For more than 120 years, the Lyric has created ground-breaking and acclaimed productions while gaining a national reputation for our work with children and young people. We are a registed charity committed to creating tangible pathways into the theatre industry for every young person.
A message from Ian McKellen:
I’m celebrating my 80th birthday by touring a new solo show to theatres I know well and a few that I don’t. The show starts with Gandalf and will probably end with an invitation to act with me on stage. In-between there will be anecdotes and acting. I open at my local arts centre in January and end up by August in Orkney.
Live theatre has always been thrilling to me, as an actor and in the audience. Growing up in Lancashire, I was grateful to those companies who toured beyond London and I’ve always enjoyed repaying that debt by touring up and down the country myself, with the RSC, the National Theatre, Prospect Theatre, the Actors’ Company, as well as with commercial productions.
The first time I acted in London was 60 years ago at the original Lyric Opera House in Hammersmith. It was also my first paid job as an actor (£12 a week). I was still an undergraduate at Cambridge. The student production was a musical based on ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’ in which I played the ancient schoolmaster Holofernes, in a false nose and ill-fitting wig. I may well reprise one of the songs during my new solo show – with much else from Shakespeare, Tolkien and others. See you there, I hope!
The Lyric is so grateful for Ian’s support. It’s an honour to have one of the world’s most respected actors back on our stage where he began his career.
The money raised from this performance will support the next generation of young artists from playwrights to actors, from sound designers to directors. The Lyric Next Generation programmes train, mentor and equip young people aged 18 to 25 from all backgrounds into careers in the performing arts.