Hugh Wooldridge
Hugh Wooldridge | |
---|---|
Born | |
Alma mater | London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art |
Occupation(s) | Theatre director, theatre and television producer and writer, and stage lighting designer |
Parents |
|
Relatives | Susan Wooldridge (sister) |
Hugh Wooldridge is an English theatre director, theatre and television producer and writer, and stage lighting designer. Wooldridge was born in Amersham, Bucks, the son of British composer John Wooldridge[1] and actress Margaretta Scott.[2] He is the brother of actress Susan Wooldridge. Wooldridge currently specialises in large productions, often at the Royal Albert Hall, London. He also teaches, gives master-classes and runs workshops.[3]
Early career
Wooldridge trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, then assisted directors such as Alan Ayckbourn, Eric Thompson, Frank Hauser and Michael Blakemore. He directed his first play at the age of seventeen. In the first ten years of his career he directed more than sixty productions in London and throughout the UK, by authors including Alan Ayckbourn, Rene de Obaldia, Pam Gems and Athol Fugard. He was a resident director at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester, the Thorndike Theatre, Leatherhead, and The Old Vic, London.[3]
During the next ten years Wooldridge ran his own multi-media company, The Jolly Good Production Company (JGPC), which produced plays and TV programmes, managed artistes and published books. During this time he was also responsible for music programmes and programming in the ITV network in the south and south east of England. He also directed international tours of Jesus Christ Superstar and The Rocky Horror Show, as well as national tours of plays by Noël Coward, Daphne du Maurier and Dylan Thomas.[3]
Recent work
Each year since 1999 Wooldridge has produced, devised and directed The Night of 1000 Voices at the Royal Albert Hall. The production has featured amongst others Michael Ball, Brent Barrett, Len Cariou, Glenn Close, Michael Crawford, Kerry Ellis, David Essex, Maria Friedman, Joel Grey, Brian May, Caroline O'Connor, Adam Pascal, Philip Quast, and Sally Ann Triplett, and the works of Cy Coleman, George and Ira Gershwin, Lerner and Lowe, Tim Rice, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, Stephen Sondheim, and songs from the productions of Richard Eyre, Nicholas Hytner, Cameron Mackintosh, Trevor Nunn, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.[3]
- 1995: Devised and directed A Gala Concert for Hal Prince at the Gasteig in Munich[4]
- 1996: Devised and directed the Richard Rodgers Award for Excellence in Musical Theater celebrating Andrew Lloyd Webber for the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera
- 1996: Devised and directed Who Could Ask for Anything More?, the centenary celebration of Ira Gershwin, at the Royal Albert Hall[5][6]
- 1997: Directed with Trevor Nunn The Golden Anniversary – a private event celebrating the Golden Wedding Anniversary of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh (Royal Festival Hall)
- 1999: Devised and directed Sondheim Tonight in New York and London[5]
- 2008: Adapted and directed Chess in Concert at the Royal Albert Hall with Josh Groban, Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, Marti Pellow, Kerry Ellis and Clarke Peters, introduced by Tim Rice
- 2009: Directed the Christmas shows of the UK vocal group Cantabile at the Delfont Room, Prince of Wales Theatre and St. John's, Smith Square
Recent productions at the Royal Albert Hall:
- 2011: Kerry Ellis and Brian May's show Anthems: The Concert, for the benefit of Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, Winner of WhatsOnStage.com Best Solo Performance; also devised and directed
- 2011: The Wonderful World of Captain Beaky and His Band, (featuring the words of Jeremy Lloyd and the music of Jim Parker with Sir Roger Moore, Vanessa Redgrave, Hugh Bonneville, Joanna Lumley, Duncan Bannatyne and Alan Titchmarsh amongst others), in aid of Unicef; also devised and directed
- 2012: The Night of 1000 Voices celebrating The Music of the Knights introduced by Hugh Bonneville (with Brent Barrett, Daniel Boys, Kerry Ellis, Yngve Gasoy Romdal, Bonnie Langford, Peter Polycarpou, Clive Rowe, Sally Ann Triplett and others); also devised and directed
- 2012: Seasons of Love, for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, celebrating the real-life Calendar Girls. (featuring Tim Firth, Willy Russell, John Alderton, Celia Imrie, Patricia Hodge, Sue Holderness, Janie Dee, Stephen Tompkinson, Lesley Joseph, Christopher Timothy, Julie Walters amongst others); also devised and directed[7]
- 2013: The Night of 1000 Stars celebrating Harold 'Hal' Prince with Len Cariou; also devised and directed
Wooldridge recently directed the play The Haunting, based on stories by Charles Dickens, on three Bill Kenwright Ltd tours of the UK.[8]
In 2011/2 Hugh Wooldridge was the Beatrice Carr and Ray Wallace Visiting Professor at A. Max Weitzenhoffer College of Fine Arts at the University of Oklahoma, where he directed the revival of his 1989 production, The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber.[3]
References
- ^ "JOHN WOOLDRIDGE – June 2005 MusicWeb-International". musicweb-international.com. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
- ^ "Obituary: Margaretta Scott". The Independent.
- ^ a b c d e "Hugh Wooldridge". Hugh Wooldridge. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
- ^ "A Gala Concert for Hal Prince". First Night Records. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
- ^ a b "Concert Hall". David Firman. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
- ^ Staff writer. "Who Could Ask for Anything More? A Celebration of Ira Gershwin (1997)". Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Retrieved 5 March 2018.
- ^ "Seasons of Love: A Celebration of the Calendar Girls". Royal Albert Hall. Archived from the original on 21 November 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
- ^ "Bill Kenwright Ltd presents The Haunting". Bill Kenwright. Retrieved 29 November 2012.