to Les Mis, this was my favourite. It began appropriately enough with Broadway Baby from which the name of the concert was taken. You Could Drive A Person Crazy from Company was hilarious, as was You've Gotta Have A Gimmick from Gypsy. I've never seen Bernadette Peters before, and thought her an absolute sensation singing one of my favourite Sondheim songs Being Alive, so too was Michael Ball with my other great favourite Losing My Mind. And Judi Dench sang Send In The Clowns to appreciative applause.

The Rodgers & Hammerstein set introduced Hugh Jackman, our latest Aussie import, singing Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin' from Oklahoma. What can I say, other than he sings well, looks gorgeous, and I'll definitely be going to see this show when it opens at the National!

An amusing interlude had Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Sondheim on film paying a humorous tribute to Sir Cameron to the tune of Send In The Clowns and Music Of The Night. The Cats sequence featured Brian Blessed and Paul Nicholas together with the Company, but most notably Elaine Paige who gave a heart-rending performance of Memory which sent shivers down your spine.

Which brings us at last to the highlight of the evening, the Les Mis medley which quite rightly brought this wonderful concert to an end. It began with the Company singing At The End Of The Day, which was followed by Ruthie Henshall's moving rendition of I Dreamed A Dream. And then, the moment we had been waiting for - at long last, Philip and Stars! For those of you who had heard he was only going to sing half of the song and were wondering who was going to sing the other half, the answer is no-one! Philip began at "Stars in your multitudes" and of course sang to perfection. "And so it must BEEE!" seemed even more forceful than ever. Why oh why couldn't they have let him do the song in it's entirety? I know I'm biased, but he was without doubt one of the best performers on stage both nights and received rapturous applause. He returned for One Day More.....if only there had been more!

But nevertheless, I'm sure both Elaine and Carole who attended the concerts with me would agree that it was without doubt one of the most thrilling theatrical experiences we are ever likely to have. Two fabulous nights, never to be forgotten.

`Hey Mr. Producer!` the Cameron Mackintosh gala celebration was absolutely amazing. Sondheim and Webber`s tribute to Cameron, (they sang and played a duet together) was priceless. Bernadette Peters, Maria Friedman and the performance by Dame Judie Dench were worth the ticket price alone.

As for Jonathan Pryce and Philip Quast's performance----well!

Jonathan`s performance as Professor Higgins from my fair lady ( he sang I`ve Grown Accustomed to Her face) and his performance of `American Dream` from Miss Saigon were superb.

As for Philip, his performance of `Stars` was just astounding. Even more so due to the fact he had to start half way through the song. He actually started at `Stars in your multitudes.` He received one of the longest rounds of applause and loudest roars of the night and deservedly so for his performance. All I can say it was a pity that we didn`t get to hear Philip sing a whole song.

Scans of the Programme cover, and images from the programme (The Fix, Javert, Philip) provided by Angela Pollard. Photos of Philip taken at the stage door provided by Carol Purkiss. Many thanks for all their help!