Julian Woolford
Encyclopedia
Julian Woolford is a British
theatre director, producer and writer. He was educated at the University of Kent
and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
.
, Hornchurch
.
As artistic airector of the Sevenoaks Playhouse he directed Vita & Virginia, The Railway Children
, Wallflowering, Kiss of the Spiderwoman (the play), Wind in the Willows and Jeffrey Hatcher's version of The Turn of the Screw
. During Woolford's tenure Sevenoaks Playhouse won an award of £100,000 from the Arts Council
and the 2006 Best Of Business Award for Best Marketing Campaign.
, Carousel
and Murdered to Death and his productions at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch
include Turn of the Screw, Dames at Sea
, The Sound of Music
, The Fifteen Streets, Who's Under Where?, The Underworld Project; Other productions include The Oedipus Complex and Oedipus Rex (Bristol New Vic); and The Comedy of Errors
(Worthing).
which were both produced in highly successful productions at Sevenoaks Playhouse. The Railway Children
is published by Samuel French
and has been produced many times by community theatre companies in the UK and has also been produced in Bermuda. His 10 minute musical Terminal Four Play was commissioned by Theatre 503
as part of their Urban Scrawl project.
which tours the UK until November 2010.
In 2009 he wrote and directed Liberace Live From Heaven at Leicester Square Theatre, directed Two Pianos, Four Hands and I Do! I Do!
at Vienna's English Theatre and Ben Travers
play The Bed Before Yesterday at the Mill at Sonning. Woolford reset the time-frame of I Do! I Do!
and Bed Before Yesterday. I Do! I Do!
was moved from spanning from 1900 to 1950 to being set between 1950 and 2000 and The Bed Before Yesterday was set in 1966 rather than the 1930 of Travers' original script.
In 2008 he directed a revival of his 2003 production of Fiddler On The Roof
, this time starring Joe McGann as Tevye, and he directed the premiere of Deadly Game at Vienna's English Theatre. In 2007, he directed the UK National Tour of South Pacific
. In 2006, he directed the UK premiere of The Musical of Musicals, at the King's Head Theatre and Sound Theatre, London.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
theatre director, producer and writer. He was educated at the University of Kent
University of Kent
The University of Kent, previously the University of Kent at Canterbury, is a public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom...
and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, opened by Laurence Olivier in 1946, is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama, an organisation securing the highest standards of training in the performing arts, and is an associate school of the Faculty of Creative Arts of the University of the...
.
Sevenoaks Playhouse
Woolford was artistic director at Sevenoaks Playhouse, the Global Search for New Musicals at the International Festival of Musical Theatre, and associate director of the Queen's TheatreQueen's Theatre
The Queen's Theatre is a West End theatre located in Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. It opened on 8 October 1907 as a twin to the neighbouring Gielgud Theatre which opened ten months earlier. Both theatres were designed by W.G.R...
, Hornchurch
Hornchurch
Hornchurch is a large suburban town in England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. Hornchurch is in North-East London .It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan. It comprises a number of shopping...
.
As artistic airector of the Sevenoaks Playhouse he directed Vita & Virginia, The Railway Children
The Railway Children
The Railway Children is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in The London Magazine during 1905 and first published in book form in 1906...
, Wallflowering, Kiss of the Spiderwoman (the play), Wind in the Willows and Jeffrey Hatcher's version of The Turn of the Screw
The Turn of the Screw
The Turn of the Screw is a novella written by Henry James. Originally published in 1898, it is ostensibly a ghost story.Due to its ambiguous content, it became a favourite text of academics who subscribe to New Criticism. The novella has had differing interpretations, often mutually exclusive...
. During Woolford's tenure Sevenoaks Playhouse won an award of £100,000 from the Arts Council
Arts council
An arts council is a government or private, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing events at home and abroad...
and the 2006 Best Of Business Award for Best Marketing Campaign.
Director
He directed the 2003 British national tours of Fiddler on the RoofFiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
, Carousel
Carousel (musical)
Carousel is the second stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II . The work premiered in 1945 and was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline...
and Murdered to Death and his productions at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch
Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch
The Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch is a 500-seat theatre located in Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering, east London.The theatre opened in its current purpose-built site on Billet Lane, Hornchurch in 1975....
include Turn of the Screw, Dames at Sea
Dames at Sea
Dames at Sea is a musical with book and lyrics by George Haimsohn and Robin Miller and music by Jim Wise.The musical is a parody of large, flashy 1930s Busby Berkeley-style movie musicals in which an understudy steps into a role on Broadway and becomes a star...
, The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
, The Fifteen Streets, Who's Under Where?, The Underworld Project; Other productions include The Oedipus Complex and Oedipus Rex (Bristol New Vic); and The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's...
(Worthing).
Writer
As a writer his work includes book and lyrics (with music by Richard John) for musical versions of Wind in the Willows and The Railway ChildrenThe Railway Children
The Railway Children is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in The London Magazine during 1905 and first published in book form in 1906...
which were both produced in highly successful productions at Sevenoaks Playhouse. The Railway Children
The Railway Children
The Railway Children is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in The London Magazine during 1905 and first published in book form in 1906...
is published by Samuel French
Samuel French
Samuel French was a U.S. entrepreneur who, together with British actor, playwright and theatrical manager Thomas Hailes Lacy, pioneered in the field of theatrical publishing and the licensing of plays....
and has been produced many times by community theatre companies in the UK and has also been produced in Bermuda. His 10 minute musical Terminal Four Play was commissioned by Theatre 503
Theatre 503
Theatre503 is located at 503 Battersea Park Road in Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth, above the Latchmere pub. It is a performing arts venue which specialises in new work.-History:...
as part of their Urban Scrawl project.
Productions
Most recently Julian Woolford directed the new national tour of Oklahoma!Oklahoma!
Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance...
which tours the UK until November 2010.
In 2009 he wrote and directed Liberace Live From Heaven at Leicester Square Theatre, directed Two Pianos, Four Hands and I Do! I Do!
I Do! I Do!
I Do! I Do! is a musical with a book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt which is based on the Jan de Hartog play The Fourposter. The two-character story spans fifty years, from 1895 to 1945, as it focuses on the ups and downs experienced by Agnes and Michael Snow throughout their...
at Vienna's English Theatre and Ben Travers
Ben Travers
Ben Travers AFC CBE in London) was a British playwright best remembered for his farces.Born in the London borough of Hendon, Travers was educated at Charterhouse, where today there is a theatre named for him...
play The Bed Before Yesterday at the Mill at Sonning. Woolford reset the time-frame of I Do! I Do!
I Do! I Do!
I Do! I Do! is a musical with a book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt which is based on the Jan de Hartog play The Fourposter. The two-character story spans fifty years, from 1895 to 1945, as it focuses on the ups and downs experienced by Agnes and Michael Snow throughout their...
and Bed Before Yesterday. I Do! I Do!
I Do! I Do!
I Do! I Do! is a musical with a book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt which is based on the Jan de Hartog play The Fourposter. The two-character story spans fifty years, from 1895 to 1945, as it focuses on the ups and downs experienced by Agnes and Michael Snow throughout their...
was moved from spanning from 1900 to 1950 to being set between 1950 and 2000 and The Bed Before Yesterday was set in 1966 rather than the 1930 of Travers' original script.
In 2008 he directed a revival of his 2003 production of Fiddler On The Roof
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
, this time starring Joe McGann as Tevye, and he directed the premiere of Deadly Game at Vienna's English Theatre. In 2007, he directed the UK National Tour of South Pacific
South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
. In 2006, he directed the UK premiere of The Musical of Musicals, at the King's Head Theatre and Sound Theatre, London.