Robert Arditti (born 5 March 1946) is an English director, choreographer and actor, singer, dancer of stage, television, and movies. His most notable feature is his red hair. He was born in London. Among his most prominent roles was playing Baby John in the original London production of West Side Story.
In 1956, at ten years of age, he was enrolled at the Ballet Rambert School in London where he trained for Classical Ballet. Robert was born into an artistic family. His mother had been an actress, singer and dancer. His father had studied the classical violin.
After two years, his mother felt that he should learn other forms of dance, together with acting and singing. He was taken to a stage school, where he studied Ballet, Jazz, Tap and mime with Acting in the L.A.M.D.A. style.
His Classical dance training was taken over in part by Isobelle Florence, and by Tamara Karsavina, the famous dance partner of Vaslav Nijinsky. By the age of twelve, Robert had become a child actor, singer, dancer, appearing in many television, film, radio and theatre productions. These included such movies as: Carry On Teacher, Carry On Regardless and Bottoms Up.
By the age of fourteen his career took a major change in direction. He was engaged to play the role of Baby John in the original stage production of West Side Story which had transferred from Broadway to Her Majesty’s Theatre in London. This was certainly a culture shock but became one of the most important influences in his entire career.
Following this, Robert appeared in many musical films and theatre shows together with a string of Television Series and Specials. However, somewhere deep inside him, he felt there was something he had not completed. This led to his joining The Russian Federation of Classical Ballet as their Principal Dancer, at the age of nineteen. During this period he danced such roles as: Sigfried in Swan Lake and Albrect in Giselle. He stayed with the Ballet Company for approximately eighteen months, in which he managed to exorcise the old desire he started with, of being a Classical-Dancer.
Robert then returned to what had become his first love: the musical. This was followed by many theatre, television and motion picture engagements such as: Victor/Victoria, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Goodbye Mr Chips and The Slipper and the Rose. The progression of his career continued and Robert soon found himself in the driving seat as a Director/Choreographer. He directed the very first musical he had ever appeared in, West Side Story, thus bringing his career full circle.
Sir Robert Murray Helpmann, CBE was an Australian ballet dancer, actor, director and choreographer. After early work in Australia he moved to Britain in 1932, where he joined the Vic-Wells Ballet under its creator, Ninette de Valois. He became one of the company's leading men, partnering Alicia Markova and later Margot Fonteyn. When Frederick Ashton, the company's chief choreographer, was called up for military service in the Second World War Helpmann took over from him while continuing as a principal dancer.
Michael Kidd was an American film and stage choreographer, dancer and actor, whose career spanned five decades, and staged some of the leading Broadway and film musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. Kidd, strongly influenced by Charlie Chaplin and Léonide Massine, was an innovator in what came to be known as the "integrated musical", in which dance movements are integral to the plot.
Jerome Robbins was an American choreographer, director, dancer, and theater producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television.
Robert Bernard Sherman was an American songwriter, best known for his work in musical films with his brother, Richard M. Sherman. The Sherman brothers produced more motion picture song scores than any other songwriting team in film history. Some of their songs were incorporated into live action and animation musical films including Mary Poppins, The Happiest Millionaire, The Jungle Book, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Slipper and the Rose, and Charlotte's Web. Their best-known work is "It's a Small World ," possibly the most performed song in history.
Paula Alma Kelly was an American actress, singer, dancer and choreographer in films, television and theatre. Kelly's career began during the mid–1960s in theatre, making her Broadway debut as Mrs. Veloz in the 1964 musical Something More!, alongside Barbara Cook. Kelly's other Broadway credits include The Dozens (1969), Paul Sills' Story Theatre (1971), Ovid's Metamorphoses (1971), and Sophisticated Ladies (1981), based on the music of Duke Ellington, appearing with Gregory Hines and Phyllis Hyman.
Donna McKechnie is an American musical theater dancer, singer, actress, and choreographer. She is known for her professional and personal relationship with choreographer Michael Bennett, with whom she collaborated on her most noted role, the character of Cassie in the musical A Chorus Line. She earned the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for this performance in 1976. She is also known for playing Amanda Harris/Olivia Corey on the Gothic soap opera, Dark Shadows from 1969 to 1970.
The Sunderland Empire Theatre is a large theatre venue located in High Street West in Sunderland, North East England. The theatre, which opened in 1907, is owned by City of Sunderland Council and operated by Ambassador Theatre Group Ltd, on behalf of Sunderland Empire Theatre Trust.
Brian Paul Conley is an English actor, comedian, singer and television presenter. Conley has been the host of The Brian Conley Show, as well as presenting the Royal Variety Performance on eight occasions. In his 40-year television career, he has starred in multiple award-winning television sitcoms including Time After Time and The Grimleys. In the West End, he has played the lead role in musicals such as Me and My Girl, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Hairspray, Oliver!, The Music Man, Barnum and Jolson for which he was nominated for a prestigious Laurence Olivier Award. As a musician, he has released five albums, including Brian Conley Sings, Let the Good Times Roll, and Stage to Stage. He has won numerous awards in his career including The National Television Award for Most Popular Comedy Performer, Best Live Performer in Manchester Evening News and a British Comedy Award.
Marc Kudisch is an American stage actor, who is best known for his musical theatre roles on Broadway.
Sally Ann Howes was an English actress and singer. Her career on screen, stage and television spanned over six decades. She is best known for the role of Truly Scrumptious in the 1968 musical film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. In 1963, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical for her performance in Brigadoon.
Joan Hume McCracken was an American dancer, actress, and comedian who became famous for her role as Sylvie in the original 1943 production of Oklahoma! She also was noted for her performances in the Broadway shows Bloomer Girl (1944), Billion Dollar Baby (1945) and Dance Me a Song (1950), and the films Hollywood Canteen (1945) and Good News (1947).
Harold Owen "Gary" Wilmot, MBE is a British singer, actor, comedian, presenter, writer and director who rose to fame as a contestant on New Faces. As a television presenter, he is best known as the host of You and Me, So You Want To Be Top and Showstoppers. His West End credits include Me and My Girl, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Prince of Egypt.
Dame Gillian Barbara Lynne, was an English ballerina, dancer, choreographer, actress, and theatre-television director, noted for her theatre choreography associated with two of the longest-running shows in Broadway history, Cats and The Phantom of the Opera. At age 87, she was made a DBE in the 2014 New Year Honours List.
Rachael Elizabeth Beck is an Australian stage and television singer-actress. From 1991 to 1994 Beck had a major role on the popular sitcom, Hey Dad..!, as Samantha Kelly. From 2006 to 2008, Beck appeared on all three seasons of Seven Network's celebrity singing competition It Takes Two, as a singing coach successively for Mark Furze, Ernie Dingo and Mark Wilson. She has appeared in the Australian musical theatre productions of Cats (1985), Disney's Beauty and the Beast (1995–96), Les Misérables (1995–96), The Sound of Music, Cabaret, Singing in the Rain and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Beck released her first solo album This Girl on 7 March 2014.
Henry Hodges is an American actor, voice actor and singer. Beginning his acting career at the age of four, Hodges is best known for his musical theatre roles on Broadway; starring as "Chip" in Beauty and the Beast, as "Jeremy Potts" in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and as "Michael Banks" in Mary Poppins.
Wayne Louis Cilento is an American director and choreographer. He is best known for originating the role of Mike in the Broadway show A Chorus Line, and later becoming one of Broadway's most prolific choreographers.
Larry Fuller is an American choreographer, theatre director, dancer, and actor.
JoAnn Gibb is a Scottish theatre actress best known for her role of Rumpleteazer in the 1998 film of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, and as the replacement Pearl the Observation Car in the original production of Starlight Express. She also played Belle in the 2006 UK Productions tour of Beauty and the Beast and appeared as Columbia in the 2000 UK national tour of The Rocky Horror Show.
Paul Clement Hammond OAM was an Australian ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer.
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