Wayne Brady Will Make West End Debut in New Musical of TO SIR, WITH LOVE

Five-time Emmy Award winner and multiple Grammy nominee, Wayne Brady, will star alongside Lulu in two concert performances of TO SIR, WITH LOVE – A New Musical at the Gillian Lynne Theatre on Monday, 24 November 2025.

Celebrated American performer, Wayne Brady, makes his West End debut as Rick Braithwaite, the role originated in film by the legendary Sidney Poitier. On Broadway, he’s appeared as The Wiz in The Wiz, Billy Flynn in Chicago, and Lola in Kinky Boots and most recently this year returned to Broadway as Harold Ziegler in Moulin Rouge! His other theatre credits include Aaron Burr in Hamilton (Chicago), Collins in Rent (Hollywood Bowl, L.A.), Fred in Kiss Me, Kate (L.A.) and Charlie in Merrily We Roll Along (L.A.). His television credits include being a regular on Whose Line is it Anyway? a recurring role in How I Met Your Mother, Black Lightning, The Good Fight and American Gigolo. He has also competed on Dancing With the Stars and won the second season of The Masked Singer.

This newly reimagined stage adaptation of E.R. Braithwaite’s powerful memoir features music and lyrics by John Farrar and Kara DioGuardi, with direction by acclaimed director Sheldon Epps. In a full-circle moment, British music icon, actress and Grammy nominee Lulu joins the cast, returning to the story that launched her global career.

To Sir With Love is an autobiographical story that is every bit as relevant then, as it is today. Rick Braithwaite is more than just a Cambridge-educated engineer and a former RAF fighter pilot; he's a man battling societal prejudices at every turn. Refusing to bow to adversity, he engages his students not as troublesome youths but as emerging adults who must soon navigate a world where they'll stand or fall on their own merits. Through a balance of grit and grace, he aims to prepare them for more than just exams; he prepares them for life.

The story explores race, class, resilience, and the power of respect. The concert will feature an original score by Farrar and DioGuardi, alongside the legendary title song “To Sir, with Love” by Mark London and Don Black. Casting by Debbie O’Brien.

To Sir, With Love has musical arrangements by Eve Nelson, musical supervision and orchestration by Joseph Joubert, dramaturgy by Shereen Jasmin Phillips and choreography by Edgar Godineaux.

Lythgoe Productions and Darren Bell produces, with Alex Day, Willette and Manny Klausner, Jonathan and Jennifer Yaek and Rebecca Bahling-Lythgoe.

To Sir, With Love has been developed through the Ogunquit Playhouse New Works Program.