Wicked Vet Kerry Ellis, Tony Nominee Jenna Russell & More to Headline Mercury Musical Developments Benefit Concert

A starry lineup has been announced for the Mercury Musical Developments 20th anniversary gala concert, which will celebrate British musical theatre past, present and future at London's Novello Theatre on October 14.

Kerry Ellis (Wicked, My Fair Lady), Janie Dee (All's Well That Ends Well, Anyone Can Whistle), Sally Anne Triplett (Anything Goes, Guys and Dolls), David Bedella (Jerry Springer - The Opera), Haydn Gwynne (Billy Elliot, Peak Practice), Paul Kaye (Matilda, It's All Gone Pete Tong) and Tony nominee Jenna Russell (Sunday in the Park with George) are all set to perform. 

The evening's set list will include numbers from MMD members who've composed shows such as Our Day Out (Willy Russell), Meantime (Douglas Hodge), Soapdish (Stiles & Drewe), French Without Tears (Charles Hart), The Buskers Opera (Dougal Irvine), The Go Between (Richard Taylor and David Wood), One Man Two Guvnors (Grant Olding), Matilda (Tim Minchin), Billy (Don Black and John Barry), The Boyfriend (Sandy Wilson), A Day In Hollywood a Night In The Ukraine (Frank Lazarus and Dick Vosburgh) and The Challenge (Howard Goodall).

MMD, a registered charity dedicated to the craft of writing books, music and lyrics for musical theater, started in 1992 when founding members studied with Stephen Sondheim, who was serving as the Cameron Mackintosh Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Oxford. Early members of the organization included Howard Goodall, Charles Hart, George Stiles, Anthony Drewe and Kit Hesketh Harvey.