Richard Thomas (musician)
Encyclopedia
Richard Thomas is British a musician
, writer
, and comedy
actor
. He is best known for composing
and scoring the award-winning Jerry Springer: The Opera
with Stewart Lee
. Thomas collected the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Score in 2004.
Richard Thomas's comedy career began in 1987, doing a musical act on keyboards
. In 2000, he wrote and performed a one-act opera
called Tourette’s Diva with four actors, which aired at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Thomas had the idea for an opera based on Jerry Springer
at this time, and wrote it over the next two years, chiefly in workshops at Battersea Arts Centre
. Thomas would offer a "Beer for an Idea", where any audience members submitting a good idea would be rewarded with a can of Foster's
(and poor ideas with a supermarket
store brand
).
After a number of small scale performances of the first act, which was in much the same shape as it remains today, the second act (where the characters descend into hell
) was vague and unformed. Thomas brought his friend Stewart Lee in to assist with the writing. Six months later, the opera was in a far more recognisable state, and was snapped up by the National Theatre
.
Thomas has also worked on BBC
comedy shows such as Attention Scum
and This Morning with Richard Not Judy
. Starting on 25 February 2007, BBC Two
aired his latest series, Kombat Opera, comprising five standalone musical parodies of well-known television programmes.
Thomas wrote the libretto
for Mark-Anthony Turnage
's 2011 opera Anna Nicole
.
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, and comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. He is best known for composing
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
and scoring the award-winning Jerry Springer: The Opera
Jerry Springer: The Opera
Jerry Springer: The Opera is a British musical written by Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee, based on the television show The Jerry Springer Show. The musical is notable for its profanity, its irreverent treatment of Judeo-Christian themes, and surreal images such as a troupe of tap-dancing Ku Klux...
with Stewart Lee
Stewart Lee
Stewart Lee is an English stand-up comedian, writer and director known for being one half of the 1990s comedy duo Lee and Herring, and for co-writing and directing the critically acclaimed and controversial stage show Jerry Springer - The Opera...
. Thomas collected the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Score in 2004.
Richard Thomas's comedy career began in 1987, doing a musical act on keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
. In 2000, he wrote and performed a one-act opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
called Tourette’s Diva with four actors, which aired at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Thomas had the idea for an opera based on Jerry Springer
Jerry Springer
Gerald Norman "Jerry" Springer is a British-born American television presenter, best known as host of the tabloid talk show The Jerry Springer Show since its debut in 1991...
at this time, and wrote it over the next two years, chiefly in workshops at Battersea Arts Centre
Battersea Arts Centre
The Battersea Arts Centre is a performance space near Clapham Junction in Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth that specialises in music and theatre productions.-History:...
. Thomas would offer a "Beer for an Idea", where any audience members submitting a good idea would be rewarded with a can of Foster's
Foster's Lager
Foster's Lager is an internationally distributed Australian brand of 5.0% abv pale lager, It is a product of Foster's Group brewed under licence in several countries, including the U.S. and Russia...
(and poor ideas with a supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
store brand
Store brand
Store brands are a line of products sold by a retailer under a single marketing identity. They bear a similarity to the concept of House brands, Private label brands in the United States, own brands in the UK, and home brands in Australia and generic brands...
).
After a number of small scale performances of the first act, which was in much the same shape as it remains today, the second act (where the characters descend into hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
) was vague and unformed. Thomas brought his friend Stewart Lee in to assist with the writing. Six months later, the opera was in a far more recognisable state, and was snapped up by the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
.
Thomas has also worked on BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
comedy shows such as Attention Scum
Attention Scum
Attention Scum! was a short lived television comedy series directed by Stewart Lee. It starred Simon Munnery as his League Against Tedium character and contained acerbic stand-up routines atop of a transit van and sketches including mainstays such as "24 Hour News" , operatic intermissions by...
and This Morning with Richard Not Judy
This Morning With Richard Not Judy
This Morning With Richard Not Judy or TMWRNJ was a BBC comedy television programme, written by and starring Lee and Herring. Two series were broadcast in 1998 and 1999 on BBC2...
. Starting on 25 February 2007, BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
aired his latest series, Kombat Opera, comprising five standalone musical parodies of well-known television programmes.
Thomas wrote the libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
for Mark-Anthony Turnage
Mark-Anthony Turnage
Mark-Anthony Turnage is a prolific English composer of classical music. His initial musical studies were with Oliver Knussen, John Lambert, and later with Gunther Schuller...
's 2011 opera Anna Nicole
Anna Nicole
Anna Nicole is an opera in 2 acts by Mark-Anthony Turnage to an English libretto by Richard Thomas. It premiered on 17 February 2011 at the Royal Opera House, London, directed by Richard Jones. The story is based on the life of Anna Nicole Smith. A recording of the opera was broadcast on BBC Four...
.