Dame Vera Lynn has sent a message of support to the ailing theatre industry.
The voice of the 103-year-old, who performed to British troops during the Second World War, can be heard in an online film sending words of support to theatres, which have had to close their doors.
“It’s Dame Vera Lynn here,” she says, “and I would like to send my love and best wishes to everyone in the theatre industry.”
As well as the Forces’ Sweetheart, the video features performers Maria Friedman, Alfie Boe and Kerry Ellis singing Dame Vera’s hit We’ll Meet Again.
The video, featuring the stars from their homes, is a message that West End and UK theatres “shall once more rise and thrive”.
Writer and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth and comedian and actor Joe Pasquale are also in the line-up.
Musician Leon Charles, the grandson of We’ll Meet Again composer Hughie Charles, said: “We’ll Meet Again is about the wonderful optimism in the face of uncertainty that those who were close, but for now, apart, will be together again, ‘some sunny day’.
“I’m thrilled that my grandfather’s music, with Ross Parker’s lyrics, is being performed in the spirit in which it was intended.”
We’ll Meet Again is on Official London Theatre’s YouTube channel