Five-time Emmy winner Wayne Brady and Scottish pop singer Lulu will perform two concert stagings of To Sir, With Love – A New Musical at London’s West End in November.
Both concerts, at Gillian Lynne Theatre, are set for Monday, November 24. Lulu, of course, starred in the 1967 film version alongside Sidney Poitier and scored a hit with the title song.
The new musical adaptation, last performed by Brady at an invitation-only Los Angeles concert (today’s announcement describes the upcoming concerts as reimagined), features music and lyrics by John Farrar and Kara DioGuardi, with direction by Sheldon Epps. Both the musical and the film are based on the memoir of Guyanese-born British-American teacher and author E.R. Braithwaite.
In addition to the new score, the concerts will include Lulu’s signature “To Sir, with Love,” written by Mark London and Don Black.
Brady will be making his West End debut with the concerts. He’s currently starring on Broadway as Harold Ziegler in Moulin Rouge!, with other Broadway credits including The Wiz, Chicago and Kinky Boots. His television credits include Whose Line is it Anyway? How I Met Your Mother, Dancing With the Stars and The Masked Singer.
The synopsis: 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.
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.
No post-London plans are currently underway for the show.
