30 Apr 2023

Last week I was called to Liverpool to play Dad in our production of Demon Dentist, due to the actor being unwell. It was an amazing experience to play a... read more

24 Nov 2022

I love surprises! And the reaction of the audience in Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall was just the sort of surprise I love. When Raymond Gubbay’s organisation asked if we would like... read more

31 Oct 2022

One of my great failings is my lack of reading. I derive such pleasure from reading that it is astonishing how little I’ve read over the years. Every once in... read more

25 Jul 2022

I loved David Warner in ‘Providence’, ‘Masada’, ‘The Omen’ and ‘The Man with Two Brains’. So when he was performing in Major Barbara on Broadway, I took the opportunity to... read more

18 May 2022

I auditioned some great drama school graduates today who had missed out on their final shows due to Covid. One of them asked why we had stopped producing shows specifically... read more

04 May 2022

Last night I went to theatrical heaven. Cameron Mackintosh produced a sensational tribute to Stephen Sondheim which was brilliantly staged by Maria Friedman and Matthew Bourne. The moment Julia Mackenzie opened... read more

01 Mar 2022

I’ve spent much of my life reading about the battles and wars of ancient, medieval and modern eras and I have always been struck by how much of human existence... read more

01 Jan 2022

Just for the record, in 2021 we produced eight shows, including two world premieres. They did spectacularly well, and were performed and stage managed by the best company members we... read more

20 Dec 2021

Bliss takes many forms, but this fortnight I’ve had the joy of reading the memoir of Derek Salberg, whose family ran the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham from the 1930’s to... read more

11 Dec 2021

If a fifteen-year-old schoolboy gave you his first musical to read, would you be completely honest? I recently read about a professional composer who was given the score a new... read more