Matthew Price (born 6 August 1983 in Kidderminster, England) [1] is a British actor, dancer and West End stage and concert singer known for playing Riff Raff in three European tours of The Rocky Horror Show . [2] He is also a composer, having written Before After (2014) and Imaginary (2017) among other musicals and a theatrical producer, being a co-founder with James Yeoburn of the international production company United Theatrical.
Price is the second son of Shelley Price and William Price and sibling to older brother Daniel Price. Originating from the West Midlands, Price actually grew up in Bedhampton, near Portsmouth. He attended Bishop Luffa School in Chichester until 1999 when he moved to London to pursue his performing career at The BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology. [3]
Price knew he wanted to be an actor from the early age of 9 when he took to the stage for his first role as The Pirate King in his school's production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance . From then, Price joined the local amateur dramatic society where he performed in multiple shows aged from 11 to 15. His professional career began early once he joined the National Youth Music Theatre in 1997. With NYMT, Price performed in Tin Pan Ali (Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh Festival Fringe) and the critically acclaimed production of Bugsy Malone (Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith, 1997) which then went on to have a short West End run at the Queen's Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue (1997) featuring well-known performers Sheridan Smith, Jamie Bell and Michael Jibson. [3]
In 2020, Price married vocalist Heather Lundstedt. In June 2021 they welcomed their first child into the world; a baby boy named Archie William Lundstedt Price.
Price attended Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts (2004–07) where he was offered a full scholarship and graduated with a first class honours degree in Performance before making his London stage début creating the role of the Young Soldier and Frankie Epps in the critically acclaimed production of Parade at the Donmar Warehouse (2007). Other stage roles include Riff Raff in the European tours of The Rocky Horror Show (2008-9, 2014–15, 2017–18); [4] Tony Gross in The A–Z of Mrs P (Southwark Playhouse, 2014); Julian in Dear World (Charing Cross Theatre, 2013); Dallas in Sweet Smell of Success (Arcola Theatre); Frank Capra in Mack and Mabel (Southwark Playhouse, 2012); Andrew van Helsing in Vampirette (Manchester Opera House); Stix in Shrek The Musical (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 2011), Scotty in Merrily We Roll Along (Sondheim 80th Birthday Celebrations – Donmar Warehouse, 2010); Yasha/Steve in The Cradle Will Rock (Arcola Theatre, 2010); Jordan in Departure Lounge (Edinburgh Festival); Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar (Minack Theatre); Jest End (Jermyn Street Theatre); and Bugsy Malone at the Queens Theatre, (National Youth Music Theatre, 2007). [5] [6]
His concert and cabaret work includes A Spoonful of Sherman , a two-act cabaret show at the St. James Theatre in London (2014); Tony in The Confession Room , also at St. James Theatre (2013); [7] My Fair Lady (RTÉ Concert Orchestra); Strictly Gershwin (Royal Albert Hall); Notes in Heels (Duchess Theatre); Leonard Bernstein Prom (guest soloist); Hooray for Hollywood (guest soloist), MGM Musicals and Rodgers and Hammerstein Prom (BBC/Royal Albert Hall); Sondheim: Inside Out (BBC Concert Orchestra); [8] The Good Companions (BBC Radio 3); performing 'Singin' in the Rain' in Sunday Night at the London Palladium (2010); and various concerts with Jason Robert Brown, Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk, Scott Alan and other solo concerts at the St James Studio. [5]
In 2010 Price recorded his début album All Things in Time for SimG Records. [9] The album was a selection of new Musical Theatre songs written by the best contemporary writing talents from both the UK and US including Jason Robert Brown, Georgia Stitt, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, Dougal Irvine, Laurence Mark Wythe, Scott Alan and others.
Other recordings featuring Price's vocals include: Parade (2007 Donmar Warehouse London Cast Recording); A Spoonful of Sherman (Original London Cast Recording, 2015); The A–Z of Mrs P (Original London Cast Recording, 2014); Scrapbook – The Songs of Rob Archibald and Verity Quade (2010); Scott Alan Greatest Hits (2014); Scott Evan Davis' album Next (2016); More With Every Line by Tim Prottey-Jones (2010); Songs by Richard Beadle and The West End Goes MAD For Christmas (2014). [3]
Price began composing at the age of 14 and his 1999 musical Searching, written when he was 16, was awarded the Stoll Moss Theatres Award for Most Promising Under 18 Writer as part of the Vivian Ellis Awards. The following year, Price went on to write another musical based on the Pied Piper of Hamelin called Piper, which went on to be a shortlisted finalist for the same prize the year later. [3] Price has written five other musicals including The Diary of Me which was represented at the Perfect Pitch Musicals 2009 West End Showcase. He won the fourth annual Tim Williams' Award in 2011 for his song 'Stories of Heroes' which featured in the Mercury Musical Developments' show Beyond the Gate. In 2012 his song 'If Nobody Knows Your Name' was featured in the show A Song Cycle for Soho. In 2014 Price was commissioned to write the two-hander musical Before After which was workshopped in London that year [10] before opening in Tokyo in Japan in November 2014. The show has been produced 8 times since 2014 in Tokyo alone. [5] [11]
Recordings of Price's penned work include: Before After (Original Studio Cast Recording and Original Japanese Cast Recording, 2016); "Autumn Days" on All Things In Time (2010): "Stories of Heroes" on Beyond The Gate (2011); "If Nobody Knows Your Name" on A Song Cycle for Soho (2012); and "This Christmas" on The West End Goes MAD For Christmas (2014). [3]
He was commissioned by the National Youth Music Theatre to compose the score and lyrics to the book of Timothy Knapman for the musical Imaginary, which was produced in 2017 at The Other Palace. [12] [13] Price released the original NYMT London Cast Recording of Imaginary in late 2017. Price is currently working on two new musicals as well as his own album entitled Melodies & Motion featuring performers from all over the world including Carrie Hope Fletcher, Oliver Ormson, Susan Egan, Heather Lundstedt, Natalie Weiss, Tyrone Huntley, Alex Thomas-Smith, Natasha Barnes, Lauren Samuels, Benjamin Beechey, Richard J. Hunt, Mike Shearer and Rosalie Craig.
In 2012 with theatrical producer and entrepreneur James Yeoburn he founded the international theatre production company United Theatrical. [14] The pair had worked a year earlier on a concert to celebrate the contribution to the industry made by Dress Circle, a theatre shop in London's Covent Garden selling original cast albums, musical scores and memorabilia. [15] The shop, which had been supporting the industry for 33 years before its closure, was facing financial difficulty. A series of events were planned throughout July and August 2011, with some taking place at the shop and others around London. The series concluded with a West End concert featuring a cast of 50 and an orchestra of 32 at Her Majesty's Theatre on 14 August 2011. [16] Yeoburn and Price assembled an international cast including: Jonathan Ansell, Rosemary Ashe, Julie Atherton, Samantha Barks, Tracie Bennett, Graham Bickley, Simon Bowman, Daniel Boys, Rebecca Caine, Bertie Carvel, Kim Criswell, Alex Gaumond, Ellen Greene, Ramin Karimloo, Robyn North, Lara Pulver, Peter Polycarpou, Joanna Riding, Frances Ruffelle and Hannah Waddingham. The concert reunited the members of the original London casts of the musicals Miss Saigon , The Witches of Eastwick , Parade and Avenue Q . [17]
Price and Yeoburn developed and produced a new musical by American musical theatre composer Scott Evan Davis in 2014 entitled Picture Perfect, starring Lucie Jones. [18] Jones later pulled out of the production owing to scheduling conflicts, and was replaced by Charlotte Wakefield. [19]
In 2016 Yeoburn and Price produced a series of concerts for the London Musical Theatre Orchestra including the Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens musical version of A Christmas Carol at the Lyceum Theatre. It starred Robert Lindsay as Ebenezer Scrooge, Alex Gaumond as Bob Cratchit, Carrie Hope Fletcher and her sister-in-law Giovanna Fletcher as Emily and Mrs Cratchit, Madalena Alberto as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Hugh Maynard as the Ghost of Christmas Present and Peter Polycarpou as Mr Fezziwig. In 2017 he co-produced the UK tour of The Addams Family Musical . The production was directed by Matthew White and opened at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre on 20 April 2017. It starred Carrie Hope Fletcher as Wednesday, Samantha Womack as Morticia and Les Dennis as Fester. [20] The pair also co-produced the London premiere of Honeymoon in Vegas in a semi-staged concert version at the London Palladium. The LMTO concert, produced by United Theatrical, starred Maxwell Caulfield as Tommy, Samantha Barks as Betsy, Arthur Darvill as Jack, Rosemary Ashe as Bea Singer and Simon Lipkin as Buddy Rocky/Roy Bacon.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a 1975 independent musical comedy horror film produced by Lou Adler and Michael White, directed by Jim Sharman, and distributed by 20th Century-Fox. The screenplay was written by Sharman and actor Richard O'Brien, who is also a member of the cast. The film is based on the 1973 musical stage production The Rocky Horror Show, with music, book, and lyrics by O'Brien. The production is a tribute to the science fiction and horror B movies of the 1930s through to the early 1960s. Along with O'Brien, the film stars Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, and Barry Bostwick and is narrated by Charles Gray, with cast members from the original Royal Court Theatre, Roxy Theatre, and Belasco Theatre productions, including Nell Campbell and Patricia Quinn.
Company is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth. The original 1970 production was nominated for a record-setting 14 Tony Awards, winning six. Company was among the first book musicals to deal with contemporary dating, marriage, and divorce, and is a notable example of a concept musical lacking a linear plot. In a series of vignettes, Company follows bachelor Bobby interacting with his married friends, who throw a party for his 35th birthday.
The Rocky Horror Show is a musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to the science fiction and horror B movies of the 1930s through to the early 1960s, the musical tells the story of a newly engaged couple getting caught in a storm and coming to the home of a mad transvestite scientist, Dr Frank-N-Furter, unveiling his new creation, Rocky, a sort of Frankenstein-style monster in the form of an artificially made, fully grown, physically perfect muscle man complete "with blond hair and a tan".
Richard Timothy Smith, known professionally as Richard O'Brien, is a British-New Zealand actor, writer, musician, and television presenter. He wrote the musical stage show The Rocky Horror Show in 1973, which has since remained in continuous production. He also co-wrote the screenplay along with director Jim Sharman for the film adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), and appeared on-screen as Riff Raff. The film has received a large cult following and became the longest-running theatrical release in film history. O'Brien co-wrote the musical Shock Treatment (1981) and appeared in the film as Dr. Cosmo McKinley.
Thomas Z. Shepard is an American record producer who is best known for his recordings of Broadway musicals, including the works of Stephen Sondheim. Shepard is also a composer, conductor, music arranger and pianist.
Andrew Lippa is an American composer, lyricist, book writer, performer, and producer. He is a resident artist at the Ars Nova Theater in New York City.
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Kait Kerrigan is an American playwright and musical theater lyricist and book writer.
Julian Mark Ovenden is an English actor and singer. He has starred on Broadway and West End stages, in television series in both the United Kingdom and United States, in films, and performed internationally as a concert and recording artist.
George William Stiles is an English composer of musicals for the stage.
Norm Lewis is an American actor and baritone singer. He has appeared on Broadway, in the West End, film, television, recordings and regional theatre. He’s also noted for his wide vocal range. Lewis was the second African-American actor after Robert Guillaume to perform in the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera and the first one to do so in the Broadway production. In 2023, he reprised the role in the show's sequel, Love Never Dies, in London's West End.
David Thaxton is a Welsh singer, actor and musical theatre and opera performer. He starred in the Donmar Warehouse's Passion, for which he won the 2011 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical.
Louise Dearman is a British actress and singer, perhaps best known for playing Glinda and Elphaba in the West End production of the musical Wicked. Notably, she is the only actress to have played both witches in any production of Wicked full-time. She has a number of other professional stage and television credits, such as Eva Perón in Evita, Sarah Brown and Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, and Daisy Hilton in Side Show. She released her solo albums, You and I, Here Comes the Sun and It's Time, in 2005, 2012 and 2013 respectively.
Alex Gaumond is a Canadian actor, singer, songwriter and filmmaker best known for his involvement in West End theatre. He plays series regular gendarme Caron, the chief of police in Sainte Victoire, in the Channel 5 television series The Madame Blanc Mysteries, starring Sally Lindsay.
Kevin Duncan is an American music producer who has produced shows, concerts, recordings and events on Broadway and at concert halls around the world.
Glyn Kerslake is a British actor who was born in 1967 in Devon. He trained as an actor at Arts Educational Schools, London. He has had an extensive career spanning more than 30 years playing leading roles in the West End and regional theatres nationwide, and has been a soloist in many orchestral concerts and radio broadcasts.
The Confession Room is a British musical comedy written by Dan Looney, Patrick Wilde (book), Reece Looney and Sam Champness.
James Yeoburn is an English producer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of international theatre production company United Theatrical
David Nehls is an American actor, singer, composer and lyricist who, with Betsy Kelso, wrote The Great American Trailer Park Musical. Among other appearances he originated the role of Riff Raff in the 1996-2000 European tour of The Rocky Horror Show. Today he works as a Musical Director for various theatres across the United States.
Mark Warman is a British conductor, musical director, composer, orchestrator, and educator. He has worked in London's West End on musical productions, orchestrated and conducted albums, and TV and film scores.
