On 12th February, the Orchard Theatre in Dartford will be hosting Smile! – a fundraising concert featuring a stellar cast of West End performers, in support of seven-year-old Nathan Box. Nathan has a rare brain tumour called Hypothalamic Harmartoma, which causes him to have more than 25 seizures daily and is having a devastating effect on his everyday life and development. He recently appeared on ITV News – this video contains some upsetting footage.
The good news is that Nathan’s condition is curable; the bad is that the necessary treatment’s only available in Texas. His family have successfully raised the £100k they need to pay for the treatment itself, but now need to find an additional £50k to cover flights, accommodation, extra tests, scans, travel insurance and any added costs they may encounter when Nathan’s in the States.
Tickets for Smile! cost just £30, which is a bargain price to see a cast of over 100 including the likes of Lyn Paul (Blood Brothers), Simon Lipkin (Avenue Q), Dean Chisnall (Shrek The Musical) and Hugh Maynard (Miss Saigon), along with a live 42-piece orchestra led by the current musical director of Blood Brothers. The performers are all giving their time for free and every penny collected from ticket sales will go to Nathan. And thanks to an anonymous donor, all the money raised by the concert up to £20k will be doubled, meaning the family could raise as much as £40k in one night.
For anyone who can’t make it to the concert but would like to show their support, there’ll also be a sponsored seat scheme. This again costs £30, and every sponsored seat purchased is donated to Ellenor Children’s Hospice, allowing a child in their care a free night out at the theatre.
This promises to be a spectacular night of musical theatre, for a really good cause. To book tickets visit the Orchard Theatre website, or to purchase a sponsored seat, call the Ticket Office on 01322 220000.
Or find out more and help spread the word by following Smile For Nathan on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
Here’s the full cast list so far:
LYN PAUL– New Seekers, Blood Brothers, Taboo, Cabaret
HUGH MAYNARD– John in Miss Saigon (West End & DVD), Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd, A Christmas Carol, The Lion King, Notre Dame De Paris, Follies, We Will Rock You, Dancing in the Street, Sister Act and many more!
SIMON LIPKIN– West End Productions of Avenue Q, Rock of Ages , Guys and Dolls along side Rebel Wilson, Spamalot, Assassins, Disaster Musical as well as many more!
DEAN CHISNALL– Shrek in Shrek- The Musical ( Theatre Royal Drury Lane West End & UK and Ireland Tour), Love Never Dies (Adelphi), La Cage aux Folles (Playhouse), Never Forget (Savoy and tour), Evita (Adelphi), The Women in White (Palace)
JOE SLEIGHT– Wicked (WestEnd) ‘Cover Boq’, Midsummer Nights Dream (Middle Temple Hall London) ‘Puck’, Blood Brothers (UK Tour) ‘Perkins’ & ‘Peter Pan in Peter Pan at the Wycombe Swan’
JENNA LEE JAMES– Scaramouche, Meatloaf and KillerQueen in ‘We Will Rock You’, of whom she is the ONLY person in world to have played all 3 female leads. Narrator in ‘Joseph’, Mary in ‘Tonight’s The Night’ & Alternate Donna in ‘Mamma Mia’
PAUL WILKINS– Marius in Les Miserables (West End, Asia, Manila, Singapore & Dubai)
MICHELLE PENTECOST– Grace Farrell – Annie, Vava – Paraside Moscow, Elphaba – Wicked, & Eva Peron – Evita
NANCY HILL– Grease (West End), Tracy in Hairspray, Sweeney Todd (ENO) with Emma Thompson
LAURA HARRISON– Lucille Frank in the Hope Mill Theatres production of ‘Parade’, Donna Marie/Miss Jones Cover Mrs Lyons in ‘Blood Brothers’, Tiger Lily in ‘Peter Pan’, Audrey in ‘Little Shop of Horrors’
JODIE BETH MEYER– Understudy for Jodie Prenger in Tell Me on a Sunday, Petra in A Little Night Music, High School Musical (UK Tour), Aspects of Love (UK Tour), Pirates of Penzance, Svetlana in Chess and Eponine in Les Miserables (Channel Island tours)
MELANIE BRIGHT- We Will Rock You (UK Tour) The Who’s Tommy (English Theatre Frankfurt and European Tour) Quasimodo (King’s Head) The Gypsy ‘Acid Queen’ in Tommy (Winter Gardens) and Les Misérables (Queen’s Theatre) where she understudied and played the role of Fantine. Film includes Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Warner Bros) and Delilah in Samson and Delilah.
DEAN KILFORD– Perkins and Understudy Eddie – Blood Brothers (UK Tour), Dandini/Buttons- Cinderella, Dick Whittington- Dick Whittington, Sunday Night at the Palladium & is the current host and commentator for The Non League Show!
All images used with permission from Nathan’s family.
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