And finally ... Trevor McDonald will be in cameo for Sondheim's Follies. Photograph: PA
On Sunday night, you can see Angela Rippon and Trevor McDonald on stage together at the London Palladium, in a "charity gala performance" (there's something about those words that makes one shudder and think of Butlins, but stay with me). It's a one-off production of Follies, the Sondheim musical, and McDonald and Rippon have cameos in a cast that includes legit stage stars such as Maria Friedman, Imelda Staunton, Philip Quast - who played Javert in the original Les Miserables and is currently Juan Peron in Evita - and Liz Robertson, who was in the Hal Prince directed, 1975 West End stage version of A Little Night Music and was married to Alan Jay Lerner. She was his eighth wife.
I've never actually seen Follies. I know it has that song I'm Still Here in it, which Elaine Stritch croaked out in her one-woman show to brilliant and terrifying effect. I used to hate Sondheim - I thought he was snotty and fey - then I hit 30 and suddenly loved him, which makes me wonder what's coming next. I hope it's not sudoku.
There are still tickets going for Follies. Don't yell at me for plugging them, it's for charity (the Starlight Children's Foundation and Kingston Hospital Cancer Unit Appeal) and anyway, one-off performances like this are always amazing because the performers don't get a second shot at it. Do feel free to yell at me for this.
One final thing: there's a piece running in the New Republic about Dreamgirls (rightfully) missing out on a nomination for Best Picture in the Oscars this year. It's a good assessment of where things have gone wrong in musicals over the last few years and how the only worthwhile shows around at the moment are parodies, like Avenue Q, and the odd charity gala performance.
· Follies, London Palladium, Sunday 4th Feb, 7.15pm. Box office: 0870 167 0002
