It is set to be a night to remember at the Theatre Royal, in Bury St Edmunds, as a gala evening of cabaret, comedy, West End Show routines and celebrity guests are all set to raise money for charity.

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For “The Love Gala” is taking place on Sunday, March 25, and tickets are now on sale for the event.

It is set to raise money for the My WiSH Charity’s Every Heart Matters Appeal plus the Theatre Royal.

The evening is themed around love and affairs of the heart and is to feature a host of well known artists from stage, TV and the big screen.

They include Alex Jennings, who starred as Uncle Leopold in Victoria, Prince Charles in The Queen plus The Lady in the Van; Robert Glenister, Hustle, Spooks, A Touch of Frost; Yvonne Howard, a mezzo soprano with the English National Opera; Matthew Croke, who had the lead role as Aladdin at the Prince Edward Theatre, London, and has also been in other musicals including Singing in the Rain, Funny Girl and Annie Get Your Gun; Britt Lenting, who has starred in Footloose, Hairspray and Legally Blonde; Sammy Kelly, who has been in Young Frankenstein; and racing jockey and ambassador for the Every Heart Matters appeal Frankie Dettori.

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The appeal aims to raise £500,000 to build a brand new cardiac diagnostic unit at the West Suffolk Hospital, in Bury St Edmunds.

The West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust is investing £5.2m in developing a state of the art cardiac suite that will provide quicker access to more treatments, but the £500,000 the My WiSH Charity is hoping to raise will lead to the whole unit, which is currently fragmented on different floors, being brought together in one purpose-built centre.

With close to 15,000 diagnostic tests being performed each year, around 450 of those being on children, this centre really can’t come soon enough.

And as a registered charity the Theatre Royal relies on fundraising and events like these to help fund its operation. Over 90% of the theatre’s £1.7m turnover is self-generated.

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Tickets are available now and include a pre-show reception starting at 6.30pm. There will also be some tickets available for a post-show reception on stage where you will be able to meet the performers.

Contact the box office team on 01284 769505 or visit www.theatreroyal.org to book online.

If you would like to donate to the Every Heart Matters Appeal you can do so by going to Justgiving.com/ehma or text EHMA17 £10 to 70070.

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