‘Cinderella’ to host gala performance with Malala Yousafzai

The performance will benefit Yousafzai's nonprofit organization, the Malala Fund.

The West End production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella will host a gala performance in conjunction with Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai. All the ticket proceeds from this performance will be donated to the Malala Fund, Yousafzai's nonprofit organization that advocates for girls' education worldwide.

"I am an enormous admirer of Malala. She is an extraordinary person and you can imagine my delight when I discovered that she loved musical theatre," Webber said in a statement. "We wanted to do this gala performance of Cinderella because our heroine is a strong-willed and mischievous young woman whose lesson is: don't change to please others."

Webber's Cinderella musical casts the title character, played by Carrie Hope Fletcher, as the town misfit for her sharp tongue and goth look, which does not conform to the town's rigid beauty standards. As in the classic fairytale, Cinderella determines to go to the ball being held by Prince Charming and receives a temporary makeover from a Godmother, but in finding true love she also finds out how to stay true to herself. The musical features music by Webber, lyrics by David Zippel, and a book by British Academy Film Award winner Emerald Fennell.

The Cinderella gala performance is set for November 22 at the Gillian Lynne Theatre. In addition to the show, the event will also feature the work of Shamsia Hassani, a contemporary Afghan artist, and the stories of female Afghan musicians.

"Malala Yousafzai is a true hero and a beacon of light to so many of us. It is an honor to be able to support her work in any small way, especially at such an urgent and terrible time for the women and girls around the world," Fennell said.

Book Cinderella tickets on London Theatre now.

^{Photo credit: Tristram Kenton}