- Craig Revel Horwood
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Craig Revel Horwood 
Revel Horwood at the 2008 Red Bull FlugtagBorn 4 January 1965
Ballarat, Victoria, AustraliaOccupation Television personality, choreographer, dancer,
theatre directorYears active 1999–present Craig Revel Horwood (born 4 January 1965) is an Australian-British dancer, choreographer, and theatre director in the United Kingdom.
Contents
Biography
Born in Ballarat, Australia in 1965,[citation needed] Horwood started his career as a dancer in Melbourne, then moved to London to take advantage of the greater opportunities available there.
In his autobiography, Horwood (nicknamed Craig Revel Horrid) reveals that at the age of 17 he made money by appearing as a drag queen in bars and clubs, and that his relationship with an unnamed celebrity was akin to prostitution.[1] Horwood is openly bisexual, and is in a relationship with his partner, Grant.[2]
Horwood has recently been made a patron of the National Osteoporosis Society,[citation needed] because of his efforts in raising awareness of osteoporosis and bone health. In 1989 he moved to the UK from Australia, and on 20 August 2011[3] became a British citizen.[4]
Theatrical career
Horwood's West End credits include Spend Spend Spend and My One and Only, both of which garnered him Laurence Olivier Award nominations for Best Choreography. He was associate director/choreographer of West Side Story, assisted Bob Avian with Martin Guerre, and was resident director of Miss Saigon. He also choreographed Hard Times - The Musical, Calamity Jane, Tommy Cooper - Jus' Like That, and directed and choreographed Beautiful and Damned.
Regional theatre choreography credits include Pal Joey, Arcadia, On the Razzle, and My One and Only at the Chichester Festival Theatre, Guys and Dolls in Sheffield, Anything Goes and South Pacific for Grange Park Opera, and Hot Mikado at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury.
International productions include Crazy for You (South Africa), Fiddler on the Roof and Sweet Charity (Amsterdam and Holland national tour), Chess (Denmark), Bonheur (Paris), Copacabana (Denmark, Der Kuhhandel (Austria), and Glanzlichter (Berlin).
Horwood directed the opening ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games in Manchester and staged Once Upon a Time - The Life of Hans Christian Andersen, a live concert in Copenhagen to mark the author's bicentenary that was televised worldwide.
Horwood recently choreographed the play Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, starring Claire Bloom and Billy Zane at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket.
He is also directing the Welsh Première Concert Production of My Land's Shore [5] which will première in Cardiff soon.[when?]
Revel Horwood directed and choreographed the 2010-2011 UK tour of Chess - a remake of the 1986 musical conceived and written by Tim Rice (of Lion King fame), with music by Andersson and Ulvaeus (of Mamma Mia! success). The show has garnered reasonable reviews for its staging and lighting [6]
Panto
In December 2009, Horwood played the part of The Queen, in Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs at Theatr Cymru in Llandudno, North Wales[7], a role he reprised in December 2010 at The Hawth in Crawley, West Sussex, England.[8]
In the summer of 2008, he premiered a new production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Sunset Boulevard at the Watermill Theatre, which transferred to the London stage at the Comedy Theatre, running from 4 December 2008 to 18 April 2009.[9]
Television career
Strictly Come Dancing
Horwood is familiar to British television audiences as a member of the judging panel on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing. He has a reputation for being the harshest of the Strictly Come Dancing judges and is often the recipient of booing from the studio audience.[10] On top of all this, he attracted widespread criticism for his apparent bias towards Emma Bunton in the fourth series of the competition.[11] He is known for stringently applying rules, as for example when marking down for an "illegal lift" in the Viennese Waltz if the lady's foot leaves the floor.
Unqualified praise, or a perfect 10 mark from Horwood, is considered hard won and therefore highly prized by contestants and audiences alike.
Catchphrases
In the context of his judging, Horwood has become widely known and imitated for his locutions which often include exaggeratedly lengthened vowels, including: "It was a dahnce diSAHster, dahling."
His appreciative utterance, "Three words: Fab - u - LOUS!" has achieved iconic status. (Clearly that is three syllables, not words, but Horwood delivers the syllables as three separate words.). Horwood similarly breaks up the syllables and throws the stress forward to the final syllable for "A - may - ZING!".[12]
Dancing with the Stars
He was a judge on Dancing with the Stars in New Zealand, along with Brendan Cole. It was quite frequent for the two men's opinions and scores to be markedly different.
Comic Relief Does Fame Academy
Horwood was a judge on Comic Relief Does Fame Academy, along with Lesley Garrett and Richard Park. In May and June 2007 he appeared as a contestant on Celebrity MasterChef, reaching the final alongside Nadia Sawalha and Midge Ure.
Other TV appearances
Horwood can be seen in Episode 5 of Series 2 of Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends during which Theroux investigates the trials and tribulations of struggling New York actors. He is introduced as Craig Horwood at an audition for a musical on a Norwegian cruise ship, for which he is the choreographer.
On 15 April 2010, Horwood was the celebrity guest judge on Daily Cooks Challenge. On 13 August 2010 he appeared on Would I Lie to You?
Appeared as a guest on Celebrity Juice episode 6, series 5 on 17 March 2011. On 28 September 2011 he appeared as a guest on Ask Rhod Gilbert.
References
- ^ English, Paul (4 October 2008), "Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood on being attacked in the street", Daily Record, http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/comment/columnists/showbiz-tv-columnists/paul-english/2008/10/04/strictly-come-dancing-judge-craig-revel-horwood-on-being-attacked-in-the-street-86908-20772132/, retrieved 2008-10-14
- ^ http://www.nowmagazine.co.uk/celebrity-news/274337/craig-revel-horwood-i-was-a-rent-boy-with-a-sugar-daddy/1/
- ^ Ask Rhod Gilbert, 28 September 2011
- ^ 8 out of 10 Cats, 7 October 2011
- ^ MY LAND'S SHORE | a new musical for Wales
- ^ http://www.thepublicreviews.com/chess-mayflower-theatre-southampton/
- ^ http://www.theonlinemail.co.uk/lifestyle-leisure/entertainment-news/2009/02/04/craig-revel-horwood-in-snow-white-panto-at-venue-cymru-66580-22842447/
- ^ http://www.thesussexnewspaper.com/events/theatre/2193-craig-revel-horwood-launches-strictly-wicked-pantomime.html
- ^ http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/news/interviews/view/item103719/Craig%20Revel%20Horwood/
- ^ In terms of judging harshness, he may be compared to Dancing on Ice's [Jason Gardiner], a similarly harsh judge.
- ^ Craig Revel Horwood backs Emma Bunton
- ^ Ringtones of Horwood's catchphrases are available. Accessed 15 December 2010.
External links
- Official Website
- Craig Revel Horwood at the Internet Movie Database
- Craig Revel Horwood talks about his production of Hot Mikado on The Interview Online
Strictly Come Dancing Series Hosts Judges Len Goodman • Craig Revel Horwood • Bruno Tonioli • Arlene Phillips • Alesha Dixon • Darcey Bussell • Jennifer GreyCelebrity winners Professional winners Brendan Cole • Darren Bennett • Lilia Kopylova • Karen Hardy • Matthew Cutler • Camilla Dallerup • Ola Jordan • Artem ChigvintsevContestants • It Takes Two • Dancing with the Stars (US version) • Dancing with the Stars (International versions)Fame Academy Series Hosts Judges Teachers Main series winners Celebrity winners Other alumni Winners songs Categories:- 1965 births
- Australian choreographers
- Australian dancers
- Australian emigrants to the United Kingdom
- Australian theatre directors
- Bisexual people
- LGBT people from Australia
- LGBT television personalities
- Living people
- Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
- People from Ballarat
- Strictly Come Dancing judges
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