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Extraordinary things happened last night at the Lyceum Theatre when Sir Cameron Mackintosh presented a show of shows so emotionally charged it was in danger of overloading the circuits.
Celebrating his 30 years in the business, Hey, Mr Producer! brought two of the world's greatest creators of musicals, Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber, together at the piano in a hilarious double act.
It even marked the kilted Sir Cameron's debut as a singer in a closing solo and the return of Julie Andrews to the London stage, if only to introduce proceedings.
She got the first of the evening's ovations the moment she appeared. But the real substance was in the seamless series of sequences from Sir Cameron's productions like My Fair Lady, Cats, Les Misérables, Oliver!, Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera and a whole section devoted to Sondheim. When Sir Cameron came on at the close he admitted: "I am really quite overwhelmed, but at least it seems I have not been idle for the past 30 years."
"It is a little disconcerting to see 30 years of my life flash by in three hours but musical theatre is what I have lived for and this is the greatest conglomeration of talent I have ever seen on one stage."
He could hardly be accused of exaggerating. There was Jonathan Pryce and Liz Robertson in My Fair Lady, Bernadette Peters in Song and Dance, Russ Abbot and Sonia Swaby in Oliver!, and for Sondheim there was Judi Dench with a heartrending 'Send in the Clowns', as well as Maria Friedman, Michael Ball, Julia McKenzie, Millicent Martin and many more.
Tom Lehrer, back on stage for the first time in 25 years, reprised 'Poisoning Pigeons in the Park' while Brian Blessed, Paul Nicholas and Elaine Paige sang Cats. Colm Wilkinson doubled as the Phantom and Jean Valjean in Les Mis where he was joined by Ruthie Henshall and Lea Salonga among others. These were not just excerpts sung in concert but mini-shows, individually set, lit, costumed, choreographed and orchestrated with the painstaking care characteristic of a Mackintosh production.
Yet another standing ovation was accorded Sondheim when he introduced his filmed duet with Lloyd Webber which wittily combined his 'Send in the Clown's with 'Music of the Night' from Phantom. Rewritten by Sondheim, 'Send in the Crowd's poked affectionate fun at the "forever interfering" Sir Cameron. "God, but he's rich," sang Sondheim, to which Lloyd Webber wryly responded "Richer than me".
Afterwards, as he sipped champagne in the bar with the 200 members of the cast, Sondheim said: "I devised the piece for Cameron.
I was fed up with continual suggestions that I and Andrew are at loggerheads."
But the last words - a bellowed thank you to the audience - and the last song went to Sir Cameron as the cast filtered away into the wings and the golden proscenium arch contracted around him as if into a toy theatre. He sang 'We Said We Wouldn't Look Back' from Salad Days, the music which inspired the eight-year-old Cameron to become a producer.
Hey, Mr Producer!, in aid of the Royal National Institute for the Blind and the Combined Theatrical Charities, is performed again tonight in the presence of the Queen and Prince Philip. They are in for a treat.
© Associated Newspapers Ltd.
