The Menier concerts marked Lauren Kennedy's first performances on British soil since May 2003, when she appeared with Philip Quast in The Night of 1000 Voices at the Royal Albert Hall. Since then, Lauren has gone on to become one of Broadway's most renowned musical theatre actresses, with lead roles including Fantine in Les Misérables and The Lady of the Lake in Monty Python's Spamalot.

Lauren performed almost all of the songs which feature on her new Here and Now solo album, including a superb rendition of Andrew Lippa's 'Spread A Little Joy' backed by a three person choir.
- Lauren also performed 'I Can Do Better Than That' and 'Goodbye Until Tomorrow' (Songs of Jason Robert Brown album arrangement)
- Lara duetted with Lauren on 'In This Room' (from Here And Now) and Lara also performed 'A Summer In Ohio', from The Last 5 Years.
- Philip Quast duetted with Lauren on a new Jeff Blumenkrantz composition and he also performed Jason Robert Brown's 'Letting You Go'.

Lauren and Philip Quast's duet was entitled 'Recuerdo' - the piano/vocal arrangement is included in the Jeff Blumenkrantz songbook. The composer describes it as "A couple tenderly reminisces about a special evening". The lyrics are from a poem by Edna St Vincent Millay and the lyrics can be read in full here.

SONGLIST
Here I Am (David Yazbek)
Unanswered Question (David Kirshenbaum)
My Lifelong Love (Georgia Stitt)
Pretending That I'm Somebody Else (Matthew Sklar & Chad Beguelin)
Just Not Now (Joshua Salzman & Ryan Cunningham)
In This Room (Jason Robert Brown) - with Lara Pulver
A Summer in Ohio (Jason Robert Brown) - Lara Pulver
Through the Mountain (Adam Guettel)
Mr Hopalong Heartbreak (Jason Robert Brown)

You'll Want Me To Shine (Dan Lipton)
Apathetic Man (Marcy Heisler & Zena Goldrich)
Recuerdo (Jeff Blumenkrantz) - with Philip Quast (see box)
Letting You Go (Jason Robert Brown) - Philip Quast
Spread a Little Joy (Andrew Lippa)
I Can Do Better Than That (Jason Robert Brown)
Goodbye Until Tomorrow (Jason Robert Brown)

A much-awaited reunion: Lauren Kennedy and Philip Quast congratulate each other after a touching rendition of 'Recuerdo', by Jeff Blumenkrantz.

Click the image above to download the full-size flyer (PDF format, 3 MB)

NOTE: All information & audio/video material on this page is reproduced by kind permission of Lauren Kennedy. Many thanks to Gregor for his precious contribution.