The Sound of Music | CFT | Festival 2023

The Sound of Music

Music by Richard Rodgers Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II Book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse Suggested by The Trapp Family Singers

by Maria Augusta Trapp

Justin Audibert and Kathy Bourne Photograph by Peter Flude

Festival 2023 A very warm welcome to our summer musical centrepiece of Festival 2023.

Given that The Sound of Music is Rodgers and Hammerstein’s perhaps most treasured musical – haven’t we all grown up knowing most of the songs? – it seems almost incredible that this is its very first staging at Chichester. Like all great works, as well as the sheer joy and exhilaration of the glorious music and story, it has a timeless resonance too; the von Trapp family’s enforced flight from their homeland in the face of an occupying force feels no less pertinent today than it was in 1938.

So it’s a delight to welcome Adam Penford, Artistic Director of Nottingham Playhouse, to make his Festival debut with this brand new production of the beloved original stage musical, along with a wonderful creative team, many of whom are returning to Chichester – including designer Robert Jones, choreographer Lizzi Gee and musical supervisor Gareth Valentine.

We’re also thrilled to welcome back Gina Beck, whose performance as Nellie Forbush in 2021’s South Pacific was also acclaimed in London and on tour. Ako Mitchell (Caroline, Or Change) and Emma Williams (Half A Sixpence, Love Story) also return, while Edward Harrison and opera singer Janis Kelly appear here for the first time. We wish them all a very enjoyable summer in Chichester.

We are still barely half way through the Festival season with many delights still to come; notably our third musical of the season, the world premiere of Rock Follies, based on the iconic 1970s TV series. Plus some starstudded dramas, including the explosively funny Never Have I Ever and James Graham’s celebrated comedy Quiz.

We hope to see you again soon and that today’s performance becomes one of your favourite things!

Justin Audibert Artistic Director

Kathy Bourne Executive Director

Rock Follies Based on the television series written by Howard Schuman

Book by Chloë Moss Songs by Howard Schuman and Andy Mackay With songs from the ground-breaking 1970s TV series, this punchy new musical is a rousing, riotous rollercoaster of woman power!

Dominic Cooke directs a cast including Carly Bawden, Samuel Barnett, Angela Marie Hurst and Zizi Strallen.

Minerva Theatre 24 July – 26 August Tickets from £10 Book at cft.org.uk

Based on an original idea of the Rock Bottom Group (Diane Langton, Gaye Brown and Annabel Leventon) and Don Fraser.

Songs used by kind permission of Universal Music Publishing.

Quiz

By James Graham

Rory Bremner, Britain’s top satirical impressionist, stars as Chris Tarrant in James Graham’s thrilling, entertaining and provocative drama, directed by Daniel Evans and Seán Linnen.

Get ready to answer the ultimate 50:50: guilty or not guilty?

Festival Theatre 22 – 30 September Tickets from £10 Book at cft.org.uk

A little bit different

‘Expect the unexpected’ could be the motto for Chichester Festival Theatre’s CFT Lates and Summer Sessions: two recently introduced strands of programming designed to offer something a little bit different to the shows in the main theatres.

CFT Lates was born out of the success of the 2019 Chichester Spiegeltent, ‘which proved there was an audience looking for entertainment they might not normally associate with CFT’, says Georgina Rae, CFT’s Director of Planning and Projects. ‘And we wanted to look at opportunities to programme artists on a lighter scale than an entire play.’

Happening in the Minerva Bar on the last Friday of the month (usually), CFT Lates encompass comedy, drag nights, music and improv. ‘It will look different each time you come,’ Keshira Aarabi, Projects & Events Co-ordinator adds. ‘In April we held a Noël Coward cabaret which was the first time we’d done a CFT Lates connected to a production.

‘The Minerva Bar has a relaxed, informal atmosphere and attracts a really varied audience of all ages. Tickets are £10, or £5 if you’re a Prologue member aged 16 - 30. We keep it flexible; you can book ahead but tickets are available on the door too, so if you feel like an impromptu night out at the last minute – perhaps after seeing a show – you can. Start times range between 8 – 10pm to ensure we don’t clash with the show in the Minerva.’

Coming up are Fest to Fest (27 July), with comedians en route to Edinburgh, and Musicals Bingo (15 September) which promises drag queens, show tunes, shade and shenanigans!

Even more informal are the Summer Sessions, which offer free outdoor music on the park. ‘Since the pandemic we’ve embraced our position on the edge of Oaklands Park much more – moving the main Café and introducing deck chairs on the grass, encouraging the building to be a real community space,’ Georgina says.

Initially trialled in 2022, this year another seven sessions will take place over central summer Fridays. ‘We invite local musicians to perform outside the Theatre on a Friday night in the run-up to the start of the show. The bar is open and we hope it’s an opportunity for the audience coming to the Festival Theatre to have a very pleasant pre-show experience – but also something that local people can enjoy, whether or not they’re coming to a show.’

Keshira’s open call-out for local musicians interested in a paid opportunity to perform at CFT resulted in ‘over 90 applications for seven slots!’ she exclaims. ‘There were some amazing people: it was so hard to narrow it down. They have a 35-minute set and styles will range from jazz to acoustic to keyboards, original music and covers, with musicians of different ages and backgrounds.’

For more info, visit cft.org.uk/cft-lates and cft.org.uk/events/summer-sessions

Discover new foodie experiences Street Food at CFT

Like some more?

Satisfy your on-the-go cravings with the new menu in our Street Food truck!

Pre-order on arrival, click and collect from our sunny al fresco terrace.

Pop in for pizza, cracking cakes and barista coffee from the Café on the Park or de-stress with a drink in a deckchair when the sun shines. Bliss!

Drinks with friends If you’re looking for a great spot to dine with your theatre pals, look no further. Fantastic food featuring local, seasonal ingredients plus à la carte options, top notch service and excellent wine. It also happens to be the closest restaurant to the Theatre so there’s no need to rush to catch the overture.

For the full menu of food and drink, visit cft.org.uk/eat, email dining@cft.org.uk or call 01243 782219.

The Sound of Music

Music by Richard Rodgers Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II Book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse Suggested by The Trapp Family Singers

by Maria Augusta Trapp

Long, So Fare Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II Photo courtesy of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization: A Concord Company

The Sound of Music is the last and most popular work by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, the partnership that dominated the Broadway musical when the Broadway musical dominated American pop culture. And its enduring popularity has obscured both the path-breaking theatrical innovations of its creators, and its own gentle merits as a work of art.

When it opened on Broadway in 1959, elite opinion saw The Sound of Music as a filigreed throwback to the age of operetta, an era that Rodgers and Hammerstein had presumably entombed 16 years earlier with Oklahoma!, whose seamless integration of music, drama and dance – and, above all, quiet naturalism – ushered in the serious, modern musical play. The team had followed that electric debut with such innovative hits as Carousel (which tackled spousal abuse), South Pacific (which attacked racism) and The King and I (which explored East-West cultural tensions).

By those standards, The Sound of Music’s sentimental romance was retrograde entertainment, and the smartest of the smart set was unsparing in its scorn.

But by the second night’s performance, Hammerstein, a consummate man of the theatre, watched closely and delivered a different verdict. ‘Make no mistake!’ he insisted. ‘This is a hit… Just look and listen to that audience! They couldn’t care less about the reviews. I promise you, this is a smash hit!’ And so it was, running for three and a half years in New York and nearly twice as long in London, where it set a then-new record as the West End’s longest running musical. The worldwide success of the 1965 film version, starring Julie Andrews, only cemented the show’s popular appeal.

Those who would knock The Sound of Music overlook two towering realities. First, its heart-tugging tale of the Trapp family’s

ewell

flight from Nazism is more true than not (granted, the family escaped on a train to Italy and not by climbing into the mountains outside Salzburg). And second, the play reflects the unselfconscious conviction of its creators, including the playwrights Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, who wrote the original book. Years later, Crouse’s son, Timothy, himself a prominent journalist, explained the conventional wisdom, saying that show business cynics had ‘Acted as if Rodgers and Hammerstein and Lindsay and Crouse were one of those big food conglomerates who do testing in a lab to create a snack with just the right combination of salt and fat and especially sugar to make it a tour de force of empty calories that consumers can’t stop eating.’

But ‘What these people were incapable of seeing,’ Crouse added, ‘was that the key ingredient of the secret sauce was sincerity.

Whether or not you agree with the vision offered by The Sound of Music, it was a sincere vision, sincere on the part of all four guys. They believed in what they’d written.’

‘The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. It adds up. It sings. It parses in the grammar of the heart.’

Publisher, Max Schuster In a letter to Hammerstein shortly after the Broadway opening, the publisher Max Schuster had a similar view. ‘The whole is greater than the sum of the parts,’ he wrote.

‘It adds up. It sings. It parses in the grammar of the heart.’

The show had an unusual genesis for a team that famously preferred to find its own stories, and to cast non-stars. It was brought to Rodgers and Hammerstein as a package deal by its original Maria, Mary Martin, then one of the reigning divas of Broadway and a veteran of the team’s South Pacific a decade earlier. The source material was Die Trapp Familie, a lightly fictionalised, non-musical 1956 German film, and Martin’s initial pitch was for a show that would blend

the Trapp family’s actual classical repertoire with some new songs by R&H. Rodgers wisely decided he would rather not compete with Mozart, and the result was the wholly original score that has made the title song an earworm the world over.

The collaborators had the crucial help of an expert consultant, one Sister Gregory. Her advice was succinct: ‘Don’t make nuns sanctimonious.’

From the beginning, the collaborators had the crucial help of an expert consultant, one Sister Gregory, a Dominican nun and theatre professor from suburban Chicago who had become a pen pal of Martin’s.

Her advice was succinct: ‘Don’t make nuns sanctimonious.’ She counselled the authors that their story should focus on a central question: ‘What does God want me to do with my life? How does He wish me

to spend my love?’ The Broadway book, more overtly political than the film’s, juxtaposed this question against the quandary faced by Captain von Trapp: what is the power of a single individual to combat fascism? Still, the authors trod carefully.

The appearance of any Nazi character was enough of a rarity in post-war American theatre that the play’s brownshirts would ultimately wear only very light brown shirts without swastikas, and would say only, ‘Heil!’ not ‘Heil, Hitler!’

Perhaps no composition in Hammerstein’s long career is better documented than ‘My Favorite Things,’ and the lyricist’s pencilled and roughly typed manuscripts preserved in the Library of Congress reflect his painstaking attention to detail – and his commitment to repeated revision. An early version contained this imperfect quatrain: Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens Curling my fingers in warm woolen mittens, Riding downhill on my big brother’s bike These are a few of the things that I like Suffice to say, the final product was superior.

The Sound of Music has an especially poignant place in the Rodgers and Hammerstein canon because it was their last collaboration. Indeed, even as he wrote it, Hammerstein received the diagnosis of the stomach cancer that would kill him within nine months of its opening night.

A fragment of the original lyric for ‘Edelweiss’, the last he ever wrote (during the show’s pre-Broadway try-out in Boston), reflected the mortality that must have been on his mind: Look to your lover and hold him tight While your health you’re keeping The resulting song, set to Rodgers’ simple, poignant melody sounded so authentic that more than two decades later, Ronald Reagan’s White House staff would order the Marine Band to play it for a state visit by Austria’s president, because someone mistakenly thought it was the Austrian national anthem. In fact, Reagan’s

Above: Poster for the original 1959 Broadway production.

Right: Mary Martin (centre) in the 1959 Broadway production.

Images courtesy of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization: A Concord Company

affection for the show was such that he once sheepishly explained to his chief of staff that he had failed to read his briefing book for an international economic summit because the film version had aired on television the night before.

‘A heady combination of life-affirming elements, like glorious music and lyrics, the Austrian Alps, triumph over adversity in a critical period in history – plus, children, nuns, family and, above all, a great love story.

What more do you need?’

Julie Andrews The success of the film undoubtedly owes much to the breathtaking location scenes shot in and around Salzburg,

but also to the authentic performances of Christopher Plummer and Julie Andrews, at her radiant best. ‘A heady combination of life-affirming elements, like glorious music and lyrics, the Austrian Alps, triumph over adversity in a critical period in history – plus, children, nuns, family and, above all, a great love story,’ Andrews once explained. ‘What more do you need?’ Beginning at the Prince Charles Cinema in London’s Leicester Square in 1999, the film would spawn a campy, still-thriving participatory phenomenon in which audience members, costumed as brown paper packages and drops of golden sun, sing along with the score in venues all over the world.

So doubters be damned, it now seems settled that The Sound of Music will bloom and grow – forever – after all.

Todd S. Purdum is the author of Something Wonderful: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Broadway Revolution.

The Real

von Trapp Family

The Trapp Family Singers, 1946 Photo Conrad Poirier

The Sound of Music is, of course, one of the most loved American musicals and iconic family films. Adored by millions, familiar to many millions more and watched at some stage by seemingly every adult in the English-speaking world, this powerful, heart-warming story of a stern widower, a bright young nun and seven extremely cute and musically-inclined children pitted against the encroaching evil of the Nazi regime is also an annual staple of festive family viewing. Yet how firmly anchored in historical veracity is this cherished narrative? A deep dive into the archive produces some fascinating finds.

The skeleton of the story, the all-important supporting superstructure, is completely true.

The skeleton of the story, the allimportant supporting superstructure, is indeed completely true. Georg von Trapp, a retired naval captain and widower with seven children, married novice nun Maria Augusta Kutschera, who was 25 years his junior. The family was also immensely musical. Georg and Maria, who married in 1927 (rather than in 1938 of fictional iterations) went on to have three more children together, infants that American storytelling judiciously omits for the sake of clarifying the timeline. When Georg died in 1947, the family had long since emigrated to the United States, and Maria found herself with multiple children to support.

This led, in 1949, to her to writing a memoir, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers.

In that uncertain post-war era, with folk eager for reinforcing tales of good triumphing over evil, the book immediately

Georg and Maria von Trapp, Vermont

became a bestseller. Its transposition into other media was swift: it inspired the 1956 West German film The Trapp Family, which (via Mary Martin) caught the attention of Rodgers and Hammerstein who, in 1959, spun it into a five-time Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, with book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. This spawned the record-breaking 1965 film, the highestgrossing picture that year and winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

By November 1966, it had become the highest-earning movie of all time, a record that it held for a further five years.

The dramatic celluloid finale, which has the von Trapp entourage make a furtive night-time escape on foot across the Alps to safety in Switzerland, was nothing less than geographically impossible.

Legend has it that Maria only learned about the prospective film treatment of her book when she read about it in the newspaper. ‘Hollywood being Hollywood, [I thought] they will have me three times divorced and five times married or whatever.

And then it turned out so nice’, she said.

When the film premiered, 20th Century Fox arranged a special screening for the family.

Johannes, Georg and Maria’s youngest child – born in Philadelphia in 1939, just months after the family left Europe – was in the US Army at the time. His application for leave was refused but, ever his indomitable mother’s son, he simply went AWOL. We all know and understand, sometimes with degrees of reluctance, that dramatic licence is the very air that Hollywood breathes and so it proved when it came to Ernest Lehman’s script for Robert Wise’s film. To start at the very ending (in a manner that might displease Julie Andrews), the dramatic celluloid finale, which has the von Trapp entourage make a furtive night-time escape on foot across the Alps to safety in Switzerland, was nothing less than geographically impossible. Had they ventured into the Alps from their Salzburg home, they would have ended up in Nazi Germany. Maria’s complaint on the matter was dealt with briskly by Wise. ‘In Hollywood you make your own geography’, came his reply. The real-life getaway was a far more prosaic matter: the family left through the gate at the back of their villa, crossed the adjacent railway tracks and boarded a train to Italy, to embark on a concert tour from which they never returned. Nonetheless, they got out in the nick of time, as the following day the Austrian borders were sealed. During the war, the von Trapp villa was used as a summer residence by Heinrich Himmler, one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany.

Films are in the business of embroidering real-life events, to raise levels of dramatic conflict and jeopardy. One of the aspects that most disappointed the children was the portrayal of their father. According to an interview that Johannes gave to the BBC, Georg was a ‘very charming man, generous,

Above left: Maria von Trapp, 1940 Photo CM Stieglitz, Library of Congress: New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection Above right: Captain Georg von Trapp Below: Georg and Maria von Trapp with five of their children

open and not the martinet that he was made out to be. My mother did try to alter that portrayal for the film, but she was not successful’. It was actually the real-life Maria who needed to be handled with care, as she was by no means as saccharine as Julie Andrews; rather she was given to outbursts of anger that involved yelling and throwing a variety of objects. Rant over, her good humour would immediately be restored, whereas other family members, most of all peace-loving Georg, would continue to be unsettled for some time afterwards.

Like so many middle-class European families, the von Trapps lost almost all their money in the Great Depression when the banks collapsed.

In the stage and film versions, Maria reintroduces the delights of music into the buttoned-up world of the grieving family.

In real life, Georg and his first wife, BritishAustrian heiress Agathe Whitehead, had encouraged a wide range of musical pursuits for their children, including the accordion, violin and guitar. They also sang in the pre-Maria era, but it was a crucially omitted figure, Father Franz Wasner, who became the von Trapps’ musical director and ensured their transformation into a professional phenomenon.

Like so many middle-class European families, the von Trapps lost almost all their money in the Great Depression when the banks collapsed. Scrabbling to survive, they took in boarders, including Father Franz, who set about shaping their musical offering. He fled Austria with the family and toured with them through Europe and the United States. Their first major concert was in New York in December 1938. The New

York Times, famously the scourge of much Broadway theatre, commented, ‘There was something unusually lovable and appealing about the modest, serious singers of this little family aggregation’. Their fame spread, until they eventually stopped performing together in 1957. Hollywood, however, had no time for this awkward truth: fearing that Wasner’s presence in the film would diminish Maria’s quasi-miraculous powers, the priest was instead replaced by fictional music impresario Max Detweiler.

But what of Maria herself, the novice nun who inherits a ready-made family? Her story seems incredible, but truth is even stranger than fiction in this regard. Maria Augusta was an orphan, raised by a court-appointed guardian before entering Nonnberg Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Salzburg, as a postulant. In 1926, Georg’s second-oldest daughter (incidentally, the oldest was Agathe, rather than the 16-going-on-17 Liesl) Maria Franziska, contracted scarlet fever,

the same illness that had killed her mother, which meant that she could no longer walk the long distance to school. Georg sought help at the Abbey and Maria was employed as a tutor for the young girl, for what was meant to be a 10-month stint before her formal induction into religious life.

Maria writes that on her wedding day she was angry with both God and her husband, because her overwhelming desire had been to be a nun.

In her autobiography, Maria writes that on her wedding day she was angry with both God and her husband, because her overwhelming desire had been to be a nun.

‘I really and truly was not in love. I liked him, but didn’t love him’, she says. ‘However, I loved the children, so in a way I really married the children’. Luckily, the union was long and happy, with the family eventually settling in Vermont in 1941. They purchased a 660acre farm and converted it into the Trapp Family Lodge. Today it is a working farm that doubles as a tourist resort, with a variety of sport and fitness opportunities, including those distinctly Austrian-influenced options of cross-country skiing and sleigh rides.

After the war, they established the Trapp Family Austrian Relief Fund to provide help for their impoverished homeland. This valiant and illustrious brood might have been through tumultuous times and travelled thousands of miles, but it is hugely satisfying to think of the hills of Vermont continuing to echo with the sound of music.

Fiona Mountford is a journalist and was Theatre Critic of the London Evening Standard, 2002-19.

The Trapp Family Singers, 1941 Photo Larry Gordon, Metropolitan Music Bureau, New York

Salzburg A stunning Alpine landscape and unique combination of musical, cultural and architectural riches has led to Salzburg’s reputation as one of the world’s most beautiful cities.

Austria’s fourth-largest city sits on the banks of the River Salzach with a backdrop of baroque towers and churches, a formidable clifftop fortress and the Alps beyond. Nestled below steep hills, the storybook Altstadt (old town) – a UNESCO Salzburg and Nonnberg Abbey Photo Jorge Franganillo/Flickr Right: Felsenreitschule Photo Andreas Praefcke

World Heritage Site – looks much as it did when Mozart lived there 250 years ago.

Salzburg was originally the site of a Celtic settlement and later the Roman town of Juvavum. By the fall of Rome, it was all but abandoned, but saved from ruin around 700 CE by St Rupert who founded Nonnberg Abbey (where The Sound of Music’s ‘real Maria’ was a postulant nun).

He became the city’s bishop and is remembered today as its patron saint.

Since 1920, the internationally renowned Salzburg Festival has been a highlight of the summer calendar for lovers of music and drama. Indoor and open-air venues include the Felsenreitschule: a beautiful baroque theatre, built in 1693 in what was a rock quarry and originally used as a riding school.

It was the setting for one of the most memorable moments in The Sound of Music film – the scene of the concert.

Sketches and designs courtesy of Robert Jones

‘I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills’ ‘Wherever you are in Salzburg, you’re always aware of the mountains surrounding you,’ says Adam Penford, the director of this new production of The Sound of Music.

‘Captain von Trapp says, ‘they’re not like any other mountains – they’re friendly’.

And that’s true; they’re not an oppressive, over-bearing mountain range. It feels like a friendly environment, until right at the end when they become a barrier to escape. We really wanted to encapsulate that sense of the mountains throughout the whole show.’

Designer Robert Jones, who has spent time in Austria, observes that Salzburg ‘feels very protected and enclosed; the architecture is amazing, as is the countryside around it. It’s so perfect, it’s almost not real.

‘The Sound of Music is a landscape musical; it’s all about the open air, the skies, the mountains, the gardens, the abbey. But that’s almost impossible to put on stage; you can’t ever convey the full majesty.’

Having worked at the Festival Theatre many times before, on shows ranging from Murder on the Orient Express to Oklahoma!, Rob’s answer is ‘an abstracted representation. The thing I love about Chichester is that it’s a sculptural space.

You’ve got to think about how anything on the stage will be scrutinised from almost 360 degrees as the audience are all round it.

And you have to leave room for 28 actors!

You can’t fluff it up with enormous pieces of scenery. Sleight of hand is important too.’

‘So that forces you to be more creative,’ Adam says. ‘What we’ve tried to create is a space which has one expressionistic design that very fluidly allows you to change locations with minimal elements.’

‘Seamless simplicity is what we’re aiming for; that’s why we’ve created a big open space that gives you a sense of being outside but isn’t literal,’ Rob continues.

‘I’ve done an abstract painting of the mountainside with layers of strata and rock formations. I wanted to make it look very green and verdant with the sky above, and a sense of movement going through it; rather than using conventional moving images we’ll use lighting and project a 3D version onto the floor which is like a screen in itself, to bring it alive.

‘The abbey is built into the mountains and the house is set against them. We have a very textured wall that can serve as interior or exterior. You don’t need a whole house or abbey, just one element – a rose window or a balustrade. If you choose the perfect chair or the perfect chandelier you can almost imagine the room that it’s in. When it’s a piece like The Sound of Music that everyone knows so well, they can picture it already.’

The Sound of Music Music by Richard Rodgers Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II Book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse Suggested by The Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp

Cast Maria Rainer Sister Berthe Sister Margaretta The Mother Abbess Sister Sophia Captain Georg von Trapp Franz Frau Schmidt Liesl Rolf Gruber Elsa Schraeder Ursula / Nun Max Detweiler Herr Zeller Baron Elberfeld / Party Guest Baroness Elberfeld / Nun New Postulant / Dance Captain Admiral von Schreiber / Party Guest Nazi / Party Guest Nun / Party Guest Nazi / Party Guest Nun / Party Guest

Gina Beck Wendy Ferguson Julia J Nagle Janis Kelly Lauren Chia Edward Harrison William Ilkley Penelope Woodman Lauren Conroy Dylan Mason Emma Williams Rebekah Lowings Ako Mitchell Matt Pettifor Tony Stansfield Annabelle Williams Hana Ichijo Minal Patel Elliott Baker-Costello Wendy Carr Liam Marcellino Rebecca Ridout

The von Trapp Children: Yellow team / Green team Friedrich Gabriel Payne / Dylan Trigger Louisa Erin Rushidi / Sasha Watson-Lobo Kurt Barnaby Halliwell / Vishal Soni Brigitta Arrabella McDermott / Audrey Kattan Marta Mia Raggio / Maya Sewrey Gretl Jesamine-Bleu Gibbs / Felicity Walton All other roles played by members of the Company.

Director Designer Choreographer Musical Supervisor Musical Director Original Orchestrations Orchestral Adaptation Lighting Designer Sound Designer Video Designer Casting Director Children’s Casting Director

Adam Penford Robert Jones Lizzi Gee Gareth Valentine Matt Samer Robert Russell Bennett Larry Blank and Mark Cumberland Johanna Town Paul Groothuis Hayley Egan Natalie Gallacher CDG for Pippa Ailion Casting Verity Naughton CDG

Voice & Dialect Coach Associate Director Assistant Musical Director Children’s Workshop Choreography Assistant Associate Casting Director Production Manager Costume Supervisor Wigs, Hair & Make-Up Props Supervisor Company Manager Stage Manager Deputy Stage Manager Assistant Stage Manager Assistant Stage Manager Assistant Stage Manager (cover)

Kay Welch Jasmine Teo Sarah Burrell Rebecca Louis Richard Johnston Ben Arkell Poppy Hall Campbell Young Associates Lisa Buckley Kate Schofield Phil Gleaden Andrew Reed Emily Humphrys Rose Dayan Zoë Lyndon-Smith

Young People’s Co-Ordinator Sue O’Donoghue House Parents Deirdre McMillan, Tamsin Ford Head Chaperone Janette McAlpine Chaperones Jennifer Beadle, Megan Bewley, Ellie Bradbury, Tracy Clayton, Ellie Edwards, Jackie Kenyon, Kimberley Kotin, Emily McAlpine, Lesley McGovern, Susan Mulkern, Lewis Renninson, Isobel Richardson, Becky Stuckey, Margaret Todd, Laura Wadey Tutors Robert Brittain, Jonathan Hodgson, Stuart Morris The story takes place in Austria early in 1938.

There will be one interval of 20 minutes.

First performance of this new production of The Sound of Music at Chichester Festival Theatre, 10 July 2023.

The Sound of Music is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd on behalf of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organisation concordtheatricals.co.uk The videotaping or making of electronic or other audio and/or visual recordings or streams of this production is strictly prohibited, a violation of United Kingdom Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and an actionable offence.

Orchestra Musical Director Keyboard / Assistant Musical Director Percussion Double Bass Harp Flute / Piccolo / Alto Flute Clarinet / Bass Clarinet Bassoon Violin 1 Violin 2 Cello Trumpet French Horn 1 French Horn 2 Trombone Orchestral Management Copyist Keyboard Programmer

Matt Samer Sarah Burrell Matt Arnold Lewis Reid Cecilia De Maria Sue Phipps Duncan Ashby Alice Eddie Julia Staniforth Kath James Jemima Clarke Andrew Chamberlain Tom Tait Kate Hainsworth Emily Wiggins Dan Boardman Andy Barnwell & Rich Weeden for BW Musicians Ltd Thomas Duchan for Hotstave Ltd Stuart Andrews

Production credits: Wedding Processional recorded at Chichester Cathedral and played by Charles Harrison, Organist; Military Advisor Brigadier (Retired) Nicky Moffat CBE; Guitar Teacher Jonathan Kirwan; Design Assistant Ben Davies; Set built by Deadline Technical Management Ltd and Bower Woods Scenery Ltd; Set painted by Richard Nutbourne Scenic Studio; Automated Engineering by Adder Engineering Ltd; Automation Control by Absolute Motion Control Ltd; Stage Decking supplied by Cardiff Theatrical Services; Rigging and Steel Fabrication by Mechstage Ltd; Softs supplied by Drapemakers Ltd; Fountain built by Properly Made Ltd; Draughting Services by Nick Lundy Draughting Services; Costume makers David Plunkett, Emily Kingston Lee, Academy Costumes, Michelle Sweeney, Jamie Attle, Hannah Trickett; Lighting hires supplied by Encore; Additional Sound Hires supplied by Autograph Sound; Video Animator Amanda Tooke; Video Hires by SSS; Transport by Paul Mathew Transport; Rehearsal Rooms Jerwood Space, Danceworks.

With thanks to Sister Gina SSF, Friar Bernhard Schunemann, Richard Paterson, Katherine Munden, Colin Billing.

Rehearsal and production photographs Manuel Harlan Programme Associate Fiona Richards Programme design Davina Chung Cover image Bob King Creative, photograph Seamus Ryan

Musical Numbers Act 1 Preludium Nuns The Sound of Music Maria Maria Sisters Berthe, Sophia, Margaretta, Mother Abbess My Favorite Things Maria, Mother Abbess Reprise My Favorite Things Maria Do-Re-Mi Maria, the von Trapp Children Sixteen Going On Seventeen Rolf, Liesl The Lonely Goatherd Maria, the Children Reprise The Lonely Goatherd The Children How Can Love Survive?

Max, Elsa, Captain von Trapp Reprise The Sound of Music The Children, Captain von Trapp The Children So Long, Farewell Morning Hymn The Nuns Climb Ev’ry Mountain Mother Abbess, the Nuns Act 2 Reprise The Lonely Goatherd Reprise My Favorite Things No Way to Stop It Something Good Godeamus Domino Reprise Maria Confitemini Domino Reprise Sixteen Going On Seventeen Reprise Do-Re-Mi Edelweiss Reprise So Long, Farewell Finale: Climb Ev’ry Mountain

Max, the Children Maria, the Children Elsa, Max, Captain von Trapp Maria, Captain von Trapp The Nuns The Nuns The Nuns Maria, Liesl Maria, Captain von Trapp, the Children Captain von Trapp, Maria, the Children Maria, the Children, Captain von Trapp Mother Abbess, the Nuns

Music and Lyrics for Something Good by Richard Rodgers.

Supported by The Sound of Music Supporters and Patrons Circles: Ross and Carolyn Bates, Chris Bourne, Caroline and Malcolm Butler, Annie Cosh, John and Joanna Dunstan, Sheila and Steve Evans, Elfrida Fallowfield, Themy Hamilton, Jammy Hoare, Roger Keyworth, Belinda Leathes, Lavinia Lewis, John and Chrissie Lieurance, Elizabeth Miles, William and Penny Plant, Jackie and Alan Sherling, Christine and Dave Smithers, Howard M Thompson, Bryan Warnett, Ian and Alison Warren, Ernest Yelf, and all those who wish to remain anonymous.

Sponsored by

Cast Biographies Elliott Baker-Costello Nazi / Party Guest Theatre while training includes JJ Hunsecker in Sweet Smell of Success, Cinderella, Chet in The Burnt Part Boys (Guildford School of Acting).

Concerts include Songs from the Shows, Children of Eden, West End Does Love, One Young World.

Films include the short Batty Boy. Trained at Guildford School of Acting.

Gina Beck Maria Rainer Previously at Chichester, Nellie Forbush in South Pacific (Festival Theatre, also Sadler’s Wells and UK tour).

Theatre includes Miss Honey in Matilda (Cambridge Theatre); Glinda in Wicked (Apollo Victoria Theatre and US tour); Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty’s Theatre); Magnolia Hawks in Show Boat (Sheffield Crucible and The New Gina Beck Edward Harrison

London Theatre); Cosette in Les Misérables (Queen’s Theatre); Mary in But I’m a Cheerleader (The Turbine Theatre); Far from the Madding Crowd (The Watermill Theatre); The Belle’s Stratagem (Southwark Playhouse); I Love You You’re Perfect Now Change (Arts Theatre); Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (Charing Cross Theatre); The Sound of Music (Kuala Lumpur); Peter Pan (Birmingham Rep); The Kissing Dance (Jermyn Street Theatre); Imagine This (Plymouth Theatre Royal).

In 2020, during the pandemic, Gina co-devised and staged a children’s Christmas show The Elf Who Was Scared of Christmas at Charing Cross Theatre.

Opera includes Madame Butterfly, L’elisir d’amore (Opera Holland Park).

Gina was a soloist in the 21st and 25th anniversary celebrations of Les Misérables, and made her BBC Proms debut in 2015 as a soloist in the Bernstein Prom with the John Wilson Orchestra.

Films include Matilda The Musical, Les Misérables.

Television includes Doctors, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking.

Trained at Central School of Speech and Drama.

Wendy Carr Nun / Party Guest Theatre includes Recorded Solo Singer for Good (Harold Pinter Theatre); Laura in A Well Remembered Voice (Leicester Square Theatre); Closer Than Ever (The Pheasantry); Façade (East London Music Group); Lady Beatrice in Princess Ida (Steam Industry/Szpiezak Productions); Beegu (Dotted Line Theatre); Vivianne in Women of Twilight (Drama Studio/Tristan Bates Theatre); Charlotte Brontë in Brontë (Drama Studio Showcase/New Diorama Theatre); Anna in Paradise is Closing Down (Drama Studio/Criterion Theatre); Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro and Opera Appetisers (Young Opera Venture); Good Fairy in Ruby and the 13th Door (Magical

Opera Company).

Other work includes concerts at the Actors’ Church, Kensington Palace, Windsor Castle, The Other Palace, Big Smoke Festival, Noosa Alive Festival Australia, Live at Zedel; the cabarets What Would Julie Do?, Musical Madness, Phoenix Artist Club: Sunday Sessions, Nick Barstow and Friends; Anthem Singer for Rugby Football Union and Bath Rugby; Singer for Ples Jako Brno (Worldwide Entertainment/ Czech Republic) and Carols by Candlelight (Dubai Expo); Guest Entertainer and Singer for cruise lines Oceania, Cunard, Swan Hellenic, Seabourn.

Television includes Walk the Line, This Week Christmas Special, London Live.

Radio includes Friday Night Is Music Night.

Films include Everything After, Suffragettes: Houses of Parliament.

Trained at Drama Studio London and Leeds College of Music.

Lauren Chia Sister Sophia Theatre includes At Last It’s Summer (The London Palladium); Jess in Jack and the Beanstalk (The Alban Arena St Albans); original London cast of Disney’s Frozen (Theatre Royal Drury Lane); Maid Marion in Robin Hood (Cliffs Pavilion); Pegeen Ryan in Mame (Hope Mill Theatre); Maria in West Side Story (Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Ledreborg Slitskoncert); first cover Jasmine in original London cast of Disney’s Aladdin (Prince Edward Theatre); Singin’ in the Rain (Kilworth House Theatre); Here Lies Love (National Theatre); Christmas Eve in Avenue Q (Theatre Royal Windsor); Footloose (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford).

Films include Tomorrow Morning.

Trained at Guildford School of Acting.

Lauren Conroy Liesl Theatre includes Little Red Riding Hood in Into the Woods (Theatre Royal Bath).

Television includes The Confessions Janis Kelly Ako Mitchell Emma Williams

of Frannie Langton, Shetland.

Films include the short Mother/Daughter.

Trained at The Dance School of Scotland and Mountview.

Wendy Ferguson Sister Berthe Theatre includes Jack’s Mother in Into the Woods (Northern Ireland Opera); Honoria in Am Dram A Musical Comedy (Quick Fantastic/Leicester Curve); Alice Beane in Titanic The Musical (international tour); Mrs Brill in Mary Poppins (UK, Ireland & international tours); Madame Thenardier in Les Misérables (Queen’s Theatre); Carlotta in The Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary (Royal Albert Hall); Widow Corney in Oliver! (Theatre Royal Drury Lane); Carlotta in The Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty’s Theatre).

Film: Carlotta in The Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary (recorded live at Royal Albert Hall).

Trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Jesamine-Bleu Gibbs Gretl Jesamine-Bleu attends Ad Astra Theatre School in Essex and Spotlight Stage School.

This is her professional musical theatre debut.

Barnaby Halliwell Kurt Barnaby attends Stagecoach Haywards Heath and Drusilla Duffill Theatre School.

This is his professional stage debut.

Edward Harrison Captain von Trapp Theatre includes Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story (Alexandra Palace London/Nottingham Playhouse); Dr Jekyll in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Storyhouse Chester); Skellig in Skellig, Mr Pendanski in Holes, Alan in Time and the Conways (Nottingham Playhouse); Burbage in Shakespeare in Love (UK tour); Baskerville, Philip in Sex and the Three Day Week (Liverpool Playhouse); Roland in Constellations (Singapore Repertory

Theatre); George in All My Sons (Rose Theatre Kingston); George Boleyn/Edward Seymour in Wolf Hall Parts I & II (RSC/Winter Garden Broadway); Lennox in Macbeth (Park Avenue Armory NYC); Charlie in Tomcat (Southwark Playhouse); Westmoreland in Henry V (Noël Coward Theatre); Comte de Guiche in Cyrano (US national tour); Hugh in Joking Apart (Nottingham Playhouse/Salisbury Playhouse); Tranio in The Taming of the Shrew (US national tour); Poins/Rumour/ Mowbray in Henry IV Parts I & II (Theatre Royal Bath); Danceny in Dangerous Liaisons (UK tour); Tom in The Norman Conquests (Torch Theatre); Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lord Chamberlain’s Men UK tour).

Television includes Jack Ryan, Starstruck, EastEnders, Genius: Einstein, Doctor Who, Doctors.

Films include Firebrand, Last Train to Christmas, A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story, Disney’s Disenchanted, Oska Bayte, Brandoing.

Radio includes Sherlock Holmes: The Voice of Treason, The Darkwater Bride, Three Musketeers, Treasure Island, Ibsen Collection, Car Crash, Just One Damn Thing After Another, Doctor Who: Nightshade, Vienna, War Master, The Confessions of Dorian Gray.

Hana Ichijo New Postulant / Dance Captain Theatre includes George Takei’s Allegiance (Charing Cross Theatre); June in Anyone Can Whistle (Southwark Playhouse); Meg March in Little Women (Park Theatre); Helen Walsingham in Kipps: The Half a Sixpence Musical and Cassandra in Cats (ArtsEd); The Pirate Queen (London Coliseum); Chita Rivera: Live In London (Cadogan Hall).

Television includes The Olivier Awards.

Trained at Arts Educational Schools.

William Ilkley Franz Many regional theatre credits include Bolton Octagon, Manchester Royal Exchange, Newcastle Playhouse, Birmingham Rep, Theatr Clwyd, Watford Palace, Harrogate Theatre, Leeds Playhouse, Derby Playhouse, Leicester Haymarket, Theatre Royal York, New Vic Stoke and West Yorkshire Playhouse, as well as work in the West End, National Theatre, RSC, Edinburgh Festival and many UK national tours.

William spent nearly twenty years as a leading actor with John Godber’s Hull Truck Theatre Company and is an Associate Artist of the John Godber Company. He has performed in Bouncers over 750 times; Major Metcalf in The Mousetrap (West End/ UK tour 2014-16); Alan in The Full Monty (UK tour 2016-17); Arthur Narracott in War Horse (National Theatre/UK & world tours 201720); Mr Boo in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (UK tour 2022); and he recently developed his first solo show Alexa, Cry Me a Dance.

Television includes Harry’s Game, Doctor Who, Howards’ Way, All Creatures Great and Small, The Bill, Last of the Summer Wine, Heartbeat, Emmerdale, Pigeon Summer, The Ward, Coronation Rebekah Lowings Elliott Baker-Costello and the company

Street, Wing and a Prayer, Gold, Hetty Wainthrop Investigates, Casualty, Judge John Deed, Dalziel and Pascoe, Holby City, The Last Detective, EastEnders, Battlefield Britain, Doctors, Family Affairs, Breaking the Chains, Vincent, Class of 76, Thin Ice, Midsomer Murders, The Royal, Casualty 1909, Hollyoaks, DCI Banks, Endeavour.

Films include Defrosting The Fridge, Small Zones, The Fix, Shipwrecked, The Whipping Boy, Night of the Fox, Paper Marriage, Between Two Women, The Jealous God, Thunder Road, Is Anybody There?, The Boat That Rocked, The Day of the Triffids.

Trained at Rose Bruford. williamilkley.com

Audrey Kattan Brigitta Theatre includes Leopoldstadt (West End).

Television includes A Small Light, Grantchester.

Audrey trains with the Shoshana Burns School of Dance, and with Bethany Kate for lyrical and musical theatre dance. Her vocal training is with Rosanna Harris.

Janis Kelly The Mother Abbess Credits include title role in Rufus Wainwright’s Prima Donna (world premiere, Manchester International Festival‚ Royal Opera House, Teatro Real Madrid, Sadler’s Wells‚ Toronto and Portland); Mrs Rutland in Marnie (Metropolitan Opera New York); Polly Nichols in Jack the Ripper (world premiere) and Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro (English

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National Opera); Mrs Grose in The Turn of the Screw (ENO and Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd (Welsh National Opera); Show Boat (Palladium with RSC and Opera North); Mrs Nixon in Nixon in China (Metropolitan Opera); Lady Billows in Albert Herring (Los Angeles); Hazel George in The Perfect American (world premiere, Madrid and ENO); Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro (Garsington and Paris); Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw, Mrs Coyle in Owen Wingrave (Toulouse); Berta in Il Barbiere di Siviglia‚ Madame Jouvenot in Adriana Lecouvreur and Nella in Gianni Schicchi (Royal Opera House); Berta in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Glyndebourne); Christine in Intermezzo (Buxton); Sister Helen in Heggie’s Dead Man Walking (Eugene Opera Oregon); and directed/sang La Dame

de Monte Carlo with the Royal College of Music.

Films include The Life of David Gale‚ Match Point.

Recordings include A Little Night Music, Prima Donna, When Did You Last See Your Father.

Television includes Inspector Morse‚ Lewis, Endeavour.

She holds the Chair in Vocal Performance at the Royal College of Music, London and gives masterclasses worldwide.

Trained at the RSAMD‚ London’s Royal College of Music and with Elisabeth Grümmer in Paris.

Rebekah Lowings Ursula / Nun Theatre includes understudy/played Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady (London Coliseum and UK tour); Molly in Ghost The Musical (UK tour); Lady Isobel in Knights of the Rose (Arts Theatre London); Mary Magdalene

Wendy Carr Minal Patel Liam Marcellino

in Jesus Chris Superstar (international tour); Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (tour); Snow White in Snow White (New Theatre Woking); Dick Whittington (London Palladium); Julie in Theory of Relativity (Relative Motion); Transatlantic Concert (St James Theatre); Tashitgo/Flask/Dadoo in Moby Dick The Musical! (Union Theatre).

Television includes Mr Selfridge.

Trained at Guildford School of Acting.

Liam Marcellino Nazi / Party Guest Theatre includes 42nd Street (Théâtre du Châtelet); alternate Billy Flynn in Chicago (UK/international tour); Lead Vocalist in Him & Me: Anton Du Beke and Giovanni Pernice (UK tour); Montparnasse in Les Misérables (UK and European tour); Wayne Burns in Strictly Ballroom The Musical (West Yorkshire Playhouse/Toronto/West End); Chino in West Side Story (Salzberg Festival

Austria); understudied and played Chris in Miss Saigon (Prince Edward Theatre); cover Sky in Mamma Mia! (Novello Theatre); understudied and played Felicia in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert! (UK tour); Ripper/cover Troy in High School Musical (Asian tour); Grease, Dirty Dancing (UK tours).

Television and film includes Bridgerton, Midsomer Murders, Rocketman, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!, James Corden: Les Misérables Crosswalk The Musical, Miss Saigon: 25th Anniversary Performance.

Liam graduated from London Studio Centre with a 1st Class BA (Hons), winning the Dame Anna Neagle Award on behalf of Cameron Mackintosh.

Dylan Mason Rolf Gruber Theatre includes Tony Brockhurst in The Boy Friend (Menier Chocolate Factory); Eitan in The Mikvah Project (Orange Tree Theatre); James Potter/Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Palace Theatre); understudy Billy Lawlor in 42nd Street (Theatre Royal Drury Lane); Hermes Dylan Mason Lauren Conroy

in The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus (Finborough Theatre); understudy Mole in The Wind in the Willows (Theatre Royal Plymouth, Lowry Salford and Mayflower Southampton); wonder.land (National Theatre and Theatre du Chatelet, Paris); Joel in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); understudy Billy Crocker in Anything Goes (Sheffield Crucible and national tour).

Television includes Doctors.

Trained Arts Educational Schools.

Arrabella McDermott Brigitta Theatre includes Jane Banks in Mary Poppins (West End); Mouse in The Nutcracker (Vienna Ballet tour).

Films include the short This Isn’t Me. Trains at Mishmak Youth Theatre and The Rhodes Academy of Dance; she is an Associate at Central School of Ballet.

Ako Mitchell Max Detweiler Previously at Chichester Bus/Dryer in Caroline, Or Change (Minerva Theatre and West End).

Theatre includes Kweku in Black Superhero (Royal Court); Roy Johnson in The Light in the Piazza In Concert (Alexandra Palace); Mister in The Color Purple (Leicester Curve & Birmingham Hippodrome UK tour); The Arbiter in Chess (Theatre Royal Drury Lane); Larry in Indecent Proposal, Grey Gardens (Southwark Playhouse); Preacher in Bonnie & Clyde (West End); Bob Barker in Wonderful Town (Opera Holland Park); Raymond in Far From Heaven (MTFest 2021); Europa Projekt Season: Europeana

and Peer Gynt (RSC); Nicely-Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls, Orin the Dentist in Little Shop of Horrors (Manchester Royal Exchange); Eddie in The Wild Party (The Other Place); Coalhouse in Ragtime (Charing Cross Theatre); The Trial of Jane Fonda, Klook in Klook’s Last Stand (Park Theatre); Misanthropes (Old Vic New Voices); How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Royal Festival Hall); Gabriel in Fences (Duchess Theatre); The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Donmar Warehouse); Sweaty Eddie in Sister Act (original West End cast, London Palladium); Mufasa in The Lion King (Lyceum Theatre); The Mystery Plays (Bath Music Festival); Broadway in the Shadows

Barnaby Halliwell Arrabella McDermott Mia Raggio Gabriel Payne Erin Rushidi Jesamine-Bleu Gibbs Lauren Conroy Gina Beck

(Luxembourg National Theatre/Arcola Theatre).

Television includes FBI: International, The Grinch That Stole Christmas, Hilda, Gameface, Avenue 5, Best & Bester, Silent Witness, Berlin Station, Strangest Weather on Earth.

Radio includes Mueller: Trump Tower Moscow and many audiobooks including the Alex Cross novels.

Films include Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, The Lion vs The Little People, Lake Placid: The Final Chapter, Johnny English Strikes Again. He directed and co-wrote the short I’m In the Corner with the Bluebells (Mica Film Festival Best Director Award) and wrote and directed

I Promise (Cineuropa Shorts/Filminute Audience Award).

Julia J Nagle Sister Margaretta Theatre includes Roz Keith in 9 to 5 (Deagu International Musical Festival and UK tour); Madge Hardwick in Top Hat (The Mill at Sonning); Frau Schmidt in The Sound of Music (Alexela Concert Hall); Madame Baurel in An American in Paris (Asia tour/ Théatre du Châtelet Paris); Elizabeth in Aspects of Love (Hope Mill Theatre/ Southwark Playhouse); Olga in An American in Paris (Dominion); Marjorie Taylor in Allegro (Southwark Playhouse); Marjorie Houseman in Dirty Dancing (Piccadilly Theatre/UK tour);

KT in Merrily We Roll Along (Theatr Clywd); Mrs Janet Crumb/Rosamund in Mr Stink, Dorothy Brock in 42nd Street, Mrs Brown in Me and My Girl, Mrs Cratchit in Scrooge, High Society (UK tours); Jenny in Company (Southwark Playhouse); Mary Sunshine in Chicago (Aberystwyth Arts Centre); Vicki Nichols in The Full Monty (English Theatre Frankfurt); Glinda in The Wizard of Oz (Theatre Royal Brighton); understudied/ played title role in Marguerite (original cast, Theatre Royal Haymarket); My Fair Lady (The Esplanade Theatre Singapore); understudied/played Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes (Theatre Royal Drury Lane); and the pantomimes Dick Whittington, Cinderella, Peter Pan. Recordings include Marguerite (original London cast recording).

Films include An American in Paris, The Worst Witch.

Trained at the Royal Ballet School, Bush Davies Theatre Arts and Doreen Bird College of Performing Arts.

Hana Ichijo William Ilkley

Minal Patel Admiral von Schreiber / Party Guest Theatre includes Fustbunch/Ghost of Christmas Present in Dolly Parton’s Smokey Mountain Christmas Carol (Royal Festival Hall); Big Davey in Billy Elliot (Curve Leicester); Rev Tooker in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Curve Leicester and UK tour); Emperor in Aladdin (Mercury Theatre Colchester); A Christmas Carol (Dominion Theatre); Barman in Choir of Man (Live from London Recording); Johnny Harman in Curtains (Wyndham’s Theatre and UK tour); Padre in Man of La Mancha (ENO/London Coliseum); Kevin in Cereal Café (The Other Palace); Marcel in Aspects of Love (Southwark Playhouse and Hope Theatre Manchester); Gregory Bateson in Dialetikon (Park Theatre); Neville Craven in The Secret Garden (The Barn Theatre); Snug the Joiner in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (New Wolsey); Abdul Karim in The Queen and I (Arcola Theatre); You and Me, Here We Are (Birmingham Eastside Projects); Marcel in Beauty and the Beast (Theatre Royal Stratford East); Uncle/Mr Bhamra in Bend

It Like Beckham (West End Workshop); Debesh in Between Empires (Edinburgh Festival); Porthos/Milady in The Three Musketeers (Barbershopera); Charles the Wrestler/Amiens in As You Like It (Southwark Playhouse).

Films include Wicked The Musical Parts 1 & 2.

Trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.

Gabriel Payne Friedrich Theatre includes Gavroche in Les Misérables (Sondheim Theatre); Young Charlie in Kinky Boots (Adelphi Theatre); Young Scrooge/Jonathan in A Christmas Carol (Dominion Theatre); Michael Banks in Mary Poppins (Prince Edward Theatre); Bugsy Malone in Bugsy Malone (UK/Ireland tour).

Television: Endeavour, Britain’s Got Talent Final 2020 – Mary Poppins ‘One

Wendy Ferguson Lauren Chia Penelope Woodman

Show More’.

Recordings: Mary Poppins – The Definitive Supercalifragilistic 2020 Cast Recording.

Films: Matilda The Musical (2022) and short film Dead Cool.

Training: New London Performing Arts Centre (NLPAC).

Matt Pettifor Herr Zeller Theatre includes Belvoir in The Beau Defeated, Ferdinand in The Duchess of Malfi (Manchester School of Theatre); Leo Frank in Parade, The Boatman in Sunday in the Park with George, Wilfred Gambles in Brass (National Youth Music Theatre).

Television includes Doctors.

Audio includes Stephen Leacock’s Merry Christmas (Northern Broadsides).

Trained at Manchester School of Theatre and National Youth Music Theatre.

Mia Raggio Marta Theatre includes Ivonka in Once The Musical In Concert (London Palladium).

Television includes Supertato.

Mia trains at Ignite Dance Company.

Rebecca Ridout Nun / Party Guest Theatre includes Dance Captain/Swing in Les Misérables (UK tour); Swing in The Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty’s); Dance Captain/On Stage Swing in A Christmas Carol (Dominion); Zorro, The Railway Children, Candide and Vivian in State Fair (Cadogan Hall); Sally in A Christmas Carol (Lyceum); Honeymoon in Vegas (London Palladium); Mrs Catesby in Princess Caraboo (Finborough Theatre); Lesley in The Game (St James RE:act); Belle in A Christmas Carol (The Castle Wellingborough); Sister Sophia in The Sound of Music (international tour); Flight (Opera Holland Park); Sister Margaretta in The Sound of Music (Curve Leicester); Helena Fields in The Next Big Thing

(Edinburgh Fringe); Woman One in ‘Tis The Season To Be Jolly (Jermyn Street Theatre); Somewhere Girl in West Side Story (National Youth Music Theatre); Karen Richards in Applause (London School of Musical Theatre).

Concerts include The Best of the West End (Royal Albert Hall); The Magic of Animation (West End Does); What Would Julie Do? (various).

Recordings include The Devil’s Advocate, The Colonel’s Lady.

Films include Mary Poppins Returns.

Trained at Arts Educational Schools London and London School of Musical Theatre.

Twitter & Instagram @beccaridout rebeccaridout.com Erin Rushidi Louisa Theatre includes Susan Waverley in White Christmas (Dominion Theatre); Amanda Thripp in Matilda The Musical (UK and Ireland tour); Little Amal in The Jungle (Playhouse Theatre); Aladdin (Wimbledon

Janis Kelly Rebecca Ridout Wendy Ferguson Julia J Nagle Lauren Chia

Theatre); Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast (Epsom Playhouse).

Television includes Bugsy in Dr Seuss’ The Grinch Live Musical.

Recordings include Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds’ Three Lions ’22 single, various educational English language audio projects.

Films include Wonka, Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical.

Music Video: Backing Dancer for KidzBop UK, France and Germany.

Trains at Sylvia Young Theatre School, Arnould School of Dance and Drama and HIPA (Hague Institution of Performing Arts) Elite Dance Competition Team.

Maya Sewrey Marta Maya trains with Chichester Festival Youth Theatre and at the Arabesque School of Performing Arts. This is her professional stage debut.

Animation includes Little Baby Bum.

Vishal Soni Kurt Theatre includes Gavroche in Les Misérables (West End & UK tour); Young Aaron/Midian Boy/Egyptian Boy in The Prince of Egypt (West End).

Other work includes providing dance and acting content for the AuditionReady app.

Vishal trains at StageCoach Epsom.

Tony Stansfield Baron Elberfeld / Party Guest Theatre includes Dirty Dancing (Dominion & Phoenix Theatres West End, UK & international tours); Kinky Boots (Norwegian Cruise Line); Flashdance (South Korea tour); Scrooge The Musical (Leicester Curve and UK tour); Little Women (Hope Mill Theatre); Jack and the Beanstalk (Lichfield Garrick); Candida and Mrs Warren’s Profession (English Theatre of Hamburg); West Side Story, Fame, The Importance of Being Earnest, Calamity Jane, High Society,

Audrey Kattan Maya Sewrey Sasha Watson-Lobo Lauren Conroy Dylan Trigger Felicity Walton Vishal Soni

Me & My Girl (UK tours); The Human Comedy (Young Vic); It’s A Wonderful Life (New Wolsey); Oklahoma! (Kilworth House); Aladdin (Milton Keynes); Camelot (Apollo Victoria); Mr Cinders (Fortune Theatre); Brigadoon (Victoria Palace); Damn Yankees (Adelphi Theatre); Whistle Down the Wind (Aldwych Theatre); Of Thee I Sing (Bridewell Theatre); The Witches of Eastwick (Theatre Royal Drury Lane & Prince of Wales Theatre); Sunset Boulevard (Germany & UK tour); My Fair Lady (Buxton Opera House); Snow White (Hull New Theatre); Little Mermaid (Courtyard Theatre Hereford).

Other credits include Mr Monopoly and Santa (Invent/Dubai).

Dylan Trigger Friedrich Dylan made his professional theatre debut playing Judah in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (UK and Ireland tour).

He trains with the British Theatre Academy and has performed in many Matt Pettifor Rebecca Ridout

of their productions, most recently playing Olaf in Frozen Jnr. Felicity Walton Gretl Felicity trains with Theatre4Kids and Forever Young Dance Company. This is her professional musical theatre debut.

Other credits include Charlie’s Colourforms City and Toot Toot Cory Carson (Netflix), Sorrow in Madame Butterfly (Ellen Kent Opera/Ballet International/The Anvil Basingstoke).

Sasha Watson-Lobo Louisa Theatre credits include Young Eponine and Little Cosette in Les Misérables (Queen’s Theatre); Martha Cratchit in A Christmas Carol (Dominion Theatre); Young Elsa in Frozen (Theatre Royal Drury Lane).

Television and film includes Helene in the short Mousie for which she won Best Actress at three film festivals, and Disney’s The Little Mermaid.

Annabelle Williams Baroness Elberfeld / Nun Previously at Chichester, Sweeney Todd (Festival Theatrre).

Theatre includes Andrea in Jerry Springer The Opera (Cambridge Theatre and UK tour); Annie in Porgy and Bess (Royal Opera House); Jenny’s Girl in Mahagonny (English National Opera); Myrt in Carmen Jones (UK tour); Moon cover in Caroline, Or Change (National Theatre); Andrea/Erzulie cover in Once On This Island (Royalty Theatre); Musetta in La bohème, Michaëla in Carmen (Holland Park Theatre); Tam/Malisha Scratch in Varjak Paw (The Opera Group); Rose in The Nightingale The Rose (Almeida Opera Festival); Ancestor in Another America: Fire (Sadler’s Wells); Dark Lady in The Dark Lady of the Sonnets (Pegasus Opera); Sophie cover in Werther (English Touring Opera).

Annabelle has also performed as a concert soloist at the Royal Albert Hall

Tony Stansfield Annabelle Williams

accompanied by the London Musici Orchestra and at a number of festivals including Batignano (Tuscany), Holders (Barbados), the Rainbow over Bath Festival and the Brighton Fringe Festival.

Most recently she sang with Max Richter and Chineke Orchestra at the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

Trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Rouen Conservatory as a singer and actress. She has a degree in Music from the University of Haute Normandie.

Emma Williams Elsa Schraeder Previously at Chichester, Helen Walsingham in Half A Sixpence (Festival Theatre & Novello Theatre: WhatsOnStage Award & West End Wilma Award winner and Olivier Award nomination), Jenny in Love Story (Minerva Theatre & Duchess Theatre: Olivier Award nomination).

Theatre includes Truly Scrumptious in the original cast of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Arts Correspondents’ Best Newcomer Award) and Alice in Dick Whittington (London Palladium); Maureen in Mrs Henderson Presents (Theatre Royal Bath & Novello Theatre: Olivier Award nomination); Luisa in Zorro (Garrick Theatre: Olivier Award nomination); Annie in Annie Get Your Gun (UK tour: Manchester Theatre Award nomination); Pam in The Good Enough Mum (UK concert tour); Emma in Memories of Musicals (Kilworth); Betty in White Christmas (Curve Leicester); Paula in An Officer and a Gentleman (Curve/UK tour); Betty in White Christmas (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Susan in Desperately Seeking Susan (Novello Theatre); Johanna in

Lizzi Gee and the company

Sweeney Todd (Royal Festival Hall); Christine Keeler in A Model Girl (Greenwich); Kat in Tomorrow Morning (New End); Fran in Promises Promises (Sheffield Crucible); Ellie in Sex, Chips & Rock ‘n’ Roll (Manchester Royal Exchange); Shelley in Bat Boy (West Yorkshire Playhouse/Shaftesbury Theatre: WhatsOnStage Award nomination).

Television includes The Long Shadow, Coronation Street, Marple, Heartbeat, Where the Heart is, Four Fathers, Silent Witness, Casualty, Bleak House, The Story of Music, Doctors and the animation Rhyme Time Town.

Radio includes Sunset Boulevard, Friday Night Is Music Night.

Films include First Night, The Parole Officer, Understanding, The Hazard Dome.

Trained with Michael Hampshire, Sandra Whiteley and at Valerie Jackson’s Stage 84 – The Yorkshire School of Performing Arts, of which she is now a patron.

Twitter @Williamstweet Penelope Woodman Frau Schmidt Theatre includes Mrs Walsingham in Half A Sixpence (Kilworth Theatre); Miss Andrew in Mary Poppins (UK No1 and International tour); Frau Fahrenkopf and cover/played Maxine in The Night of the Iguana (Noël Coward Theatre); Peggy White in The Last Ship (UK No1 tour); Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Olivia in Twelfth Night and Celia in As You Like It (UK open air tour); Mrs Bevan in Nativity! The Musical (Eventim

Apollo and UK No1 tour); cover/played Donna, Rosie and Tanya in Mamma Mia! (Prince of Wales Theatre, UK No1 and International tour); Mrs Betty Laurel in Sons of the Desert (Royal Court Liverpool); Sally Pratt in I Have Been Here Before (Nottingham Playhouse); and a season for the Royal Shakespeare Company including Julius Caesar and Twelfth Night.

Television and film includes Call The Midwife, Coronation Street, 20 Things To Do Before You’re 30, The Legacy of Reginald Perrin and Girls’ Night.

Trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Instagram @PenelopeW1

Creative Team

Larry Blank Orchestral Adaptation Larry received Tony nominations for his Orchestrations on The Drowsy Chaperone, White Christmas and for Catch Me If You Can, co-orchestrated with composer Marc Shaiman. He also provided orchestrations for Holiday Inn, Honeymoon In Vegas, A Christmas Story and The Producers on Broadway, and has conducted numerous shows on Broadway and in Los Angeles.

Recent UK credits include 42nd Street, My Fair Lady, Singin’ in the Rain, Mrs Henderson Presents, Guys and Dolls, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, City of Angels, The company

White Christmas, Fiddler on the Roof and Carousel. He is a regular contributor for Friday Night Is Music Night for BBC Radio 2; and is the Conductor and Orchestrator for The Olivier Awards.

Larry has orchestrated, arranged and conducted numerous films, four Academy Awards shows and conducted and/or arranged for Marvin Hamlisch, Barbra Streisand, Betty Buckley, Michael Crawford, Michael Feinstein and Barbara Cook. He was the orchestrator and conductor for FX/ BBC’s Fosse Verdon and orchestrated and conducted Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square for Netflix.

Sarah Burrell Assistant Musical Director Recent credits as Musical Director include Bring It On and SIX (UK tours); as Associate Musical Director Be More Chill (The Other Palace); as Assistant Musical Director 9 to 5, Jersey Boys, Cabaret, La Cage aux Folles (UK tours). She currently deps on Cabaret (Playhouse Theatre), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (UK tour) and We Will Rock You (London Coliseum).

Sarah has taught at Mountview and Leeds Conservatoire and Urdang as well as working as an audition and rehearsal pianist for Bristol Old Vic, Bill Kenwright

Ltd and ROYO. Trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. sarahburrellmd.co.uk BW Musicians Ltd – Andy Barnwell & Rich Weeden Orchestral Management Also this season at Chichester: Assassins.

Current London productions: Crazy for You, Operation Mincemeat, Aspects of Love.

Andy Barnwell Previously at Chichester: Babes in Arms, Funny Girl, The Music Man, Oklahoma!,

Love Story, 42nd Street, She Loves Me, Singin’ in the Rain, Sweeney Todd, Kiss Me Kate, The Pajama Game, Barnum, Guys & Dolls, Gypsy, A Damsel in Distress, Mack and Mabel, Travels with My Aunt, Half A Sixpence, Love’s Labour’s Lost/Much Ado About Nothing, Caroline Or Change, Fiddler on the Roof, Me and My Girl, Flowers for Mrs Harris, This Is My Family, Oklahoma!, South Pacific, Crazy for You. Current London productions: Ain’t Too Proud, Newsies, Cabaret, Moulin Rouge!, Frozen, Pretty Woman, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical, Hamilton. Previously: & Juliet, Get Up Stand Up, The Band’s Visit, Dear Evan Hansen, Anything Goes, Hairspray.

Current/recent regional/UK tours include The Commitments, The Rocky Horror Show, Beauty and the Beast.

Rich Weeden Previously at Chichester: The Famous Five.

Current/recent London productions: ABBA Voyage, SIX, Brokeback Mountain, Once on this Island, La Cage aux Folles.

Current/recent regional/UK tours include SIX, Shrek, Everybody’s Talking Adam Penford

About Jamie, Hairspray, Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

Mark Cumberland Orchestral Adaptation Previously at Chichester, orchestrations for Me and My Girl, new orchestrations for Crazy for You (both with Doug Besterman).

Recent work includes Sister Act (London/UK tour); Dreamgirls (UK tour); With a Little Bit of Lerner (Royal Festival Hall with SOLT/BBC); Best of Broadway (Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra); Magic at the Musicals 2016, 2017 & 2018 (Royal Albert Hall); Young Frankenstein (Garrick Theatre, with Doug Besterman); cast album arrangements for 42nd Street (Drury Lane); Ruthless! (Arts); Allegro (Southwark Playhouse); The Smallest Show on Earth (UK tour); Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, with Larry Blank); Guys and Dolls (Phoenix/ UK tour, with Larry Blank); The Ringtone Cycle (UK premiere with Boston Pops Orchestra); The Commitments (UK tour); Carousel (Arcola); Shrek the Musical (UK & Ireland tour).

Television work includes Clean Bandit

Radio 1 Sessions, The One Show, The Voice, Tonight at the London Palladium, The Royal Variety Performance, BBC Children in Need.

Mark has provided the orchestrations for the Olivier Awards since 2012 alongside Larry Blank, as well as orchestrations for The Oliviers in Concert at the Royal Festival Hall. He has also written for many orchestras internationally including Boston Pops Orchestra, the Philly Pops, San Francisco Symphony, the Halle, Orchestra Sinfonica de Barcelona, the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 2’s Friday Night is Music Night.

Hayley Egan Video Designer This season at Chichester, Mom, How Did You Meet the Beatles? (Minerva Theatre).

Theatre includes Tomorrow Gala (The Old Vic); Pijin (Theatr Genedlaethol/Theatr Iolo); Ruination (Lost Dog/Royal Ballet); The Handmaid’s Tale (Royal Danish Opera, Associate); The Boy With Two Hearts (Wales Millenium Centre/National Theatre); Coppélia (Scottish Ballet, Associate); You’re Safe Til 2024: Deep History (Barbican); Everyday (Deafinitely Theatre/ New Diorama); The Scandal at Mayerling (Scottish Ballet); Triple Bill: Witch (Royal Academy of Music); A Tale of Two Cities (Lost Dog, Associate); The Child in the Snow (Wilton’s Music Hall); Litvinenko (Grange Park Opera, Associate); The Language of Kindness (Wayward Productions); Don Giovanni (Greek National Opera, Associate); Nixon In China (Scottish Opera, Associate); Orlando (Vienna State Opera, Associate); Julius Cesare in Egypt (Teatro alla Scala, Associate); I’ll Take You to Mrs Cole!

(Complicité); Dead Man Walking, Fidelio, The Consul (Freedom Season, Welsh National Opera); Idomeneo (Teatro Real, Associate); I’m a Phoenix, Bitch! (Battersea Arts Centre, Associate); Grief is the Thing with Feathers (Wayward Productions/ Complicité, Associate).

Trained at The University of Kent (BA Film Studies). hayleyegan.co.uk

Natalie Gallacher CDG for Pippa Ailion Casting Casting Director Richard Johnston Associate Casting Director Pippa Ailion has cast over 200 productions internationally. Natalie Gallacher has worked alongside Pippa for 18 years; Richard Johnston has worked with Pippa and Natalie for three years.

Chichester Festival Theatre and West End: Rock Follies, Gypsy, Guys and Dolls, The Pajama Game, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Kiss Me, Kate, Love Story.

Current West End: Ain’t Too Proud, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, TINA – The Tina Turner Musical, The Book of Mormon, The Lion King (also international tour). Future Projects: Frozen, MJ The Musical.

Other West End: Mandela, Get Up Stand Up, Come from Away, The Wind in the Willows, Memphis, Motown, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Bend It Like Beckham, Legally Blonde, Wicked, Spring Awakening.

West End and UK tours: Beauty and The Beast, Dreamgirls, Funny Girl: On Your Feet!, Motown the Musical, Sunny Afternoon, Billy Elliot, Top Hat, We Will Rock You, Here Lies Love (National Theatre), Fela! (National Theatre/Broadway/US tour).

Other theatre includes Tammy Faye, Spring Awakening, American Psycho, Decade (Almeida); Legally Blonde, Sound of Music, Porgy and Bess, Into The Woods, Ragtime, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lord of the Flies: The Importance of Being Earnest (Regent‘s Park); One Love - The Bob Marley Musical, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, The Wiz, Waiting for Godot, Follow My Leader (Birmingham Rep).

Film Dance Casting: Rocketman, Wonka, Disney’s Snow White.

Awards: Come From Away Casting Directors Guild Award 2020; Spring Awakening WhatsOnStage Award 2023.

Lizzi Gee Choreographer Previously at Chichester Present Laughter, Running Wild, A Christmas Carol, Beauty

and the Beast, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Goodnight Mr Tom. Theatre includes A Christmas Carol (Broadway/Old Vic/San Francisco/ Melbourne/US tour); Groundhog Day, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Old Vic); Little Shop of Horrors (Regent’s Park); Twelfth Night, Vernon God Little (Young Vic); Jack Absolute Flies Again, A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer, Rocket to the Moon (National Theatre); Spitting Image (Birmingham Rep/West End); The Madness of George III (Nottingham Playhouse); Frost/Nixon (Sheffield Crucible); The Jungle Book, Annie Get Your Gun, All Male HMS Pinafore, All Male Pirates of Penzance (UK tours); Sunshine on Leith (Dundee Rep/tour); Mother Goose, The Miser, Upstart Crow, The Man in the White Suit, Love Story, Daddy Cool, The Girls, Onassis, An Ideal Husband (West End).

Opera includes HMS Pinafore, The Merry Widow, Iolanthe (ENO); Porgy and Bess (Grange Park Opera); Hansel and Gretel (Regent’s Park/ENO); The Gods of the Game (Sky Arts).

Films include The Grinch, Pride, Dance with Me and the shorts Tap Boy and Tic. Sarah Burrell Lizzi Gee

Lizzi is an Associate Artist of The Old Vic Theatre.

Paul Groothuis Sound Designer Previously at Chichester South Pacific (also UK tour and Sadler’s Wells), Amadeus, Guys and Dolls, Gypsy, Neville’s Island, The Pajama Game, Private Lives, Kiss Me, Kate, Sweeney Todd (Olivier nomination), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (all also West End), A Damsel in Distress, Mack and Mabel, Young Chekhov Trilogy, Travels with My Aunt, Ross, Sweet Bird of Youth, Oklahoma!

Paul trained as a Stage Manager at Central School of Speech and Drama.

He was awarded Live magazine’s Sound Designer of the Year Award for Oklahoma! and Oh! What A Lovely War at the National Theatre, where he was a member of the Sound Department from 1984-2003. He is Creative Associate at Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures Company.

His designs include The Silver Tassie, Filthy Business, Chariots of Fire, Rabbit Hole, Romeo and Juliet, Bent, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Show Boat, The King

and I, Anything Goes, His Dark Materials, The Coast of Utopia, My Fair Lady (NT and Drury Lane), Guys and Dolls, Sunday in the Park with George, Candide and The Wind in the Willows. Recent sound designs include Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker!, Dorian Gray, The Car Man, Edward Scissorhands, Highland Fling, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Red Shoes, Romeo and Juliet and The Midnight Bell; Oliver! (London Palladium, Theatre Royal Drury Lane and UK tour); Mary Poppins (UK and North American tours, Holland and Germany); The Boy in the Dress (RSC); Follies (NT); Magic Goes Wrong (UK tour and West End); Aspects of Love (Lyric Theatre West End).

Robert Jones Designer Previously at Chichester The Unfriend (also Criterion), Murder on the Orient Express,

Matthew Samer Gareth Valentine Lizzi Gee

Oklahoma!, Strife, Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, Mack and Mabel, Taken At Midnight (also Haymarket), Kiss Me, Kate (also Old Vic), Cyrano De Bergerac, Calendar Girls (and UK tour/West End/ Canada/Australia), The Music Man, Hay Fever, Water Babies, Saturday Sunday… and Monday, When We Are Married and Quiz (both also West End).

West End productions include Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Ragtime, The Sound of Music (also UK/international tour), Much Ado About Nothing, The Dance of Death, The Girls, Benefactors, Heroes (also Los Angeles), The King and I (Royal Albert Hall), Cyrano De Bergerac, Rock and Roll (also Broadway).

As an Associate Artist of the RSC The Boy in the Dress, Pentecost, Othello, Jubilee, Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant

of Venice, Eastward Ho!, The Herbal Bed, Venus and Adonis, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, Henry VIII (and New York), The Winter’s Tale.

Other theatre includes 42nd Street (UK tour); The Clothes They Stood Up In, Identical (Nottingham Playhouse); Happy Days (Riverside Studios); The Light in the Piazza (Southbank Centre/Los Angeles/ Chicago); Brian and Roger (Menier); Fiddler on the Roof (Menier/Playhouse Theatre); Look Back in Anger, Noises Off (West End/ Broadway); Dancing at Lughnasa, The Playboy of the Western World, The Motherf***er with the Hat, Tartuffe (National Theatre); Sweet Charity, One Night in Miami, Saint Joan, Committee, The Vote (Donmar); The Mercy Seat, Filumena (Almeida); Pericles (New York); The Wife of Willesden (also BAM NY), Pass Over, Blues in the Night (Kiln Theatre); The Full Monty (West End, tour).

Numerous opera productions for The Met, Glyndebourne, Chicago, Madrid, Frankfurt, Vienna, Tokyo, Sydney, Paris and Berlin.

He is a four time Olivier and Evening Standard Award nominee.

Edward Harrison Gina Beck

Verity Naughton CDG Children’s Casting Director Verity Naughton is a London-based Casting Director. She recently completed UK Casting on The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. As an Associate Casting Director credits include HALO (Paramount +), All the Old Knives (Amazon), The First Lady (Showtime/Lionsgate), Stephen (Hat Trick/ITV), Riviera (Archery Pictures), Berlin Station (Anonymous Content), Fate: The Winx Saga (Netflix).

In theatre Verity has cast projects for The Globe, the Royal Court, Southwark Playhouse, Chichester Festival Theatre, and the Almeida Theatre. Having originally specialised in young person casting, Verity has cast children in West End shows including Mrs Doubtfire The Musical (Shaftesbury Theatre), Frozen The Musical (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Leopoldstadt (Wyndham’s Theatre), Medea (Soho Palace Theatre), Small Island (National Theatre), The Ferryman (Royal Court and Gielgud Theatre), School of Rock and Beauty and the Beast (UK tours).

Adam Penford Director Adam Penford has been the Artistic Director of Nottingham Playhouse since 2017.

For Nottingham Playhouse: Dick Whittington, The Clothes They Stood Up In, A Christmas Carol (also at Alexandra Palace), Piaf, Cinderella, Bubble, Holes (also UK tour), An Enemy of the People, Coram Boy, The Madness of George III (broadcast internationally by NT Live) and Wonderland.

For the National Theatre: A Small Family Business (Olivier), Dorfman Opening Gala (Dorfman), Island (Cottesloe). He was Revival Director on One Man, Two Guvnors (West End, Broadway, UK and international tour), and Associate Director on NT 50 Years On Stage.

Other directing credits include Committee (Donmar Warehouse); The Boys in the Band (Vaudeville and Park Theatres); Platinum (Hampstead Theatre); Unfaithful (Found111); Watership Down (Watermill Theatre); Deathtrap (Salisbury Playhouse and UK tour); Ghost The Musical (ETF); Stepping Out (Salisbury Playhouse); The Machine Gunners and Run! (Polka Theatre).

He trained at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA).

Rodgers and Hammerstein Music, Book & Lyrics After long and highly distinguished careers with other collaborators, Richard Rodgers (composer, 1902-79) and Oscar Hammerstein II (librettist/lyricist, 1895-1960) joined forces in 1943 to create the most successful partnership in American Musical Theatre.

Prior to joining forces, Rodgers collaborated with lyricist Lorenz Hart on musical comedies that epitomized wit and sophistication (Pal Joey, On Your Toes, Babes in Arms and more), while Hammerstein brought new life to operetta and created the classic, Show Boat, with Jerome Kern. Oklahoma!, the first Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, introduced an integrated form that became known as “the musical play.” Their shows that followed included Carousel, South Pacific, The King

and I and The Sound of Music. Collectively, the Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals have earned Tony, Oscar, Grammy, Emmy, Pulitzer and Olivier Awards. The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization is a Concord Company.

Matthew Samer Musical Director Matt Samer is a musical director and vocal coach specialising in musical theatre.

Theatre credits as Associate Musical Director include South Pacific (UK & Ireland tour), Fiddler on the Roof (Playhouse Theatre/Menier Chocolate Factory), The Pirate Queen (London Coliseum).

Theatre credits as Assistant Musical Director include Sweet Charity (Donmar Warehouse), Ruthless! The Musical (Arts Theatre), Barnum (Menier Chocolate Factory) and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (UK tour).

He served as cover musical director for Spamilton! (Menier Chocolate Factory) and is also the musical director and arranger for the cabaret show What Would Julie Do? which performs regularly in London.

He holds a Masters of Music in Vocal Pedagogy, and is a classically trained pianist from the Australian Institute of Music.

Jasmine Teo Associate Director Jasmine Teo is a director and dramaturg who has worked in London and Singapore.

As Director, her productions include The Bevin Boys (London Pub Theatres’ Standing Ovation Award for Best New Play Raising Awareness 2019); The Gift (RADA); The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye (Pentameters Theatre); The Last Five Years (Henderson Project); Qibla (ArtsEd); and the forthcoming These Demons (Theatre503, Arts Council England).

As Associate Director: Graceland (Royal Court); A Christmas Carol (Nottingham Playhouse); A Christmas Carol (Bridge Theatre).

As Assistant Director: Jerusalem (Apollo Theatre); Baylis Assistant Director, Camp Siegfried (Old Vic); A Christmas Carol

(Bridge Theatre); The Haystack (Hampstead Theatre); The Wolves (Theatre Royal Stratford East); Company (Drama Centre); Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria (Iford Music Festival); The Merry Widow (Esplanade Theatre).

Jasmine has written musical adaptations of Adrian Tan’s Teenage Textbook, and Donizetti’s Don Pasquale.

Johanna Town Lighting Designer Previously at Chichester The Famous Five (and Theatr Clwyd), The Norman Conquests, Rattigan’s Nijinsky/The Deep Blue Sea (Festival Theatre), The Butterfly Lion, The Watsons, Fracked! (Minerva Theatre).

Johanna is Chair of The Association for Lighting Production & Design and a Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. She recently received A Worshipful Company of Lightmongers Award for the promotion of new talent in entertainment lighting.

Theatre includes The Tempest, Don Quixote (RSC); How The Other Half Loves, September in the Rain, Blood Wedding, Her Naked Skin (Salisbury Playhouse); Beauty and the Beast, The Panto That Nearly Never Lauren Conroy and the young company

Was, Much Ado About Nothing (Theatr Clwyd); Fisherman’s Friends The Musical (UK tour); Identical (Nottingham Playhouse/ Salford Lowry Lyric Theatre); The Homecoming (Theatre Royal Bath/UK tour); Peggy for You, The Memory of Water, The Death of a Black Man (Hampstead Theatre); Two Ladies (Bridge Theatre); The Habit of Art, Mr Wickham (Original Theatre tour & 59/59 Theatre New York); Some Like It Hip Hop (ZooNation); Crush The Musical (Big Broad Productions); Guys and Dolls, Queen Margaret, Frankenstein, The House of Bernarda Alba (Royal Exchange, Manchester); Paper, Rutherford and Son, Love and Information, Julius Caesar (Sheffield Crucible); Brainstorming, Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, The Permanent Way (National Theatre); Creditors/Miss Julie, A Perfect Nonsense, Sense and Sensibility (Theatre by the Lake); Shook (Papatango); Vardy v Rooney, What the Butler Saw, Fences, Dear Lupin, Betrayal, Via Dolorosa, Beautiful Thing (West End); My Name Is Rachel Corrie, Rose, Guantanamo, Our Lady of Sligo, The Steward of Christendom, Haunted, Arabian Nights (New York).

Opera includes Cosi fan tutte, Orfeo/

Dido, The Queen of Spades, Tamerlano (Grange Festival); Porgy & Bess (Danish Opera House); The Marriage of Figaro, Otello (Nice Opera House).

Gareth Valentine Musical Supervisor Previously at Chichester Musical Supervisor/Musical Director/Arrangements for Me & My Girl, Musical Director for Guys and Dolls (and Savoy Theatre/UK tour), The Pajama Game (and Shaftesbury Theatre), Oh, Kay! and My One and Only; Musical Supervisor for Kiss Me, Kate (and Old Vic).

Gareth Valentine began his career in 1981 working alongside composers such as Stephen Sondheim (Sweeney Todd, Into The Woods), Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin), John Kander (Cabaret, Chicago, Kiss of the Spiderwoman), Andrew Lloyd Webber (Love Never Dies, Cats, Aspects of Love) and Maury Yeston (Nine, Titanic).

He has conducted the following West End musicals (all of which won Olivier Awards for Best Musical or Best Musical Revival): 42nd Street (Drury Lane), Kiss Me, Kate (Victoria Palace), Merrily We Roll Along, Company and City of Angels (Donmar), Chicago (Adelphi). Most recently he conducted My Fair Lady (London Coliseum) and was UK Music Supervisor of its subsequent UK tour.

Orchestras include: BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Orchestre Pasdeloup, Welsh National Opera Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Rome Opera House Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra.

He has conducted for many international artistes including: Barbara Cook, Eartha Kitt, Betty Buckley, Elaine Paige, Liza Minnelli, Christopher Reeves, Dame Judi Dench, Sir Bryn Terfel, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chita Rivera, Jerry Lewis, Sir Elton John, Marin Maisie, Sir Roger Moore, Sir Ian McKellen, Clarke Peters, Victoria Wood, Joel Grey and Wayne Sleep.

Gareth was also music supervisor for

Channel 4’s Musicality.

Gareth’s Requiem has been performed at Southwark Cathedral, in Warwick, Boulder, Colorado, Helsinki and Paris as well as recorded at Abbey Road Studios London. He was commissioned by The Old Vic to compose a new score for Aladdin starring Sir Ian McKellen as Twankey.

He composed the ballet Strictly Gershwin for English National Ballet which played the Royal Albert Hall and a sellout UK tour with seasons in Tulsa and Queensland, USA, and European tour in 2022.

Kay Welch Voice & Dialect Coach Previously at Chichester, Dialect Coach on Guys and Dolls (Festival Theatre), Miss Julie/ Black Comedy (Minerva Theatre), Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads (Minerva Theatre and Spiegeltent); Voice Coach on The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Way Upstream (Festival Theatre).

Kay works in theatre, TV and film and coaches at RADA. Her freelance work includes A Christmas Carol (Nottingham Playhouse); Sister Act (Jamie Wilson Productions); The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Hedda Gabler, Jane Eyre, Shakespeare for Younger Audiences: Romeo and Juliet / Macbeth (National Theatre); and work for The Old Vic, Almeida, Nottingham Playhouse, Park Theatre and Unicorn Theatre including Sweet Charity, Hole, Wonderland, Oil, The Boys in the Band, The American Wife/The Vertical Hour, Deathtrap, The Magna Carta Plays, Little Shop of Horrors, Bedroom Farce/Separate Tables, A Man of No Importance, The Seven Year Itch, Design for Living, Night Must Fall, The Railway Children, Rise, Ages, Barbarians, Oliver, The Prince and the Pauper, Backstage in Biscuit Land, Fanta Orange, Kingdom of Earth.

She trained as an actress at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama before completing an MA in Vocal Pedagogy at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

She is also the Lead Voice Tutor at RADA.

Events

The Sound of Music Pre-Show Talk Friday 14 July, 5.45pm Join director Adam Penford for a fascinating insight into how his production came together, with a chance to ask questions of your own. Adam is in conversation with best-selling author Kate Mosse.

Free but booking is essential.

Dementia Friendly Performance

Prologue Meets The Musicals Wednesday 16 August, 5pm Meet the casts of The Sound of Music and Rock Follies. Say hello, grab a drink and find out what performing at CFT is really like.

Theatre Day

Thursday 10 August, 2.30pm This performance will feature minor adjustments to the sound and lighting levels. Staff will be on hand to ensure a welcoming atmosphere for people living with dementia.

Tickets £16 cft.org.uk/dementiafriendly

Thursday 17 August, 10.30am Get a real insider’s view with our creative team and technical crew.

Over 90 minutes you’ll enjoy demonstrations and discussion; for a completely immersive day, combine with a matinee performance. £10 (plus optional show ticket)

Relaxed Performance

Post-Show Talk

Wednesday 16 August, 2.30pm Welcoming audience members with and without learning disabilities who would benefit from a more relaxed environment.

Tickets £16 cft.org.uk/relaxedperformances

Wednesday 23 August Stay after the performance to ask questions, meet company members and discover more about the production. Hosted by Kate Bassett, CFT Literary Associate.

Free

Emma Williams Edward Harrison

Light a Spark Enjoying the show? Imagine if everyone could discover the magic of theatre.

You can make it happen. Donate to our Light a Spark fundraising campaign and support a family to come to CFT for the first time or a young person to launch their career with us.

Scan to donate or find out more

cft.org.uk/LightASpark

Chichester Festival Theatre is a registered charity. Charity no. 1088552.

Get Creative Whatever your interests or skill-set, there’s something for you in our programme of activities for adults. Everyone’s welcome, so join us and get creative.

Get Into It! Learn new skills and socialise in our termly sessions in Acting, Dancing or Singing each Monday. Can’t make it every week? Try our Drop-Ins and join us when suits you. No experience necessary - everyone is welcome to Get Into it!

Mind, Body, Sing Fun and relaxing, our group singing sessions are open to everyone aged 18+ and are dementia friendly. We believe everyone is musical and there are no wrong notes, so join us and experience the health-giving properties of group singing.

Scan to find out more cft.org.uk/get-creative

Wednesday Company and Friday Company For adults aged 25+ with learning disabilities to develop their artistic skills, meet new people and socialise in a fun and supportive environment.

Wednesday Company takes place at The Capitol in Horsham and Friday Company takes place at St Paul’s Church in Chichester.

Chichester People’s Theatre Our community company work together to devise an original piece of theatre inspired by the work on our stages. The piece is then shared at a public performance.

Join Chichester Festival Youth Theatre “For young people, knowing you can identify as whoever you really think you are is more and more relevant, and CFYT has always felt like a space where you can do that.”

CFYT MEMBER

Every week, CFYT members meet at locations across the county to discover new skills and explore new stories, make friends, build confidence and, most importantly, “laugh until your sides hurt”* (*direct quote from a member).

For ages 5 to 25 we have drama, dance, musical theatre and technical theatre sessions to choose from, as well as groups for young people with additional needs (CFYT Wednesday in Horsham and CFYT Friday in Chichester).

Our weekly sessions take place in locations across West Sussex for you to meet like-minded people and find a space where you can just be yourself!

Find your group across West Sussex and join us!

Scan to find out more

cft.org.uk/CFYT

Staff Trustees Mark Foster Jess Brown-Fuller Victoria Illingworth Rear Admiral John Lippiett CB CBE Harry Matovu KC Caro Newling OBE Nick Pasricha Philip Shepherd Stephanie Street Hugh Summers Jean Vianney Cordeiro Tina Webster Associates Kate Bassett Charlotte Sutton CDG

Rob Bloomfield Chair

Literary Associate Casting Associate

Building & Site Services Chris Edwards Maintenance Engineer Lez Gardiner Duty Engineer Daren Rowland Facilities Manager Graeme Smith Duty Engineer Costume Kit Beaumont

Wigs, Hair & Make-Up Assistant Wardrobe Manager Assistant Wardrobe Dresser Senior Costume Assistant Dresser Wigs, Hair & Make-Up Manager Jessica Griffiths Wardrobe Manager Abbie Hart Dresser Amy Hills Wardrobe Manager Dee Howland Wigs, Hair & Make-Up Assistant Kendal Love Wigs, Hair & Make-Up Manager Lucy Olorenshaw Dresser Eleanor Patterson Wigs, Hair & Make-Up Assistant Natasha Pawluk Wig Daysetter Hannah Sargent Dresser Emily Souch Assistant Wardrobe Loz Tait Head of Costume Colette Tulley Wardrobe Maintenance Eloise Wood Wig Assistant Brooke Bowden Isabelle Brook Helen Clark Helen Flower Lysanne Goble Shelley Gray

Development Laura Blake Fundraising Consultant Julie Field Friends Administrator Sophie Henstridge-Brown Senior Development Manager Sarah Mansell Development Consultant Charlotte Stroud Development Manager Karen Taylor Development Manager (Maternity Leave) Megan Wilson Events and Development Officer

Heritage & Archive Assistant Community Outreach Trainee Zoe Ellis LEAP Co-ordinator Sally Garner-Gibbons Apprenticeship Co-ordinator Matthew Hawksworth Head of Children & Young People’s Programme Hannah Hogg Senior Youth & Outreach Manager Shari A. Jessie Creative Therapist Louise Rigglesford Senior Community & Outreach Manager Dale Rooks Director of LEAP Abi Rutter Youth & Outreach Co-ordinator Riley Stroud Cultural Learning & Education Apprentice Angela Watkins LEAP Projects Manager Richard Chapman

Marketing, Communications, Digital & Sales Josh Allan Box Office Supervisor Caroline Aston Audience Insight Manager Becky Batten Head of Marketing Laura Bern Marketing Manager Jessica Blake-Lobb Marketing Manager (Corporate) Helen Campbell Deputy Box Office Manager Lydia Cassidy Director of Marketing & Communications Jay Godwin Box Office Assistant Lorna Holmes Box Office Supervisor Mollie Kent Box Office Assistant (Casual) James Mitchell Box Office Assistant James Morgan Box Office Manager Lucinda Morrison Head of Press Brian Paterson Distribution Co-ordinator Rachael Pennell Marketing Officer Kirsty Peterson Box Office Assistant Ben Phillips Marketing & Press Assistant Catherine Rankin Box Office Assistant (Casual) Jenny Thompson Social Media & Digital Marketing Officer Joshua Vine Box Office Assistant (Casual) Claire Walters Box Office Assistant Joanna Wiege Box Office Administrator Jane Wolf Box Office Assistant People Paula Biggs Jenefer Francis Naziera Jahir Emily Oliver Jenny Sherriff

Directors Office Justin Audibert Kathy Bourne Patricia Key Keshira Aarabi Angela Buckley Sophie Hobson Georgina Rae Julia Smith

Artistic Director Executive Director PA to the Directors Projects & Events Co-ordinator Projects & Events Co-ordinator Creative Associate Director of Planning & Projects Board Support

Finance Alison Baker Payroll & Pensions Officer Sally Cunningham Purchase Ledger Assistant Amanda Hart Finance & Operations Director Krissie Harte Finance Officer Katie Palmer Assistant Management Accountant Amanda Trodd Management Accountant Protozoon Ltd IT Consultants LEAP Anastasia Alexandru Helena Berry

Youth & Outreach Trainee Heritage & Archive Manager

Gillian Watkins

Head of People HR Officer Interim People Manager Accommodation Co-ordinator Recruitment & HR Administrator HR Officer

Production Amelia Ferrand-Rook Producer Claire Rundle Production Administrator George Waller Trainee Producer Nicky Wingfield Production Administrator Jeremy Woodhouse Producer Technical Steph Bartle Deputy Head of Lighting James Barnes Stage Crew Victoria Baylis Props Assistant Daisy Vahey Bourne Stage Crew Finley Bradley Technical Theatre Apprentice Serena Christian Stage Crew Leoni Commosioung Stage Technician Sarah Crispin Senior Prop Maker Elise Fairbairn Stage Technician Zoe Gadd Assistant Lighting Technician Ross Gardner Stage Crew Sam Garner-Gibbons Technical Director Jack Goodland Stage Crew & Automation Fuzz Guthrie Senior Sound Technician Lucy Guyver Production Manager Apprentice

Laura Hackett Dan Heesem Katie Hennessy

Stage Crew Lighting Technician Props Store Co-ordinator Tom Hitchins Head of Stage & Technical Laura Howells Lighting Programmer Mike Keniger Head of Sound Andrew Leighton Senior Lighting Technician Matthew Linklater No.1 Sound Technician Katie Long No.1 Sound Technician Finlay Macknay Stage Crew Tito Ruiz Mateo Prop Maker Ian Murphy Stage & Automation Technician Charlotte Neville Head of Props Workshop Stuart Partrick Transport & Logistics Neil Rose Deputy Head of Sound Anna Setchell (Setch) Deputy Head of Stage James Sharples Senior Stage Crew & Rigger Molly Stammers Senior Lighting Technician Ben Steel Stage Crew Graham Taylor Head of Lighting Dominic Turner Lighting Technician Bogdan Virlan Stage Crew Elliott Wallis Sound Technican Theatre Management Janet Bakose Theatre Manager Judith Bruce-Hay Minerva Supervisor Charlie Gardiner Minerva Supervisor Ben Geering Head of Customer Operations Dan Hill Assistant House Manager Will McGovern Deputy House Manager Sharon Meier PA to Theatre Manager Gabriele Williams Deputy House Manager Caper & Berry Catering Proclean Cleaning Ltd Cleaning Contractor Goldcrest Guarding Security Stage Door: Bob Bentley, Janet Bounds, Judith Bruce-Hay, Caroline Hanton, Keiko Iwamoto, Chris Monkton, Sue Welling Ushers: Miranda Allemand, Judith Anderson, Maria Antoniou, Izzy Arnold, Jacob Atkins, Carolyn Atkinson, Brian Baker, Richard Berry, Emily Biro, Gloria Boakes, Alex Bolger, Dennis Brombley, Judith Bruce-Hay, Louisa Chandler, Jo Clark, Gaye Douglas, Stella Dubock, Amanda Duckworth, Clair Edgell, Lexi Finch, Suzanne Ford, Suzanne France, Jessica Frewin-Smith, Nigel Fullbrook, Barry Gamlin, Charlie Gardiner, Jay Godwin, Anna Grindel, Caroline Hanton, Justine Hargraves, Joseph Harrington, Joanne Heather, Marie Innes, Keiko Iwamoto, Flynn Jeffery, Joan Jenkins, Pippa Johnson, Julie Johnstone, Ryan Jones, Jan Jordan, Jon Joshua, Sally Kingsbury, Alexandra Langrish, Judith Marsden, Emily McAlpine, Janette McAlpine, Fiona Methven, Chris Monkton, Ella Morgans, Susan Mulkern, Isabel Owen, Martyn Pedersen, Susy Peel, Kirsty Peterson, Helen Pinn, Barbara Pope, Fleur Sarkissian, Nicola Shaw, Janet Showell, Lorraine Stapley, Sophie Stirzaker, Angela Stodd, Christine Tippen, Charlotte Tregear, Andy Trust, Sue Welling, James Wisker, Donna Wood, Kim Wylam We acknowledge the work of those who give so generously of their time as our Volunteer Audio Description Team: Janet Beckett, Tony Clark, Robert Dunn, Geraldine Firmston, Suzanne France, Richard Frost, David Phizackerley, Christopher Todd

Our Supporters 2023 Major Donors Deborah Alun-Jones Robin and Joan Alvarez David and Elizabeth Benson Philip Berry George W. Cameron OBE and Madeleine Cameron Sir William and Lady Castell David and Claire Chitty John and Pat Clayton David and Jane Cobb John and Susan Coldstream Clive and Frances Coward

Trusts and Foundations The Arthur Williams Charitable Trust The Arts Society, Chichester The Bateman Family Charitable Trust The Bernadette Charitable Trust The Dorus Trust The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust Elizabeth, Lady Cowdray’s Charity Trust Epigoni Trust

Festival Players 1000+ John and Joan Adams Tom Reid and Lindy Ambrose The Earl and Countess of Balfour Sarah and Tony Bolton Ian and Jan Carroll C Casburn and B Buckley CS and M Chadha David Churchill Denise Clatworthy Michael and Jill Cook Lin and Ken Craig

Festival Players 500+ Judy Addison Smith Mr James and Lady Emma Barnard (The Barness Charity Trust) Martin Blackburn Janet Bounds Pat Bowman Jean Campbell Sally Chittleburgh Mr and Mrs Jeremy Chubb Mr Charles Collingwood and Miss Judy Bennett

Yvonne and John Dean Jim Douglas Mrs Veronica J Dukes Melanie Edge Huw Evans Steve and Sheila Evans Val and Richard Evans Sandy and Mark Foster Simon and Luci Eyers Angela and Uri Greenwood Themy Hamilton Lady Heller and the late Sir Michael Heller Liz Juniper Roger Keyworth Vaughan and Sally Lowe Jonathan and Clare Lubran Mrs Sheila Meadows Elizabeth Miles Eileen Norris Jerome and Elizabeth O’Hea Mrs Denise Patterson DL Stuart and Carolyn Popham Dame Patricia Routledge DBE Sophie and David Shalit Simon and Melanie Shaw Greg and Katherine Slay Christine and Dave Smithers Alan and Jackie Stannah Oliver Stocken CBE Howard Thompson Peter and Wendy Usborne Bryan Warnett Ernest Yelf

The Foyle Foundation The G D Charitable Trust Hobhouse Charitable Trust The Mackintosh Foundation The Maurice Marshal Preference Trust Noël Coward Foundation Rotary Club of Chichester Harbour Theatre Artists Fund The Vernon Ellis Foundation Wickens Family Foundation

Deborah Crockford Clive and Kate Dilloway Peter and Ruth Doust Gary Fairhall Mr Nigel Fullbrook George Galazka Robert and Pirjo Gardiner Wendy and John Gehr Marion Gibbs CBE Rachel and Richard Green Ros and Alan Haigh Chris and Carolyn Hughes Melanie J. Johnson John and Jenny Lippiett Alan and Virginia Lovell Sarah Mansell and Tim Bouquet James and Anne McMeehan Roberts Mrs Michael Melluish Celia Merrick Roger and Jackie Morris Mr and Mrs Gordon Owen Graham and Sybil Papworth Richard Parkinson and Hamilton McBrien Nick and Jo Pasricha John Pritchard Trust Philip Robinson Nigel and Viv Robson Ros and Ken Rokison David and Linda Skuse Peter and Lucy Snell Julie Sparshatt Richard Staughton and

The de Laszlo Foundation Lady Finch Colin and Carole Fisher Beryl Fleming Terry Frost Stephen J Gill Dr Stuart Hall Rowland and Caroline Hardwick Dennis and Joan Harrison Karen and Paul Johnston Frank and Freda Letch Anthony and Fiona Littlejohn Jim and Marilyn Lush Dr and Mrs Nick Lutte Trevor & Lynne Matthews Tim McDonald Jill and Douglas McGregor Sue and Peter Morgan Mrs Mary Newby Margaret and Martin Overington Jean Plowright Robin Roads Dr David Seager John and Tita Shakeshaft Mr and Mrs Brian Smouha Elizabeth Stern Anne Subba-Row Harry and Shane Thuillier Miss Melanie Tipples Chris and Dorothy Weller Nick and Tarnia Williams

Claire Heath Ian and Alison Warren Angela Wormald

...and to all those who wish to remain anonymous, thank you for your incredible support.

‘Chichester Festival Theatre enriches lives with its work both on and off stage. It is a privilege to be connected in a small way with this inspirational and generous-hearted institution, especially at such a challenging time for everyone in the Arts.’

John and Susan Coldstream, Major Donors and Festival Players

Our Supporters 2023 Principal Partners Platinum Level

Prof. E.F. Juniper and Mrs Jilly Styles Gold Level

Silver Level

Corporate Partners FBG Investment J Leon Group Jones Avens

Montezuma’s Oldham Seals Group Pallant House Gallery

Protozoon William Liley Financial Services Ltd

Why not join us and support the Theatre you love: cft.org.uk/support-us | development.team@cft.org.uk | 01243 812911

A Stage for Every Story

Whoever you are, there’s a warm welcome for you here.

We bring people together from all walks of life, providing a space where experiences are created and shared, and where everyone can find their place. cft.org.uk