Cameron Mackintosh

Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh (born birth date and age|1946|10|17 ) is a British theatrical producer notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. He is described as being "the most successful, influential and powerful theatrical producer in the world" by the New York Times. ["The Musical is Money to His Ears" [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE6DC113AF93AA35751C1A966958260 New York Times 9th December 1990] ]

Personal life

Born in Enfield, London to a Scottish father and a Maltese mother, Mackintosh was raised in his mother's Roman Catholic faith and educated at Prior Park College in Bath. His younger brother, Robert Mackintosh, also is a producer.

He first knew that he wanted to become a theatre producer after his aunt took him to a matinee of the Julian Slade musical Salad Days when he was just 8 years old. [ [http://www.cameronmackintosh.com/cameron-biog.php :: Cameron Mackintosh Limited :: Home Page :: ] ]

Mackintosh was knighted in the 1996 New Year's Honours List for services to musical theatre. [London Gazette: [http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.aspx?pdf=54255&geotype=London&gpn=2&type=ArchivedSupplementPage&exact=Cameron%20Mackintosh| no. 54255, page 2] . Accessed May 31, 2008.]

His partner is Australian-born theatre photographer Michael Le Poer Trench.

In 2006, Mackintosh was listed 4th on "The Independent on Sunday"'s Pink List, a list of the most influential "out-and-proud" gay men and women. [ [http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1153578.ece "Gay Power: The pink list" ~ "The Independent"] 2 July 2006] He was also listed 4th in 2005. [ [http://www.show-and-stay.co.uk/biography/creative/cameron-mackintosh.html Biography of Cameron Mackintosh ~ ShowandStay.co.uk] ] Mackintosh also topped "The Stage 100" list in 2007 for the first time since 2000. [cite news | first=Alistair | last=Smith | coauthors= | title=Mackintosh tops this year's Stage 100 | date=2007-12-27 | publisher= | url =http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/19389/mackintosh-tops-this-years-stage-100 | work =The Stage | pages = | accessdate = 2008-01-04 | language = ] The list recognises the most influential members of the performing arts community at the end of each year.

He is a Patron of The Food Chain, a London-based HIV charity.

Theatrical career

Mackintosh began his theatre career in his late teens, as a stagehand at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, graduating to stage manager on several touring productions. Before long, he began producing his own small scale tours before becoming a London-based producer in the 1970s. His early London productions included "Anything Goes" (which closed after only two weeks), "Side By Side By Sondheim", "The Card", "My Fair Lady" and "Tom Foolery".

In 1981, he produced Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Cats", then considered an unlikely subject for a musical. It became the hit of the season and went on to become one of the longest running musicals on both sides of the Atlantic. After the success of "Cats", he approached the French writing team Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil about bringing their musical "Les Misérables" (then a successful French concept album) to the London stage. The musical opened in 1985 at the Barbican before transferring to the Palace Theatre. "Les Misérables" had a shaky start at the box office and a lukewarm critical reception before becoming a massive hit, largely by word-of-mouth.

In 1986, Mackintosh produced Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera" perhaps the most commercially successful entertainment enterprise in history, outgrossing hit films such as "Titanic" and "E.T."The original London and New York productions are currently still running.

In 1990, he produced Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil's next musical "Miss Saigon", which opened at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London, and was similarly successful, and the Broadway production achieved what was then the largest advance ticket sales in theatre history.

Mackintosh has produced several other successful musicals, including "Five Guys Named Moe" and a much-revised production of Stephen Sondheim's celebrated "Follies".

In 1995, Mackintosh produced the 10th anniversary concert of "Les Misérables" in London. Additionally, throughout the 1990s, he was responsible for presenting the West End transfers of the National Theatre revivals of "Oklahoma!", "My Fair Lady", and "Carousel".

Mackintosh's less successful productions include "Moby Dick", "Martin Guerre" and the stage adaptation of John Updike's "The Witches of Eastwick" which, despite some positive reviews and run of over 15 months, failed to replicate the world-wide success of his previous blockbusters.

Mackintosh's involvement in the development of "Mary Poppins" led to his producing both the 2004 West End and 2006 Broadway stagings along with Thomas Schumacher of [http://disney.go.com/theatre/ Disney's Theatrical Division] . He also co-produced the London transfer of "Avenue Q", which opened at the Noël Coward Theatre on June 1, 2006.

In 1998, Mackintosh celebrated thirty years in the business with "Hey, Mr. Producer!", a gala concert featuring songs from shows he had produced during his career. The concert was performed twice, on June 7 and 8, with proceeds going to the Royal National Institute of the Blind and the Combined Theatrical Charities. Many celebrities took part, and the June 8 performance was attended by The Queen and Prince Philip.

Influence

Mackintosh is notable as a producer for his transformation of the musical into a global, profitable brand. He has maintained tight creative control of hundreds of productions of his musicals in dozens of countries across the globe in order to ensure the consistency and quality of the production. As far as possible, productions worldwide of Mackintosh musicals use the same staging, production design, lighting, front-of-house design, and orchestrations as their London and New York counterparts. This is a departure from previous practice, where international productions of West End or Broadway musicals would often be licensed out to foreign producers and entirely reconceived locally.

Mackintosh has also had considerable success in bringing legitimate theatre directors (such as the R.S.C.'s Trevor Nunn and Nicholas Hytner) and technicians to the world of musical theatre, and is renowned for how closely he works with the creative team of a production.

He has recently expressed his interest in producing musicals from the otherwise neglected Asian and African regions, citing that the potential in these markets is inexhaustible.

Mackintosh's Delfont Mackintosh group owns seven London theatres, the Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, the Novello, the Queen's, the Gielgud, the Wyndham's, and the Noël Coward.

References

*"Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh" by Sheridan Morley and Ruth Leon, published in the UK by Weidenfeld & Nicolson and in the US by Back Stage Books, 1998

Links

*"The Sundowe", A new Scottish-based musical being produced by Cameron Mackintosh in association with Eden Court Theatre and the Scottish Executive
* [http://www.cameronmackintosh.com Cameron Mackintosh Official Website]
* [http://www.delfontmackintosh.com Delfont Mackintosh Official Website]