Harry takes to the London stage for charities

Prince Harry is getting to be quite a fan of popular musicals, especially when they stage gala performances to raise money for his causes.

This week, Harry took the stage of London’s Dominion Theatre before the performance of Bat Out of Hell — The Musicial, the award-winning rock opera by composer Jim Steinman and based on the bestselling Meat Loaf albums dating from the 1970s.

It was a solo night at the theatre for Harry — pregnant Duchess Meghan of Sussex stayed home — but it was in service for one of his most important charities, the Invictus Games for wounded warriors that he founded in 2014.

Before the performance started, he thanked the audience for helping raise funds for the Invictus Games Foundation, which runs the international competition.

The foundation and the producers of Bat Out Of Hell announced this year a global partnership to help support the games, including arranging family workshops for wounded personnel interested in a career in the theater.

“You have all played a part in making sure that we can continue the work that we do,” Harry said, pointing out the motorbike prop from the show on the stage. “So apart from wanting to get on that bike and rev it ... enjoy the show and thank you very much for being part of this.”

Before the show, Harry met with some of the serving personnel and veterans who were invited to the gala performance.

The West End show, which has earned positive reviews and theatre awards, has elements of West Side Story, bringing to life Meat Loaf anthems in the story of a young leader of a rebellious gang as he falls in love with the daughter of a tyrannical ruler.

In August, a few months after Harry and Meghan wed at Windsor Castle in May, the two of them attended a gala performance of Hamilton, sitting next to writer/director/star Lin-Manuel Miranda, to raise funds for Harry’s African children’s charity, Sentebale.

That show, of course, features King George III, Harry’s sixthgreat-grandfather, as a character, which led the prince to jokingly start singing one of the songs during his speech from the stage.

“You say...” the prince began, crooning a line from the George III song You’ll Be Back. The audience, including Miranda and the cast, were delighted but that was enough for Harry, who told them, “that’s not gonna happen.”