Terri Paddock is an American writer and arts journalist, based in the UK since 1991. [1] A former PR executive, she became editor of the Whatsonstage.com, a portal website about the British theatre, in 1996. She left that position in 2013. [2] She has also served as London correspondent of the American theatre periodical Playbill . [3]
Paddock has written two books, Beware the Dwarfs and Come Clean . The latter was nominated for the Booktrust Teenage Prize in 2005. [4]
Hairspray is an American musical with music and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on John Waters's 1988 film of the same name. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues. Set in 1962 Baltimore, Maryland, the production follows teenage Tracy Turnblad's dream is to dance on The Corny Collins Show, a local TV dance program based on the real-life Buddy Deane Show. When Tracy wins a role on the show, she becomes a celebrity overnight, leading to social change as Tracy campaigns for the show's integration.
Elaine Jill Paige is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16. Her appearance in the 1968 production of Hair marked her West End debut.
42nd Street is a 1980 stage musical with a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin and Johnny Mercer and music by Harry Warren. The 1980 Broadway production won the Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Choreography and it became a long-running hit. The show was also produced in London in 1984 and its 2001 Broadway revival won the Tony Award for Best Revival.
Tamsin Margaret Mary Greig is an English actress, narrator and comedian. She played Fran Katzenjammer in the Channel 4 sitcom Black Books, Dr Caroline Todd in the Channel 4 sitcom Green Wing, Beverly Lincoln in British-American sitcom Episodes and Jackie Goodman in the Channel 4 sitcom Friday Night Dinner. Other roles include Alice Chenery in BBC One's comedy-drama series Love Soup, Debbie Aldridge in BBC Radio 4's soap opera The Archers, Miss Bates in the 2009 BBC version of Jane Austen's Emma, and Beth Hardiment in the 2010 film version of Tamara Drewe. In 2020, Greig starred as Anne Trenchard in Julian Fellowes' ITV series Belgravia.
Sheridan Smith OBE is an English actress, singer and presenter. Smith came to prominence after playing a variety of characters on sitcoms such as The Royle Family (1999–2000), Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (2001–2009), Gavin & Stacey (2008–2010), and Benidorm (2009). She played the role of Joey Ross on the drama series Jonathan Creek (2009–2013) and went on to receive acclaim for starring in a succession of television dramas, such as Mrs Biggs (2012), Cilla (2014), The C Word (2015), Black Work (2015), and The Moorside (2017). Her feature film credits include Tower Block (2012), Quartet (2012), and The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016).
Jenna Russell is an English actress and singer. She has appeared on the stage in London in both musicals and dramas, as well as appearing with the Royal Shakespeare Company. She performed the role of Dot in Sunday in the Park with George in the West End and on Broadway, receiving the Tony Award nomination and the 2006 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role. She has also appeared in several television series, including Born and Bred and EastEnders.
The Producers is a musical with music and lyrics by Mel Brooks, and a book by Brooks and Thomas Meehan. It is adapted from Brooks's 1967 film of the same name. The story concerns two theatrical producers who scheme to get rich by fraudulently overselling interests in a Broadway flop. Complications arise when the show unexpectedly turns out to be successful. The humor of the show draws on ridiculous accents, caricatures of gay people and Nazis, and many show business in-jokes.
Tracie Bennett is an English stage and television actress. She trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in Clapham, London. She played the role of Sharon Gaskell in Coronation Street from 1982 to 1984, returning to the role in 1999 and again in 2021.
Sarah Travis is a British orchestrator and musical supervisor for theatre and film. She received the Tony Award for Best Orchestrations and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations for the 2005 revival of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd.
Thom Pain is a 2004 one man show written by Will Eno. It is a rambling monologue in which the protagonist, who has suffered a lot in his life, tells the story of a bee sting, a boy with a dog that died, and his experience with a woman.
Summer Peta Vaigncourt-Strallen is an English actress who has performed various roles on stage and screen. Her most notable theatre credits include Meg Giry in the West End production of Love Never Dies and Maria von Trapp in Andrew Lloyd Webber's revival of The Sound of Music at the London Palladium.
Rebecca Maria Hall is an English actress and film director. She made her first onscreen appearance at age 10 in the 1992 television adaptation of The Camomile Lawn, directed by her father Peter Hall. Her professional stage debut came in her father's 2002 production of Mrs. Warren's Profession, which earned her the Ian Charleson Award.
The Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) is a major international theatre organisation headquartered in the United Kingdom, with offices in Woking, London, New York, Sydney, Mannheim and Cologne. ATG's key operations comprise three inter-related activities: theatre ownership and management, ticketing and marketing operations, and show productions
Driving Miss Daisy is a play by American playwright Alfred Uhry, about the relationship of an elderly Southern Jewish woman, Daisy Werthan, and her African-American chauffeur, Hoke Coleburn, from 1948 to 1973. The play was the first in Uhry's Atlanta Trilogy, which deals with Jewish residents of that city in the early 20th century. The play won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Adam Cooper is an English actor, choreographer, dancer and theatre director. He currently works as both a performer and choreographer in musical theatre, and has choreographed and/or starred in award-winning shows such as On Your Toes, Singin' in the Rain and Grand Hotel. He began his professional career as a dancer of classical ballet and contemporary ballet and is a former Principal of the Royal Ballet, a major international ballet company based in London. He became internationally recognized for creating the lead role of Swan/Stranger in Matthew Bourne's contemporary dance production of the ballet Swan Lake, a role that was briefly featured in the 2000 film Billy Elliot where Cooper played the adult version of the titular character.
Tony Sheldon is an Australian actor/singer best known for his work in theatre; he is also a writer.
Anna-Jane Casey is an English singer, dancer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre.
Love Story is a musical written by Stephen Clark with music by Howard Goodall and lyrics by Stephen Clark and Goodall. It is inspired by Erich Segal's best-selling 1970 novel of the same name. Love Story transferred to the Duchess Theatre in the West End in December 2010 following a critically acclaimed sell-out season at the Chichester Festival Theatre.
Jonathan Butterell is an English choreographer, stage director, and film director. He has worked in the West End, on Broadway, and Off-Broadway.
Lauren Ward is an American singer and actress. She has appeared in Broadway, Off-Broadway and West End musicals and plays. Ward originated the role of Miss Honey in the original Stratford-Upon-Avon, West End, and Broadway productions of the musical Matilda, and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance.