Stephen Keeling is a British composer and musician who works predominantly in

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

Biographical details

Born in 1966 in Staffordshire, England, he trained at

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a Member institutions of the University of London, constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The G ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, gaining an honours degree in music. In 1990 he was chosen by

Sir Cameron Mackintosh Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh (born 17 October 1946) is a British theatrical producer and theatre owner notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "t ...

to be one of 12 writers to study with

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...

during the latter's year-long tenure at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

as the Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre.

Notable works

During his time with Stephen Sondheim at Oxford, he composed the music for ''Maddie'' (book and lyrics by

Shaun McKenna Shaun Patrick McKenna (born 5 April 1957 in Maidstone, Kent) is an English dramatist, lyricist and screenwriter. Biography Shaun McKenna studied at Maidstone Grammar School and the University of Bristol (1975–1978). He was an actor for a fe ...

and

Steven Dexter Steven Dexter (born August 26, 1962) is a theatre director and writer. Early life Dexter was born in South Africa, then he moved to London in 1984 and studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. West End productions In 2003 he d ...

), which was subsequently workshopped at the

Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...

Studio before receiving its first full production at the

Salisbury Playhouse Salisbury Playhouse is a theatre in the English city of Salisbury, Wiltshire. Built in 1976, it comprises the 517-seat Main House and the 149-seat Salberg Studio, a rehearsal room, a daytime café, and a community and education space. It is pa ...

. The production then transferred to the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue in London's West End in 1997, produced by Kenny Wax Productions. In 2023, ''Maddie'' was performed in New York, winning Best Score at the New York Theater Festival awards. He was the co-composer, along with Laurence O'Keefe, for '' La Cava'' (book by

Dana Broccoli Dana Broccoli ( Natol, formerly Wilson; January 3, 1922 – February 29, 2004) was an American actress and novelist. Biography Dana Natol was born on January 3, 1922, in New York City, and studied acting at Cecil Clovelly's Academy of Dramat ...

, lyrics by John Claflin), which transferred from the

Churchill Theatre The Churchill Theatre in Bromley, southeast London, was built by the London Borough of Bromley according to designs by the borough architect's department. The Churchill is an example of a repertory theatre built in the style of European opera ...

, Bromley to the

Victoria Palace Theatre The Victoria Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham in 1911 and was the last London theatre he designed before his retirement. The building was designated ...

, London in 2000 and then later transferred to the

Piccadilly Theatre The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at the junction of Denman Street and Sherwood Street, near Piccadilly Circus, in the City of Westminster, London. It opened in 1928. In its early years the theatre presented a wide range of ...

in the West End of London. He composed the music for a musical adaptation of ''

Heidi ''Heidi'' (; ) is a work of children's fiction published between 1880 and 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, originally published in two parts as ''Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning'' () and ''Heidi: How She Used What She Learned'' ( ...

'' (book and lyrics by

), which combines the story of

Johanna Spyri Spyri (; ; 12 June 1827 – 7 July 1901) was a Swiss author of novels, notably children's stories. She wrote the popular book ''Heidi''. Born in Hirzel, a rural area in the canton of Zürich, as a child she spent several summers near Chur i ...

’s first ''Heidi'' novel with the life of the author. ''Heidi'' opened in Switzerland in 2005. In 2007 a sequel, ''Heidi and Johanna'' (intertwining the second ''Heidi'' novel with the final years of Johanna Spyri’s life and ending with her death), was nominated for a Prix Walo award. Stephen Keeling has also composed the music for ''My Father’s Son'', a musical set in nineteenth century Sheffield and based loosely on Shakespeare's ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'' (book and lyrics by Stephen Clark, directed by

at the

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre, or simply The Crucible, is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which opened in 1971. Its name refers to crucible steel, which was developed in Sheffield in 1740 and drove the industrialisation of the city. ...

, Sheffield and the

Lilian Baylis Theatre Sadler's Wells Theatre is a London performing arts venue, located in Rosebery Avenue, Islington. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site. Sadler's Wells grew out of a late 17th-century pleasure garden and was opened as a theatre buil ...

, Sadler’s Wells). For children he has composed ''The Last Wave,'' a musical about the

Children's Crusade The Children's Crusade was a failed Popular crusades, popular crusade by European Christians to establish a second Latin Church, Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in the Holy Land in the early 13th century. Some sources have narrowed the date to 1212. ...

(book and lyrics by Peter Spafford) and written the music for a musical adaptation of '' The Amazing Mr. Blunden'' (book and lyrics by Edward Hardy). He wrote the music for a sequel to ''Peter Pan,'' called ''The Return of Peter Pan'' (book and lyrics by Shaun McKenna), which premiered at the Theater Regensburg, Germany, in November 2023.

Other

Keeling was a founding member of the Mercury Workshop, which merged with the New Musicals Alliance to become MMD, a UK-based organisation developing new musical theatre. In 1997, he appeared, together with Shaun McKenna, on BBC Radio 2's ''In Company With Sondheim'' in an edition devoted to ''Maddie''.

References

External links

MMD website

Heidi: The Musical

Stephen Keeling's website

Stephen Keeling's showreel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keeling, Stephen 1966 births Living people British musical theatre composers