Young Vic gets £1m donation

A campaign spearheaded by stars including Jude Law to build a new Young Vic theatre received an astonishing boost when a single donor handed over a cheque for £1 million.

Patrick McKenna, a former chief executive of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group, made the unprecedented donation after a private gala performance last night of Peter Brooks's Le Costume.

David Lan, the theatre's artistic director, said: "We are so thrilled, delighted and grateful. It is a great surprise and a great endorsement of the Young Vic."

In February Mr Lan will formally announce plans to raise £ 12 million and radically rebuild the theatre. Its 1970 breezeblock exterior, which is beset by structural problems and leaks, will be replaced with a new shell. Only the original auditorium will remain.

Jude Law, who is filming the remake of Alfie in Manchester, could not be at last night's gala but the audience included Zoe Wanamaker, Joseph Fiennes, Stephen Daldry, agent Tor Belfrage, Greg Dyke, South Bank supremo Michael Lynch, Corin Redgrave and Philip Pullman.

The event was staged to alert the Young Vic's closest supporters of its new rebuilding plans. Arts Council England has already indicated it will treat any application for support as a priority.

Mr McKenna, who was unavailable for comment, left the Really Useful Group in 1997 to set up entertainment investment company Ingenious Ventures, which gives financial advice to stars including Victoria Beckham.

He is also a director of Simon Fuller's 19 Management - which has raked in tens of millions of pounds thanks to the international success of Pop Idol and bands including S Club and The Spice Girls.