Guest Tutors | Coaches – Musical Theatre Programmes

Jason Carr

MUSICAL DIRECTOR | COMPOSER | ORCHESTRATOR

Graeme Danby

INTERNATIONAL OPERA SINGER | SINGING TEACHER

Magnus Gilljam

MUSICAL DIRECTOR | REPETITEUR | CONDUCTOR

Mitch Leow

ACTOR | AERIALIST | MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMER

Nigel Planer

ACTOR | COMEDIAN | NOVELIST | PLAYWRIGHT

Guest Tutors | Acting

Other Guests

The Rev’d Simon Grigg

Rector of the Actor’s Church

David Grindrod

Casting Director

Michael Harris

Head of Production – Bill Kenwright Ltd

Barbara Windsor MBE

Actress

Peter Huntly

Producer

Rosiland Plowright Headshot

Rosalind Plowright is one of the most celebrated artists of our time. Her career spans more than 35 years. She was acclaimed as one of the world’s great spinto sopranos

specialising in roles such as Medée, Alceste and Norma as well as the great Verdi and Puccini heroines. Rosalind Plowright has sung at nearly all the international opera houses such as the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Paris Opera, Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Grand Theatre de Genève, and at the Arena di Verona. Her colleagues include all the most praised operatic stars of the time. Her American debut was alongside Jose Carreras in a concert at the Philadelphia Orchestra under Riccardo Muti and they also sang Andrea Chenier at Covent Garden and recorded La Forza del Destino for Deutsche Grammophon (which won best opera recording from Gramophone). With Placido Domingo she has performed Il Trovatore at Covent Garden and recorded the opera with him for Deutsche Grammophon for which she was personally awarded the Prix Fondation Fanny Heldy. With Luciano Pavarotti she performed Aida at Covent Garden and a gala concert for 25,000 at the Arena of Verona. Among the many conductors with whom she has worked are Giulini, Gavazzeni, Patane, Muti, Abbado, Mehta, Sinopli, Sawallisch, Haitink, Pappano, Ozawa and Bychkov.

Rosalind Plowright entered the dramatic mezzo repertoire in 1999 with roles such as Amneris in Aida, the Principessa in Adriana Lecouvreur, La Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica and Klytämnestra in Elektra Madame de Croissy in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmelites. Plowright won special praise as the Kostelnicka in Janacek’s Jenufa. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in this role. Her many recordings also include Mary Stuart, Otello, Aida and Hansel & Gretel for the Opera in English series for Chandos; Elijah for Chandos, La Vestale for Orfeo, Contes d’Hoffmann for EMI and Mahler 2nd Symphony for Deutsche Grammophon. Her DVD’s include her performances of Il Trovatore from Verona, Suor Angelica from La Scala, Hansel & Gretel from the Metropolitan Opera and Not the Messiah. (He’s a very naughty boy)with the Monty Python team at the Royal Albert hall. Her forthcoming appearances are in Japan (Herodias), Covent Garden (La Contessa de Coigny and her first Kabanicha in Katya Kabanova), Lyon and Vienna (Mrs Sedley). In May 2014 she launched her first recital album, La Belle Dame Sans Merci.

Rosalind Plowright was awarded the OBE in 2007 for her services to music.

Sir Tim Rice

Lyricist

Sir Tim Rice is a multi-award-winning lyricist. Although he began he professional life with the intention of being a solicitor, he harboured aspirations in the field of pop music and eventually became a management trainee at EMI.

His collaboration with Andrew Lloyd Webber is world-famous. Their first work was a piece for an annual end of term school concert – Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat which quickly began to take on a life of its own leading to subsequent stagings, additions of new material, and even a record deal.

This initial success was followed with the show that was to bring Rice and Lloyd Webber international fame and guarantee them a place in musical theatre history, Jesus Christ Superstar. Other work includes Evita with Lloyd Webber, Blondel with Stephen Oliver and Chess with Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus from the pop group ABBA

With the proven world-wide appeal of Tim Rice’s lyrics, it was not surprising when in 1991 the Disney organisation signed Tim as lyricist for The Lion King. When lyricist Howard Ashman passed away, Tim was asked to work with Alan Menken on finishing Disney’s 1992 animated film Aladdin. He was asked to collaborate with Menken again in 1994 to provide additional songs for the theatrical production of Beauty And The Beast. Tim Rice and Elton John teamed up again in 1996 when Disney asked them to do an original stage musical based on Verdi’s opera Aida.

The year 2000 also saw the release of the film The Road To Eldorado which included 5 songs by Tim and Elton. In 1986 Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber were commissioned by Prince Edward to write a piece for Queen Elizabeth II’s 60th birthday. He teamed up with pop composer John Farrar to work on a musical for Cliff Richard based upon Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights called Heathcliff. Over the years Tim has co-produced four musical productions with various partners : Blondel (1983 & 2006), Chess (1986) and Anything Goes (1989).

In addition to musicals and feature films, Tim has written countless pop songs, many of which have enjoyed chart success. His work has won him numerous awards including 12 Ivor Novello awards, 4 Tonys, and 3 Oscars.

Tim was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1999. In recognition of his work in film and theatre, Tim was inducted as a Disney Legend in 2002 at the Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris during the celebrations for the tenth anniversary of Disneyland Paris. In 2008, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. Tim was knighted 1994.

www.timrice.co.uk

Timothy West CBE was born in Bradford in 1934, the son of actor Lockwood West. Seasons in repertory in Wimbledon, Newquay, Hull, Northampton, Worthing and Salisbury, coming to the Piccadilly Theatre in the farce Caught Napping in 1959.

Since then his performances on the London stage have included Gentle Jack, The Italian Girl, Abelard and Heloise, The Homecoming, Beecham, Master Class, When we are Married, The Sneeze, It’s Ralph, Twelve Angry Men and The Birthday Party, The Old Country, The Collection and A Number.

At the National Theatre he has performed in Long Day’s Journey into Night, King Lear, and Luther; at the Royal Court in Laughter; in seasons with the RSC and at Chichester Festival; and with Prospect/Old Vic Company, for whom he played King Lear, Prospero, Shylock, Claudius and Enobarbus. At the Birmingham Rep, Galileo. For English Touring Theatre, on tour and in London he has played Falstaff in both parts of Henry IV, and Solness in Ibsen’s The Master Builder and King Lear. At the Sheffield Crucible, Caryl Churchill’s A Number. For the Rose Theatre, Kingston, and on tour The Winslow Boy and most recently a UK Tour of Quartet.

Television includes Edward VII, Churchill and the Generals, Brass, The Monocled Mutineer, The Good Doctor Bodkin Adams, What the Butler Saw, The Contractor, Blore, M.P., Beecham, Framed, Eleven Men Against Eleven, Murder in Mind, Bedtime, Bleak House, A Room with a View, Going Postal and Lewis.

Recent films: Ever After, Joan of Arc, Villa des Roses, Iris, The Fourth Angel, Beyond Borders andEndgame.

Work as Director has included, recently, HMS Pinafore for Carl Rosa Opera.

He has taken part in over 500 radio broadcasts, and recorded many Talking Books. His autobiography A Moment Towards the End of the Play, and So You Want to be an Actor (co-written with his wife Prunella Scales) are published by Nick Hern Books.

He was made CBE in 1984, and is currently President of the London Academy of Dramatic Art, and of the Society for Theatre Research

Andrew Keates

Director

Training: Brockenhurst College (Beacon College for Performing Arts), The Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts & The Guildford School of Acting (BA Hons Theatre).

West End credits include: Michael Dennis’ world premiere of Dark Sublime, starring Marina Sirtis. William M. Hoffman’s first AIDS play As Is. The critically acclaimed production of the European premiere of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty’s new musical, Dessa Rose, starring Cynthia Erivo (Trafalgar Studios). The London revival of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (Charing Cross Theatre), and Martin Sherman’s Passing By (Tristan Bates Theatre).

Other credits include: the European premiere of David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish (Park Theatre). Howard Goodall and Richard Curtis’ Girlfriends (Stanwyx Theatre). Steve Furst: In Character (Museum of Comedy, Astor Theatre, Tristan Bates Theatre and Southbank Underbelly Festival 2018). Directing and developing the world premiere of the new British Musical The White Feather (Union Theatre). The controversial Ugandan tragedy The River and the Mountain by Beau Hopkins, William M. Hoffman’s first AIDS play As Is, the European premiere of Rooms: a rock romance by Paul Scott Goodman and Miriam Gordon and Passing By by Martin Sherman (Finborough Theatre). The professional world premiere of A Winter’s Tale (directed and developed by Andrew with Howard Goodall and Nick Stimson), Joe Dipietro and Jimmy Roberts’ musical The Thing About Men and the award-winning production of The Hired Man (Landor Theatre). Short Plays By Morgan Lloyd Malcolm (Soho Theatre). Conjugal Rites by Roger Hall (Courtyard Theatre). A Spotlight On… West End Cabaret Season and Series (Landor Theatre). The London revival of Stiles and Drewe’s Just So (Tabard Theatre) and Martin Sherman’s Bent (Landor and Tabard Theatre transfer production).

Awards: Andrew and his productions have received many award nominations, including Best Director for Bent, Best Director for Just So, Best Entertainment for Just So, Best Director and Best Production for The Hired Man (amongst ten other nominations), Best Director for Rooms: A Rock Romance, Best Director for Dessa Rose and Best New Production of A Musical for The White Feather in the BroadwayWorld UK Awards and a special mention in the Critics Circle Awards. In 2012 Andrew’s production of The Hired Man won Best Musical Production and in 2013 his production of A Winter’s Tale won Best New Musical in The OffWestEnd.com Awards. In 2018 the Vice Chancellor of Surrey University awarded Andrew the Young Achiever of the Year Award for his significant contribution to theatre, championing BAME artists and raising awareness of HIV stigma.

Andrew co-ran the Landor Theatre for three years working on many productions as a Producer, Casting Director and Director. In 2012 he left the Landor to form his own production company, Arion Productions Ltd of which he is the current Artistic Director that give opportunities to theatremakers and in 2017 they launched the Show People Podcast which Andrew hosts. To listen to the Show People Podcast and to find out more about Arion Productions, please visit www.arion-productions.com

Rory Bremner

Rory Bremner is the UK’s premier award-winning comedy and Satirical Impressionist.

Born in Edinburgh in 1961 and educated at Wellington College, he went on to attend King’s College, London, where he graduated with an honours degree in French, German and imitating lecturers! King’s College made him a Fellow in 2006 and he is also a Fellow of Queen Mary College.

While still at university, he performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and began his career on the satirical radio shows News Revue (LBC) and Weekending (BBC Radio) before embarking on a seven-year spell at the BBC. Since then, he’s appeared in countless comedy shows from Have I Got News For You to Whose Line is it Anyway? including: Comic Relief, They Think It’s All Over, It’ll Be Alright on the Night, Mock the Week and QIand has been interviewed more than any other performer by both Wogan and Parkinson. Together with John Bird and John Fortune, his programmes (Rory Bremner- Who Else, Bremner, Bird and Fortune) have been a mainstay of Channel 4?s output since 1992, winning a total of four BAFTAs and three RTS awards.

Rory had seven series on the BBC, from 1986 to 1992, winning the Special Award at the Golden Rose of Montreux in 1987. He has been a frequent guest on The Andrew Marr Show (BBC1) providing a satirical review of current political events through his many characters. In 2008 he retraced his family history for Who Do You Think You Are. Elsewhere, he appeared regularly on Breakfast with Frost, and has written and performed the BBC radio series Some of Our Pilots Are Missingand writes articles and diaries for The New Statesman, The Sunday Telegraph, The Sunday Times and The London Evening Standard.Since 1999, he has translated two operas: Kurt Weill’s Der Silbersee and George Bizet’s Carmen, the latter for a cast recruited from South African townships who promptly translated the dialogue into Xhosa so Rory can’t understand it! Rory is much in demand as a Broadcaster, Actor, After-Dinner Speaker and Awards Host.

Natalie Burt

Director | Actor | Writer | Author

Natalie Burt is an actor, author, writer and director. Her most recent acting credit was playing Lily in As Is at Trafalgar Studios. In the ten years since graduating from Guildford School of Acting with a First Class BA Hons, her career has been varied and challenging. Her credits include:

(Television): Cressida in Channel 4’s Scrotal Recall, Pandora in BBC1’s Blandings opposite Jennifer Saunders and Timothy Spall, Marion Bent in the BBC film United directed and written by Broadchurch’s James Strong and Chris Chibnall, Jenny in ITV’s Breathless and numerous guest appearances in shows such as Toby Whithouse’s Being Human as well as Holby, Channel 4’s Coming Up and Doctors.

Since her professional theatrical debut in 2006 in The Deep Blue Sea at Exeter’s Northcott theatre she has enjoyed many theatre projects including: Elspie in The Glass Cage, Jenny in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz – all at Northampton Royal & Derngate, Sasha in Alan Ayckbourn’s Sugar Daddies, Irene in Richard Bean’s Honeymoon Suite, Caroline Bingley in the Theatre Royal Bath’s tour of Pride and Prejudice, Merry in First Light – which played at the Edinburgh Festival and later transferred to the Kings Head in London – and Lady Anne in Richard III at Nottingham Playhouse. She also works in voiceovers and, amongst numerous other projects, has created the role of Dr Sally Armstrong for Big Finish’s audio series Doctor Who: Dark Eyes opposite Paul McGann’s Doctor. As well as being an actor Natalie is also an author – her first book Acting: Cut the Crap, Cue the Truth was published by Oberon Books in 2014 and her second title To Be Or Not To Be An Actor is due for publication in the autumn of 2016. She also writes and makes film and after recently completing a part time course with Met Film School at Ealing Studios, she has now completed her first short, Loose Ends, which is set for the festival circuit.

Cressida Carre

Movement and Dance Coach

Cressida Carre’s choreographic and staging credits include: Marguerite – The Tabard, Cats – Centrepoint Theatre, Dubai, The Thing About Men – Landor Theatre, Our House – BGArts Centre, Songs Of My Life – An Evening With Peter Polycarpou – Garrick Theatre,The Wedding Singer – BGArts Centre, The Lost Christmas – Waterloo East Theatre, Burlesque – Jermyn St Theatre, Britain’s Got Bhangra – Palace Theatre, Watford & UK Tour, FRESHER The Musical – Edinburgh Festival, The Hired Man – Landor Theatre, Merlin And The Woods Of Time & As You Like It – Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, Spring Awakening – UK Tour, The Great British Musical – Criterion Theatre, Great Expectations – Palace Theatre, Watford & UK tour, Cinderella – Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne, Wind In The Willows – Derby Live, Departure Lounge – Waterloo East Theatre, Elegies For Angels Punks And Raging Queens – The Black Box, Belfast, A My Name Is Alice – Charing Cross Theatre, A Chorus Line – BAC, Steel Pier – Chelsea Theatre, Songs For A New World – Old Finsbury Town Hall, Jack And The Beanstalk – Theatre Royal,Bury St Edmunds, The Fix – Albany Theatre, Into The Woods – Greenwich Theatre, Before The Night Is Through – Millfield Theatre, Departure Lounge – Edinburgh Festival, The Witches Of Eastwick – Albany Theatre, Blues Brothers Unlimited – Centrepoint Theatre, Dubai, Hot Mikado – Chelsea Theatre, Have A Nice Life – Edinburgh Festival, West Side Story – BAC, Lucky Stiff – New Wimbledon Studio Theatre, Peter Pan – Millfield Theatre, The Diary Of Me – Harlow Playhouse, Passage Of Dreams – Bridewell Theatre, Closer Than Ever – Judi Dench Theatre, Godspell – BAC, Kids From Shame – Upstairs At The Gatehouse, Jesus Christ Superstar – Kings Theatre, Portsmouth, Espresso Trasho – Arts Theatre, Dorian – Greenwich Theatre, The Clearing – Tramway Theatre, Glasgow, Still Life – Bridewell Theatre, Dick Whittington – Harlow Playhouse. Cressida’s directing credits include: Spear – Courtyard Theatre, Hereford, The Lost Christmas – Trafalgar Studios, Marry Me A Little – Etcetera Theatre.

Pete Gallagher

Film and TV credits include Sarah & Duck, Nuzzle & Scratch, Jesus Christ Superstar (x2!), Waking The Dead, Casualty, My Hero, The Two Of Us, Moon and Son, Bergerac and The Mrs Bradley Mysteries. He also had the character T-Bone created for him, one of the ‘rebel chefs’ in JustEat’s TV campaign.

In the theatre he has appeared most notably as Caiaphas in the arena tour of Jesus Christ Superstar (out now on DVD!), King Leontes in Howard Goodall’s A Winter’s Tale, Farley Flavors in Richard O’Brien’s Shock Treatment, as well as The Fix, Oklahoma!, Moonlight & Magnolias, The Pirates Of Penzance, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Dr Dolittle, Jesus Christ Superstar (Lyceum), The Rocky Horror Show, The Mystery Plays, Buddy, Godspell, Fields Of Ambrosia, Frankenstein, Up On The Roof, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, Lautrec, Guys And Dolls, Betrayal, and many others…

He has also directed dozens of disparate productions including Bachelor Girls (twice for different companies), the first UK tour of Spring Awakening (nominated Best Musical, Manchester Theatre Awards 2012), as well as Newley – The Fool Who Dared to Dream at Highgate, Merrily We Roll Along and Private Lives at Arts Ed, Cabaret and Lucky Stiff at GSA, a hedonistic retelling of Godspell, a gothic punk A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Man in the Moon in Chelsea, Missing Mel which transferred from Edinburgh to the Cochrane Theatre in London, and his own adaptation of The Brothers Lionheart which achieved a MUST SEE stamp at Edinburgh and was the No.1 Children’s Theatre Recommendation. He also directed the winning entry at the Kenneth Branagh Windsor New Writing Award for two years running, with The Last Laugh and Fairy Lights.He has also judged the competition twice.

At 25 he became one of the youngest Headmasters ever when he took charge of the Corona Academy of Theatre Arts in London, and since then has been Director of Musical Theatre and Head of Drama at different colleges whilst teaching for many others.

Pete is also a prolific writer, with three of his projects being showcased in 2016 – Fanny Hill, A Teenage opera and 6 Ways. His musical Chasing the Dream was featured on Britain’s Got Talent and reaching the live semi-finals. Other projects include the children’s book Gribblum Tales,musicals The Christmas Shop, Face2face (showcased at the RSAMD and in America) and The Brothers Lionheart, and plays What Goes Around, The Cryptic Lines and Tongues, while his biog of a legend, Feeling Good – The Anthony Newley Story is planning to tour soon. He is currently working on Ginger, his first feature film.

As resident drama coach on Any Dream Will Do, he trained aspiring Josephs in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s TV talent show, and was ‘the miracle worker’ who trained Gethin Jones on Strictly Come Dancing to the highest score ever! He also drama trained Sky TV’s Gladiators in preparation for their second series.

Simon Greiff

Theatre Director

Simon trained as an Actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama graduating in 1997 with a Special Commendation, and, for over 12 years, worked in award winning Theatre, BAFTA winning Television & Film and created leading roles in the West End and across the UK. He also has 10 years experience in Casting (assisting and associating for Pippa Ailion), has worked as a Dramaturg, Acting Coach, and has experience Producing.

Since focussing on his career as a Director, predominantly developing new work, his credits include Premieres of Picture Perfect (St James Studio) which he also conceived; Payback (Riverside Studios), Stand Tall A Rock Musical (45th Street Theatre New York & Landor Theatre London); A Song Cycle For Soho (Soho Theatre) which he also co-created; The Pork Crunch (Pleasance Theatre); the Off-Broadway musical Striking 12 (Waterloo East Theatre); Rumpy Pumpy! (Theatre Royal Windsor); and more recently the showcases of Stiles & Drewe’s Anything Can Happen! which he also conceived, Van Winkle (both St James Theatre), Before After (St James Studio), plus Dancing Shadows and Beowulf In Soho for the From Page To Stageseason (Landor Theatre). Recent drama school directing includes Stiles & Drewe’s Anything Can Happen!(Royal Welsh College), Veolia Songs (Royal Central School), Merrily We Roll Along, A Little Night Music (both London College Of Music), Into The Woods, Godspell (both Trinity Laban), Just The Ticket, Bad Girls(both MTA), Spring Awakening (MasterAct), plus numerous masterclasses & workshops including Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, Royal Conservatiore of Scotland, Arts Educational London, AMTA, Guildford School of Acting, and Beijing University. Development Director on Wildwood (for ATG), The Devil’s Disciple, The Five Labours Of Harvey Fish, Stand Tall, Payback, plus Sex And The Village and Barry The Penguin (for Perfect Pitch Musicals), and Home: The Scott Alan Song Cycle which he conceived. Simon is also an Associate member of Mercury Musical Developments, having directed their star studded 20th Anniversary Gala (Novello Theatre) and produced and directed The S&S Award Gala 2014 and 2015 (St James Theatre).

Simon was the Associate Director of The Rocky Horror Show UK Tour, and had the honour of directing The Rocky Horror Show ‘Live’ (Playhouse Theatre) starring the shows creator Richard O’Brien, which was also screened live in Picturehouse cinemas across Europe. Resident Directing work on Tour includes the award-winning number-one tour of We Will Rock You, the 40th anniversary production of The Rocky Horror Show, Spamalot, Funny Girl starring Sheridan Smith, and the upcoming premiere of Take That’s musical The Band (until July 2018).

Leontine Hass – CEO

Founding Principal | Vocal Coach

Leontine Hass is an internationally renowned Vocal Coach and Principal of the Associated Studios London Performing Arts Academy.

Leontine Hass is currently vocal coach for Motown at The Shaftesbury Theatre London. She has served as vocal coach to Matt Henry (Lola in Kinky Boots West End), Alice Stokoe (Sophie in Mamma Mia, West End), Gloria Onitiri (Lead in The Bodyguard & Hair, West End), Claire Sweeney (Tell Me on a Sunday) and many other leads and swings in the West End, national and international tours of productions such as Thriller-Live, Oliver!, Carousel, Parade, Tell Me on a Sunday, The Lion King, The Phantom of the Opera, Witches of Eastwick, Nine, The Wizard of Oz, Ragtime, Sweeney Todd, Cats, Sister Act, We Will Rock You, Footloose, Wicked, The Sound of Music, Ghost, Hairspray, Porgy and Bess, The Bodyguard, Jesus Christ Superstar, Jersey Boys, Barnum, Miss Saigon, Book of Mormon, Mamma Mia, In the Heights, The Color Purple, Memphis, Spamalot, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Aladdin, Chicago, The Pyjama Game, Kinky Boots and the upcoming production of Dreamgirls.

Leontine coaches members of The Swingle Singers, Collabro, The Magnets, The Sons of Pitches and classical singers with ENO, Welsh National Opera and ROH, as well as Pop/Rock/Jazz singers. Leontine was the Vocal Coach for shows including the London premiere of Bernarda Alba the Musical, and currently the a cappella hit, ‘Gobsmacked’.

Leontine teaches workshops and lectures internationally on singing, voice and performance. She rehabilitates voices after surgery, or as surgery prevention. She has taught at leading Music & Drama Schools including GSA Conservatoire, the Oxford School of Drama, Mountview, LSMT, YMT, The Brit School, La Salle (Singapore), the Queensland Conservatorium, Centre Stage and The VCA (Melbourne).

Leontine has acted as vocal consultant to various music management/production companies, including ITV and the BBC. Leontine is vocal coach for ‘The Voice’ for BBC TV. She was featured as a mentor/vocal coach on the Gareth Malone show, ‘The Naked Choir’, for BBC2 and will also be involved with Series 2. She is a regular columnist at voicecouncil.com and for The Stage newspaper. She is a contributor to ‘The Singer’s Complete Guide to Vocal Health’ (Oxford Uni. Press), and advisor/contributor to ‘The Ultimate Guide to Singing’ published by TC Helicon in 2014.

Having originally trained as a classical singer (BA, Melb. Uni, BMus. Kings College London, Dip. RAM), Leontine has performed as a singer and actress in concert, theatre and TV.

Leontine is the CEO/Founding Principal of the Associated Studios Performing Arts Academy London, which she founded in 2007, then based at The Royal Academy of Music. Associated Studios provides full-time and part-time training and professional development in Musical Theatre and Opera (www.associatedstudios.co.uk). The Board of Directors includes Rory Bremner (Chair), Patrick Lawrence QC and Dr Christopher Stewardson. Patrons include Sir Tim Rice, Jeremy Irons, Jeremy Herrin, Timothy West and Scott Alan.

Leontine is represented by Lesley Duff at Diamond Management.

Danielle Tarento

Producer | Casting Director

Danielle is a freelance producer and casting director. She won Best Producer at the 2012 Off West End Awards and was nominated for Producer of the Year at the Stage Awards 2015.

She is currently co-producing the 2016 season at Charing Cross Theatre which includes the hotly anticipated revival of Titanic, Radio Times, Ragtime and Death Takes A Holiday.

Theatre at Southwark Playhouse: Grey Gardens; Grand Hotel (winner: Off West End Award for Best Musical Production, nominated: WhatsOnStage Award for Best Off West End Production and 17 Broadway World UK Awards); Gods And Monsters; Dogfight (shortlisted: Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical 2014, nominated: WhatsOnStage Award for Best Off West End Production, 9 Broadway World UK Awards and 3 Off West End Awards); Three Sisters; Titanic (longlisted: Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical 2013, winner: WhatsOnStage Award for Best Off West End Production, Broadway World UK Award for Best Fringe/Regional Musical 2013 and 4 Off West End Awards including Best Musical Production); Victor/Victoria; Mack & Mabel (longlisted: Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical 2012, nominated: 13 Broadway World UK Awards and 6 Off West End Awards); Parade (longlisted: Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical 2011, nominated: WhatsOnStage Award for Best Musical Revival 2012, Off West End Award for Best Musical Production 2012); Company.

Other theatre includes: Pure Imagination (St James); Man To Man (Park); My Lifelong Love – An Evening With Georgia Stitt And Friends (Garrick); Frances Ruffelle – Paris Original (St James Studio); Evita, Grease (Ljubljana Festival, Slovenia); Taboo (Brixton Club House – winner, WhatsOnStage Award for Best Off West End Production 2013); The Pitchfork Disney (Arcola); Burlesque (Jermyn Street – winner, Off West End Award for Best New Musical 2012); Noël And Gertie (Cockpit); Spring Awakening (Rose, Kingston); Drowning On Dry Land (Jermyn Street); Legacy Falls (New Players Theatre); Grateful (Cadogan Hall); Frances Ruffelle: Beneath The Dress (Madame JoJo’s, Edinburgh Festival, Wroclaw Stage Song Review, Poland, Menier Chocolate Factory & 54 Below, NYC); Happy Savages (Edinburgh Festival).

Michael Webborn

Musical Director

Michael has worked around the UK as a Musical Director, Accompanist, Arranger and Composer.As Musical Director: For the MTA: Animus (World Premiere, Bridewell Theatre, London). For the Landor Theatre, London: The Clockmaker’s Daughter (World Premiere), Meet Me in St. Louis (UKPremiere), [title of show] (London Premiere), Next Thing You Know, Hot Mikado, Curtains (European Premiere). For Shakespeare 4 Kidz: Beauty and the Beast (International Tour), Pinocchio (International Tour), The Jungle Book (International Tour), The Snow Queen (International Tour), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (UK and International Tour), Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (DUCTAC Theatre, Dubai), Aladdin (International Tour), Macbeth (UK and International Tour), The Tempest (UK and International Tour), The Little Mermaid (International Tour).

Other production include: Aladdin (Harlequin Theatre, Redhill), Spring Awakening (Catford Broadway, London), Jack and the Beanstalk (Perth Theatre), Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens (Tron Theatre, Glasgow). He is also Musical Director for Gotta Sing! at the Phoenix Artist Club, coaching new singers on their regular courses, playing for Open Mic Nights and their West End Talent Competitions. As Musical Supervisor: Peter Pan (International Tour), Cinderella (Harlequin Theatre, Fleet), riZen (Original Concept Album and Workshops).As Assistant Musical Director: Blood Brothers (UK, No. 1 Tour). Michael returned to London after completing his MA in Musical Direction from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and holds a BMus (Hons) in Vocal Studies from Trinity College of Music, having also been awarded the Alan J Kirby Prize for Conducting and Charles Proctor Prize for Choral Conducting. In 2013 and 2015, he was nominated for Best Musical Direction in Fringe or Regional Theatre for [title of show] and The Clockmaker’s Daughter at the Landor Theatre by BroadwayWorld.com. He is the co-writer of the new musicals Animus and The Clockmaker’s Daughter, which was nominated for 3 Off West End Awards including Best Musical Production, Best Off West End Production in the West End Wilma Awards 2015, Best New Musical; and 6 BroadwayWorld.com Awards including Best New Production of a Musical (Fringe or Regions).

Born in Leeds, Jason Carr attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London’s Barbican Centre, where he studied composition with Francis Shaw. After winning the 1988 Vivian Ellis Prize for young writers of musicals, Jason was invited by director Peter Hall to compose the musical Born Again (from Ionesco’s absurdist play Rhinoceros), which was produced at Chichester Festival Theatre in 1990 with Broadway and Hollywood stars Mandy Patinkin and Jose Ferrer.

From 2003-5 he was Associate Compser at the Chichester Festival Theatre where, as well as composing incidental music for six plays and hosting a sell-out series of late-night cabarets, his music and lyrics were heard in two new musicals: a main-stage adaptation of Charles Kingsley’s The Water Babies (book by Gary Yershon) directed by Jeremy Sams, starring Louise Gold and Joe McGann in 2003; and a specially-commissioned chamber musical for the Minerva: Six Pictures of Lee Miller (book by Edward Kemp) directed by Anthony van Laast, starring Anna Francolini in 2005.

Jason has composed incidental music for over 40 plays at the RNT, RSC, in the West End and on Broadway. Favourites include four by Tennessee Williams – The Glass Menagerie (directed by Sam Mendes at the Donmar), Suddenly, Last Summer (directed by Sean Mathias at the Comedy), Camino Real (RSC Swan) and Vieux Carre (both directed by Steven Pimlott). And many people seem to have fond memories of Bim! Bam! Bom! – the ‘winning’ entry in Tim Luscombe’s EuroVision (Vaudeville)!

Work as an orchestrator includes the 5 Olivier Award-winning London revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George which transferred to Broadway, winning Jason the Drama Desk Award and a Tony Award nomination for Best Orchestrations in 2008. He has also orchestrated the recent London productions of Annie Get Your Gun, La Cage Aux Folles andA Little Night Music (currently playing on Broadway with Angela Lansbury and Catherine Zeta-Jones).

Also in demand as a pianist and musical director, Jason has appeared with Elisabeth Welch, Betty Garrett, Kitty Carlisle Hart, Lorna Dallas, Maria Friedman By Special Arrangement (Donmar, Whitehall, Ambassador’s), with Michael Ball in Alone Together(Donmar), Louise Gold By Appointment (Jermyn Street), in Noel and Gertie (Duke of York’s). He is also a musical director for the Lost Musicals seasons.

Mike Dixon graduated from Trinity College of Music in 1979 and since then has become one of the most experienced and respected musical forces in London’s West End and on British television. His work spans all genres of music as Musical Supervisor, Musical Director, Arranger and Composer. Theatre: Hair, Zorro, Never Forget, We Will Rock You, Daddy Cool, Footloose, Grease, Jesus Christ Superstar, Aspects Of Love, Doctor Dolittle, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, La Cage Aux Folles, Bernstein’s Peter Pan, Bless The Bride, Mr Cinders, Andy Capp, Godspell, Look To The Rainbow, Dame Shirley Bassey’s The Dame is Back! (Arena Tour)

Television: Over The Rainbow, Children In Need Rocks the Albert Hall, The Electric Proms, Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, We Are Most Amused, For One Night Only, Concert for Diana, Glastonbury 2007, MusiCool, Pop Idol, The Royal Variety Show, Miss World, The British Comedy Awards, Star For a Night, Call Up The Stars, Night of a Thousand Stars, The Brian Conley Show, The Shane Ritchie Experience, Whatever You Want, Late Night with Jerry Springer, We Are The Champions; A Nation Celebrates, The Queen’s Jubilee Rock Concert, The Prince’s Trust 30th Anniversary Concert at the Tower of London, BBC Proms in the Park, Saturday Night Divas, Guilty Pleasures, An Audience with… Jimmy Tarbuck, Joan Rivers, Another Audience With… Shirley Bassey and An Audience with Lionel Richie… Live! Radio: ‘Elvis Forever’ Radio 2 Hyde Park 2010, Elbow at Abbey Road, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Birthday in the Park, Friday Night Is BOND Night, Cheltenham Jazz Festival’s The Billie Holiday Story, The Billy Strayhorn Story, Friday Night Is Music Night, BBC Radio 2 Voice of Musical Theatre Competition.

Recordings: The Performance with Dame Shirley Bassey, Zorro, Seven by Tony Banks with The London Philharmonic Orchestra, We Will Rock You, Grease, Doctor Dolittle, Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Aspects of Love, Evita (The Movie). Special Events: Welcoming The World (Project for London 2012), St Pancras International Royal Opening, Launch of Ventura, Launch of Arcadia, Wimbledon Theatre Centenary Gala

Awards: Australian Entertainment Industry Helpmann Award 2004 for Best Musical Direction.

Mary King’s career has encompassed a wide range of roles, including that of performer, teacher, coach and most recently broadcaster and writer. A popular and highly experienced mezzo soprano, Mary has worked with leading conductors and numerous orchestras across the world, and has made a particular feature of the contemporary classical repertoire.

Mary King first studied English at the University of Birmingham, and after gaining a PGCE at St. Anne’s Oxford, taught Humanities and Music at Gosford Hill School in Oxford. During this time she sang with the vocal groups the Clerkes of Oxenford and Schola Cantorum. She then won a place on the postgraduate Opera Course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, becoming a pupil of Noelle Barker. Post Guildhall, Mary continued her studies with the renowned coaches Paul Hamburger, Janice Chapman and David Harper.

Mary’s versatility as a performer has allowed her career to encompass a wide range of vocal genres, from opera, oratorio, chamber music and recital through to musical theatre and straight plays.

She has had a long involvement with outreach and teaching, working with all the major companies in the UK as well as running training programmes both at home and abroad. During Mary’s long association with English National Opera, she devised and ran a highly successful performance skills course, ‘The Knack’, for eleven years, and between 2004 and 2006 she was also an Artistic Associate for the company.

In September 2006, Mary became Head of Singing at Millennium Performing Arts, now based in new premises in Woolwich, South East London. In November of the same year, she was also appointed Director of Voicelab, a new initiative at London’s Southbank Centre. From casting for professional projects (Carmen Jones, 2007), to creating and training numerous choirs and small ensembles, Mary is at the heart of vocal activity at the Southbank Centre, encouraging vocal talent in all its manifestations.

Mary is increasingly widely known through her work on television and radio. She was one of the driving forces behind Channel 4?s critically acclaimed and award-winning Operatunity, a five week television series introducing opera to the wider public. This was followed by Musicality, also on Channel 4, a five part series on music theatre. She appeared as the expert analyst for the Cardiff Singer of the World competitions in 2005 and 2007, shown extensively on BBC Television, and performed the role again for the 2009 competition. She is a regular guest presenter on BBC Radio 3, and she has been one of the judges on the 2006 and 2008 BBC Radio 3 Choir of the Year competitions.

Mary is also in demand as a writer. In 2007 The Singer’s Handbook (Faber) was published, co-written with Anthony Legge. This has been followed by the first two parts (English and French repertoire) of a projected series of selected vocal repertoire collections with coaching notes, The Boosey Voice Coach (Boosey & Hawkes). The German repertoire volume is in production.

Mary King is an Honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, an Honorary Fellow of Rose Bruford College and she has recently been made a Fellow of the Northern College of Music.

Debbie O’Brien is a Casting Director. West End productions include: Show Boat (Royal Albert Hall), Dancing in the Streets (Playhouse), The Rat Pack Live From Las Vegas (Savoy), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Palladium), Saturday Night Fever (Apollo Victoria), The Snowman (Peacock), Fame (Aldwych), Peter Pan and The Pirates of Penzance (Savoy), Grease (Victoria Palace), Mum’s the Word(Albery), Daisy Pulls It Off (Lyric), The King and I (Palladium), Napoleon (Shaftesbury), Madame Melville (Vaudeville), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Playhouse), La Cava (Piccadilly). Smokey Joe’s Café (Prince of Wales), The Rocky Horror Show (Queen’s, Piccadilly, Duke of York’s, Victoria Palace), Soul Train (Victoria Palace), Rent (Shaftesbury), Carmen Jones (Old Vic), Always (Victoria Palace), Steaming (Piccadilly), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Apollo), Disgracefully Yours (Comedy).

UK tours include: Thriller Live, Mahabharata, Bratz Passion for Fashion, Sweet Soul Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Starlight Express, Anything Goes, Grease, Saturday Night Fever, What a Feeling, Dirty Dusting, Mack and Mabel, Fame, Mum’s the Word, The King and I, The Misanthrope, The Threepenny Opera, A Chorus Line, A Tribute to the Blues Brothers, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, The Rocky Horror Show, Soul Train, Rosencrantz And Guildenstern are Dead, Othello, Trafford Tanzi. Wild Animus (UK / European tour / site specific / multimedia project).

Other productions include: Amadeus (Wilton’s Music Hall), Poison and Ain’t Misbehavin’, both at the Tricycle Theatre; Dick Whittington at Sadler’s Wells; the workshops of Artie, Gwen and Lance, Time’s Up, In the Red, Only You Can Save Mankind, Nelson, Mahabharata, Little Women and The Mikado. Specialist casting on Eugene Onegin (English National Opera) and La Bohème (Royal Albert Hall).

Recorded media: Grease Is the Word (Talkback Thames), Sky, Success! and Challenges (Pearson Education), How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? (BBC), Amahl and the Night Visitors (BBC); Planet Cook (BBC / Platinum Films), Energy (Max Media / Pearson); and the films Wonder and Harvest.

Maria Aitken’s work includes THE GIFT (Melbourne Theatre Company), AS YOU LIKE IT (Shakespeare Theatre Washington DC); QUARTERMAINE’S TERMS (Williamstown Festival); THE 39 STEPS (West End; Broadway; Australia; US National Tour) JAPES (Bay Street Theatre, Sag Harbour); MAN AND BOY (Tour and Duchess Theatre, London); EASY VIRTUE (Chichester Festival); VITA AND VIRGINIA (Sphinx Theatre Company); LADY BRACKNELL’S CONFINEMENT (Vineyard Theatre, New York); THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL (Theatr Clwyd); AS YOU LIKE IT (Regent’s Park, London); THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP (Leicester Haymarket and Ambassadors, London); ARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY (Watford Palace); THE RIVALS (Court Theatre, Chicago); AFTER THE BALL WAS OVER (Old Vic, London); PRIVATE LIVES (Oxford Playhouse) and HAPPY FAMILY (Duke of York’s, London).

Maria Aitken has adapted and directed many plays and classic serials for BBC radio. In 2005 she won the Sony Gold Award, radio’s Oscar, for her production of an adaptation of Nabokov’s LAUGHTER IN THE DARK. Most recently she directed Sir Ian McKellen in Edmund White’s play TERRE HAUTE for BBC 3.

She is a visiting teacher at the British American Drama Academy; the National Theatre Studio; The London Actors’ Centre; the Juilliard School in NY; the Yale School of Drama; the graduate acting program at The Tisch School of the Arts at NYU; the NY Actors’ Center and the Academy of Classical Acting in Washington DC. She co-produced (appearing with other masters such as Michael Caine and Simon Callow) a series of master-classes for BBC2 entitled ACTING, which are available on video and DVD.

Maria Aitken has appeared as a leading actress at the Royal National Theatre in BLITHE SPIRIT; BEDROOM FARCE and LARKINLAND. At the Royal Shakespeare Company she has played in TRAVESTIES; WASTE and THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE.

Her many starring roles in the West End include: HUMBLE BOY (Gielgud); SYLVIA (Apollo); HAY FEVER (Albery); OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY (Lyric); THE VORTEX (Garrick);THE WOMEN (Old Vic); SISTER MARY IGNATIUS EXPLAINS IT ALL FOR YOU (Ambassadors);DESIGN FOR LIVING (Globe, now Gielgud); PRIVATE LIVES (Duchess); A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC (Adelphi).

Other theatre appearances include THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GREY (Lyric Hammersmith); HRH (Glasgow Citizens); THE CHERRY ORCHARD (Theatr Clwyd); THE SEAGULL (Greenwich); THE DOCTOR’S DILEMMA (Greenwich); Rosalind in AS YOU LIKE IT (Bristol Old Vic).

Maria’s many television appearances include LOVE ON A BRANCH LINE; THE GOOD GUYS; QUIET AS A NUN; POOR LITTLE RICH GIRLS; SHELLEY; RIPPING YARNS; BEDROOM FARCE. She wrote and presented the documentary GREAT RIVER JOURNEYS (AN AMAZON ADVENTURE), and had three series of her own BBC chat show PRIVATE LIVES.

Films include ASYLUM; JINNAH; FIERCE CREATURES, THE GROTESQUE; THE FOOL, A FISH CALLED WANDA; MELBA; MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS and DR FAUSTUS.

She is the author of two books: A GIRDLE ROUND THE EARTH and STYLE: ACTING IN HIGH COMEDY.

She lives in New York and London with her husband, the novelist Patrick McGrath. Her son is the actor Jack Davenport.

Dominic Cooke has been Artistic Director of the Royal Court since 2007. He was Associate Director of the Royal Court 1999–2002, Associate Director of the RSC 2002–2006 and Assistant Director of the RSC 1992–1993.

FOR THE ROYAL COURT Aunt Dan and Lemon and The Fever by Wallace Shawn; Seven Jewish Children by Caryl Churchill; Wig Out! by Tarell Alvin McCraney; Now or Later by Christopher Shinn; War and Peace and Fear and Misery by Mark Ravenhill; Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco; The Pain and The Itch by Bruce Norris; Other People by Christopher Shinn; Fireface by Marius von Mayenburg; Spinning into Butter by Rebecca Gilman; Redundant by Leo Butler; F***ing Games by Grae Cleugh; Plasticine by Vassily Sigarev; The People are Friendly by Michael Wynne; This is a Chairand Identical Twins by Caryl Churchill.

OTHER THEATRE INCLUDES For the RSC: Arabian Nights (also Young Vic / UK and world tours / New Victory Theatre, New York); Pericles, The Winter’s Tale, As You Like It, Macbeth and Cymbeline by William Shakespeare; The Crucible by Arthur Miller; Postcards from America by David Adjmi and Brett Neveu; The Malcontent by John Marston. Also, By the Bog of Cats by Marina Carr (Wyndham’s); The Eccentricities of a Nightingaleby Tennessee Williams (Gate / Dublin); The Weavers by Gerhart Hauptmann; Hunting Scenes From Lower Bavaria by Martin Sperr (both Gate); The Bullet by Joe Penhall (Donmar); Afore Night Come by David Rudkin; Entertaining Mr Sloane by Joe Orton (both Clwyd); The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (Atlantic Theatre Festival, Canada); My Mother Said I Never Should by Charlotte Keatley (Oxford Stage Co./Young Vic); Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig (Bolton Octagon); Of Mice and Men adapted from John Steinbeck’s novel, (Nottingham Playhouse); Autogeddon by Heathcote Williams (Assembly Rooms).

OPERA INCLUDES The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (WNO); I Capuleti E I Montecchi by Vincenzo Bellini; La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini (both Grange Park Opera).

AWARDS 2007 Laurence Olivier awards for Best Director and Best Revival for The Crucible; 2000 TMA award for Arabian Nights; 1991 Fringe First award for Autogeddon.

Sir Richard Eyre was Associate Director at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh from 1967 to 1972. He won STV Awards for the Best Production in Scotland in 1969, 1970 and 1971. He was artistic director of Nottingham Playhouse from 1973-78 where he commissioned and directed many new plays, including Trevor Griffith’s Comedians.

Eyre was director of the National Theatre (which became the Royal National Theatre during his time there) between 1987 and 1997, having previously directed a noted revival of Guys and Dolls for the venue in 1982 with Olivier Award-winner Julia McKenzie and Bob Hoskins. He repeated this production in 1996 with Imelda Staunton and Joanna Riding. His diaries during this time have been published as National Service and won the 2003 Theatre Book Prize.

Other than Guys and Dolls, his most noted theatre productions are of Hamlet (twice), with Jonathan Pryce at the Royal Court in 1980 and Daniel Day-Lewis in 1989; Richard III with Ian McKellen; King Lear with Ian Holm; Tennessee Williams’ Night of the Iguana and Sweet Bird of Youth; Eduardo Di Filippo’s Napoli Milionaria and Le Grande Magia; John Gabriel Borkman with Paul Scofield, Vanessa Redgrave and Eileen Atkins; Hedda Gabler with Eve Best, and numerous new plays by David Hare, Tom Stoppard, Trevor Griffiths, Howard Brenton, Alan Bennett, Christopher Hampton and Nicholas Wright.

Sir Richard Eyre has also directed operas. His debut was the 1994 production of La Traviata at the Royal Opera House which starred Angela Gheorghiu and was conducted by Sir Georg Solti. This production was televised and has subsequently been released on video and DVD.

He directed the musical Mary Poppins in London and on Broadway. On 14 February 2007, Eyre’s production of Nicholas Wright’s The Reporter premiered at the Royal National Theatre, London. The play explores the social climate in the years before James Mossman’s death as well as the reasons for the death itself.

Eyre directed a new production of Bizet’s opera Carmen for the Metropolitan Opera’s 2009-2010 season, starring Latvian mezzo soprano Elina Garanca and Roberto Alagna.

Eyre was planning to direct Jon Robin Baitz’s stage adaptation of Hollywood legend Robert Evans’ memoirs The Kid Stays in the Picture and its sequel, The Fat Lady Sang, but the project was cancelled by the producer.[2]

His production of Noël Coward’s Private Lives starring Kim Cattrall and Paul Gross opened on Broadway in November 2011 following a run in Toronto.

Eyre worked as both a director and one of the producers of BBC’s Play for Today between 1978 and 1980. He returned to the BBC in 1988 to direct the Falklands War story Tumbledown (starring Colin Firth), which won him the BAFTA Award for Best Director and the Prix Italia. Eyre served on the board of Governors of the BBC between 1995 and 2003. Eyre will direct Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2 for BBC2?s Shakespeare Season in 2012.

For film, he directed The Ploughman’s Lunch (written by Ian McEwan) in 1982, which won the Evening Standard Award for Best Film, Iris, a biopic of writer and philosopher Iris Murdoch (starring Judi Dench, Kate Winslet and Jim Broadbent), and Stage Beauty. Most recently, he directed Notes on a Scandal, the film adaptation of the Man Booker Prize-nominated novel by Zoë Heller, and in 2008, The Other Man, an adaptation of a short story by Bernhard Schlink, starring Liam Neeson, Antonio Banderas and Laura Linney.

Eyre has written adaptations of Hedda Gabler and of Sartre’s Les Mains Sales as The Novice for the Almeida Theatre. A friend of Ian Charleson, whom he directed in acclaimed performances of Guys and Dolls and Hamlet, Eyre contributed a chapter to the 1990 book, For Ian Charleson: A Tribute.

He has been the recipient of numerous directing awards including five Olivier Awards. In 1982 he won the Evening Standard Award for Best Director, for Guys and Dolls, and in 1997 for King Lear and Tom Stoppard’s Invention of Love. In 1997 he won an Olivier Lifetime Achievement Award, and awards from The Directors’ Guild of Great Britain, The South Bank Show, The Evening Standard and The Critics’ Circle. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1992 New Year Honours, and knighted in the 1997 New Year Honours, receiving the honour on 4 March 1997. He became a Patron of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust in 2001 He was made an Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1998, and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters (honoris causa) by the University of Nottingham on 10 July 2008.

Mark Heller began his career as an actor and trained at the prestigious Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, his degree was awarded to him by one of the founders of the university, Sir Paul McCartney.

After several years working both on screen and on stage Mark then started work as a director. Mark directed a number of plays in London’s West End, including the world premiere of The Diary at the Tabbard Theatre and Writers Block at the Players Theatre. Mark also work in the states and directed ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ and ‘Let it snow’ and the Beverly Hills theatre Los Angeles.

Mark Heller made his move from stage to screen as behind the Scenes director on Stephanie Daley with Oscar winners Timothy Hutton, Tilda Swinton and Melissa Leo. In the same year Mark wrote and directed his first short Film Tomorrow which starred Daniel Franzese

Mark directed his first feature film The Passage in 2006 which was produced by Lynette Howell of Silverwood Films (Half Nelson, Blue Valentine ) and Jeremy Kipp walker (Maria Full of Grace) The Passage starred Stephen Dorff and Neil Jackson and was accepted into the official selection of the discovery category at the Toronto film festival 2007. The Passage was also entered into the Durango film festival and won the Jury commendation award for best feature.

After the success of The Passage Mark went straight into directing Star Crossed a modernization of Romeo and Juliet which was filmed in Porto and had its premiere in Portugal summer 2009.

Mark’s third feature film The Mulberry tree, a drama centered on a young man working in a Rhode Island state corrections system and his relationship with a convicted murderer who is dying of AIDS, Staring Joe Morton. The Mulberry tree has won Best Narrative Feature Charlotte Film festival 2012, Best Narrative Feature Irvine International film Festival 2012, Best Director Prescott Film Festival 2011, Best feature Harlem Film Festival 2011, Best Actress Harlem Film Festival 2011, Best Actor Harlem Film Festival 2011, Best feature Jersey Shore Film festival 2011, Nominated Clint Eastwood filmmaking Award 2011.

Official section at Independent Film Festival Boston, Flicker Rhode Island Festival, Salem Film Festival, Woods Hole Film Festival, Garden State Film Festival 2011, Carmel Film festival 2011, Vail film Festival 2012, SOHO International Film Festival NYC 2012, charlotte film festival 2012.

He went on to direct a new drama for the BBC ‘Justice’ staring Robert Pugh ‘Justice’ has been Nominated for a Television Broadcast Award 2012 and a TV Choice Awards 2011.

Mark Heller has recently been teaching Masterclasses at LIPA and Central School of Speech and Drama.

Guest Tutors | Coaches – Musical Theatre Programmes

Guest Tutors | Acting

Other Guests

The Rev’d Simon Grigg

David Grindrod

Michael Harris

Barbara Windsor MBE

Peter Huntly

William Harris

Christian Durham

Director

Andrew Keates

Director

Ben Gordon

IT, Social and Technical Manager

Michael Fry

Director | Writer

Mark Hedges

Director | Choreographer

Amy West

Dance Tutor

Ben Papworth

Musical Director

Tim Jasper

Musical Director

Mark Turnbull

Actor

Charlotte Scott

Dance Tutor

Martina Laird

Actor

Ian McFarlane

Director & Writer

Scott Harrison

Senior Musical Theatre Consultant

Scott Alan

Gloria Onitiri

Present Work