Grey, Henshall, Crivello, Etc. Set for 5/6 London Benefit

For the first time Tony and Academy Award Winner and Broadway legend Joel Grey will be headlining at The Night of 1000 Voices. He will be joined by the current Phantom in Las Vegas, Anthony Crivello, Tony Award Winner for his performance in Kiss of The Spider Woman, Ruthie Henshall and members of the Cast of Avenue Q and special guests. This exciting and exclusive performance will introduced by I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here Queen, Myleene Klass and will be for the benefit of The National Artistic Society.

The evening will take place at the Royal Albert Hall in London on May 6th at 8 PM. 

The evening is devised and directed by Hugh Wooldridge. Tickets are available at prices from £17.50 to £60.00; and there are a limited number of special Gala packages at £150.00.

All artistes appear subject to their professional commitments; programme subject to alteration

Joel Grey (born Joel Katz on April 11, 1932 in Cleveland, Ohio) originated the role of the Emcee in the Broadway musical Cabaret in 1966 for which he won the Tony Award. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1972 for his performance as the Master of Ceremonies in the movie version. He is one of only seven people who have won both a Tony Award and an Academy Award (Oscar) for the same role. He was also one of the first people to guest star on The Muppet Show in its first season, singing Razzle Dazzle and Cabaret. In the 1996 Broadway revival of Chicago, Joel played Amos Hart. Recently, Joel Grey was part of the original cast of the Stephen Schwartz musical Wicked as the Wizard himself, playing opposite Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth.

John Kander and Fred Ebb are two of musical theatre's giants. Composer Kander and lyricist/book writer Ebb have had several successful collaborations in the last 40 years and are as successful now, mostly in revival, as they were in the 1960s and 1970s when their work first hit the New York stage. Although they had worked separately on various shows and revues, success only came for either of them when they were introduced to one another and wrote the score for the 1965 musical Flora, the Red Menace. Some shows written by them include Flora, the Red Menace (1965); Cabaret (1966 and London 2006); The Happy Time (1968); Zorba (1968); 70 Girls 70; Chicago (1975 and 1996); The Act (1978); The Rink (1984) ; Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993) ; Steel Pier (1997) ; Curtains (2007) . The film version of Chicago won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2003.

Anthony Crivello appeared in The News and Les Miserables before achieving prominence as Valentin in the Kander and Ebb musical Kiss of the Spider Woman in 1995, for which he won a Tony Award as Best Featured Actor in a Musical. In 1999 he played opposite Audra McDonald in Michael John LaChiusa's musical Marie Christine. Two years later, he received an LA Ovation Award nomination, a Garland Award, a Robby Award nomination, and a LA Drama Critics Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in the musical Do I Hear a Waltz? at the Pasadena Playhouse. In August 2005, he appeared at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, California in a workshop production of Zhivago, a musicalisation of the Boris Pasternak novel by Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon. He is currently one of two actors rotating in the title role in the Las Vegas production of The Phantom of the Opera.

Myleene Klass was born in Gorleston, Norfolk to an Austrian/English father and a Filipino/Chinese mother. She is a fine classical pianist, television presenter, and former member of the British pop group Hear'Say. Her pop success achieved 4 Top 10 singles, 2 of which were UK #1s. Hear'Say also released 2 albums, Popstars and Everybody. In May 2004, her solo album, Moving On, was nominated as Peoples'
Album Of The Year in the Classical Brit Awards. During Christmas 2005, Klass appeared in a celebrity version of BBC's Mastermind. Myleene scored 20 points in Round One on her chosen specialist subject which was Series 1 of Sex and the City. However, during Round Two (general knowledge), Klass failed to answer a single question correctly. Last year, Myleene took part in the 6th series of ITV1's highly successful I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! She was very successful on the show, reaching the final and then coming in second place, finishing narrowly behind the winner, Matt Willis.

Since 1999, The Night of 1000 Voices has delighted capacity audiences at the Royal Albert Hall. On Spring Bank Holiday Sunday May 6, 2007, once again thrill to the sight and sound of the huge Sing Live UK massed choir from around the British Isles, Stephen Disley playing the refurbished organ of the Royal Albert Hall and The City Of London Philharmonic who will, as always, accompany some very special stars from London, New York and Sydney in a musical night to remember. International stars headed by the multi-award winning Joel Grey, and the current Las Vegas Phantom and star of The Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Anthony Crivello; from Australia the extraordinary Caroline O'Connor, and from London the original Roxie in the current revival of Chicago, Ruthie Henshall, and the present star of Porgy and Bess, Clarke Peters, will be joined by their West End and Broadway colleagues who will be performing songs from some of the best loved shows. This year's performers include Broadway's Teri Bibb, Gavin Creel and Scarlett Strallen (Mary Poppins), Tim Flavin (White Christmas), Sweden's Fred Johanson (Jesus Christ Superstar), and Helena Blackman, the runner-up in BBC TV's How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? David Michael Johnson (We Will Rock You in Cologne) will return with his show-stopping Jesus Christ Superstar. There will be exciting performances by the West End's Josefina Gabrielle, Tiffany Graves, Debbie Kurup, Annette Mclaughlin and the cast of the cult hit Avenue Q.

The West End's distinguished maestro, David Firman, will once again conduct the massed musical forces and director Hugh Wooldridge says "This evening is a must for all who love musicals. Come along and hear the best performers in the world performing some of the greatest songs. Come and join in the fun; come and raise funds for two splendid charities whilst raising the roof of the Royal Albert Hall."

The National Autistic Society aims to support many of the 500,000 families in the UK affected by autism.  It runs schools and adult residential and day centres, training programmes for parents and professionals, a helpline, an advocacy service, supported employment programmes, volunteer befriending programmes and provides up-to-date accurate information on all aspects of autism. ADDISS provides information and training for parents, sufferers and professionals in the fields of ADHD and related learning and behavioural difficulties. ADDISS offers much-needed support and advice for parents and siblings.

Visit www.nas.org.uk or www.royalalberthall.com for more information.

Photo of Ruthie Henshall by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

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