Julian Woolford is a British theatre director, writer and educationalist based in the UK and working internationally. He is currently head of musical theatre at Guildford School of Acting, the conservatoire based at the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its Royal Charter, royal charter in 1966, along with a Plate glass university, number of other institutions following recommendations ...

. Previously he 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 Theatre, Hornchurch The Queen's Theatre is a 507-seat mid-scale producing theatre located in Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering, east London. The theatre was originally located on Station Lane, Hornchurch, on a site that was used as a cinema and had be ...

Early life and education

He was educated at the

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

and

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (BOVTS) is a drama school in Bristol, England. The institution provides training in acting and production for careers in film, television and theatre. BOVTS was an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance a ...

Sevenoaks Playhouse

As artistic director of the Sevenoaks Playhouse he directed ''Vita & Virginia'', '' The Railway Children'', ''Wallflowering'', ''Kiss of the Spiderwoman'' (the play), ''

The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and get ...

'' 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 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 arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...

and the 2006 Best Of Business Award for Best Marketing Campaign.

Writer

As a writer, his plays and musicals have been performed around the world. His stage adaptation of

Andrew Neiderman Andrew Neiderman (born October 26, 1940) is an American novelist. In 1987, he became the ghost writer for V. C. Andrews following her death in 1986. He formerly taught English at Fallsburg Jr./Sr. High School, in upstate New York. Neiderman i ...

's novel ''The Devil's Advocate'' had a highly successful tour of the Netherlands. ''Liberace Live from Heaven'' starred pianist Bobby Crush and had voice-over roles performed by

Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

and

Victoria Wood Victoria Wood (19 May 1953 – 20 April 2016) was an English comedian, actress, musician, screenwriter, and director. Wood wrote and starred in dozens of sketches, plays, musicals, films and sitcoms over several decades, and her live comedy act ...

and played at the Leicester Square Theatre, at the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

and toured New Zealand. Woolford writes book and lyrics to music by Richard John. Their musical ''

The Teddy Bears' Picnic "The Teddy Bears' Picnic" is a song consisting of a melody written in 1907 by American composer John Walter Bratton, and lyrics added in 1932 by Irish songwriter Jimmy Kennedy. It remains popular in Ireland and the United Kingdom as a children' ...

'' toured the UK. Their musical versions of ''

'' and '' The Railway Children'' which were both produced at Sevenoaks Playhouse. ''The Railway Children'' is published by Samuel French and has been produced many times by community theatre companies around the world. Their 10-minute musical '' Terminal Four Play'' was commissioned by Theatre503 as part of their Urban Scrawl project. Their musical ''Comrade Rockstar'', based on the life of Dean Reed, was produced in concert at GSA with a West End cast at the Ivy Theatre Guildford and live-streamed worldwide. They were commissioned by the Estate of

Lionel Bart Lionel Bart (1 August 1930 – 3 April 1999) was an English writer and composer of pop music and musicals. He wrote Tommy Steele's "Rock with the Caveman" and was the sole creator of the musical ''Oliver!'' (1960). With ''Oliver!'' and his work ...

(author of ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before opening in the W ...

'') to completely rewrite the book for Bart's ''Twang!!'', first produced by GSA and subsequently at London's Union Theatre. Woolford's revue, ''Speak Low'' based on

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (; ; March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for hi ...

and

Lotte Lenya Lotte Lenya (born Karoline Wilhelmine Charlotte Blamauer; 18 October 1898 – 27 November 1981) was an Austrian-American singer, diseuse, and actress, long based in the United States. In the German-speaking and classical music world, she is be ...

's writings, was produced by GSA. For

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

he wrote ''Broadway Hall of Fame:

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

'' and ''Broadway Hall of Fame:

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

'', which were both produced at the

Palace Theatre, London The Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London. Its red-brick facade dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus, London, Cambridge Circus behind a small plaza near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Chari ...

. His musical ''Oh Carol!'' won the Covent Garden Festival Search for a New Musical. His play with music, ''BlueBirds'', was first produced at the Cochrane Theatre, London and has had revivals at the Kenneth More Theatre and Above the Stag in London; ''B.Y.M (Beautiful Young Man)'' was presented as part of the Pride Encore Benefit Season in New York and his first play ''The Oedipus Complex'', premiered at Bristol New Vic. He co-wrote the musicals ''Let Him Have Justice'' and ''The Bakewell Bake-Off'' (published by Concord). His many scripts for Christmas productions include ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

'', ''

Dick Whittington Richard Whittington ( March 1423) of the parish of St Michael Paternoster Royal,Will of Richard Whittington: " I leave to my executors named below the entire tenement in which I live in the parish of St. Michael Paternoster Royal, Londo/ ...

'', ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

'' and ''

Snow White "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

'' for the

, ''

'' for Bournemouth Pavilion and ''

The Snow Queen "The Snow Queen" () is an 1844 original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in ''New Fairy Tales. First Volume#New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection, New Fairy Tales. First Vo ...

'' for Theatre North and the scripts for ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

'' and ''

'' at the Lighthouse (Poole). He is the author of the book ''How Musicals Work'' (Nick Hern Books), which is the standard textbook for musical theatre creation and writing, and of ''Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music'' (Routledge Fourth Wall).

Director

In 2015 Woolford became the first person to direct a commercial musical in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

when he staged ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

'' in a 2,000-seater tent in the desert outside Cairo, with a West End cast. London productions: '' 2 Boys in a Bed on a Cold Winter's Night'' (

Arts Theatre The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. It opened on April 20, 1927. History It opened on 20 April 1927 as a members-only club for the performance of unlicensed plays, thus avoiding theatre cen ...

, West End); '' Liberace Live from Heaven'' at Leicester Square Theatre; '' King's Head); BlueBirds (Cochrane Theatre & Above The Stag); ''Let Him Have Justice'' (Cochrane Theatre); ''Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris'' (King's Head Theatre, King's Head); ''The Bakewell Bake-Off'' (Landor Theatre). UK National tours: ''Oklahoma!'' (2010); ''South Pacific (musical), South Pacific'' (2007/8); ''Carousel (musical), Carousel'' (2004); ''

Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and musical theatre#Book musicals, book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Russian Empire, Imperial Russia in or around 19 ...

'' (2003 & 2008) and '' Murdered to Death'' Overseas: ''

'' (Cairo & Beirut premieres); ''

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, a Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde, the last of his four drawing-room plays, following ''Lady Windermere's Fan'' (1892), ''A Woman of No Importance'' (1893) and ''An Ideal Husban ...

'' and '' Mrs. Warren's Profession'' at The English Theatre of Hamburg; '' Two Pianos Four Hands''; '' I Do! I Do!'' and '' Deadly Murder'' (Vienna); '' …and the Pursuit of Happiness'' (Off-Broadway); ''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is the only novel by the English author Emily Brontë, initially published in 1847 under her pen name "Ellis Bell". It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the ...

'' (European tour). Regional Theatre: '' Wallflowering''; '' Vita & Virginia''; '' Kiss of the Spiderwoman''; '' The Turn of the Screw''; '' The Railway Children'', ''

'' (Sevenoaks Playhouse); '' Dames at Sea; The Turn of the Screw;

; The Fifteen Streets;

;

; Who's Under Where?; The Underworld Project'' (Queen's Theatre Hornchurch); '' The Bed Before Yesterday'' (Mill at Sonning); ''

Me and My Girl ''Me and My Girl'' is a musical with music by Noel Gay and its original book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose. The story, set in the late 1930s, tells of an unapologetically unrefined Cockney gentleman named Bill Snibson, wh ...

'' (Devonshire Park Eastbourne); '' The Oedipus Complex;

Oedipus Rex ''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' (, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. While some scholars have argued that the play was first performed , this is highly uncertain. Originally, to ...

'' (

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...

) and ''

The Comedy of Errors ''The Comedy of Errors'' is one of William Shakespeare's early 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 ...

'' (Worthing).

Awards

In addition to the Awards at Sevenoaks Playhouse, he is also a winner of the Stage One Award for new producers and produced the 2009 national tour of ''Totally Looped''.

References

External links

UK ProductionsQueen's Theatre HornchurchJulian Woolford website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woolford, Julian Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of the University of Kent