Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire have retained their position at the top of The Stage’s annual power list for a fifth year running, edging ever closer to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s six-year record at number one.
Joint Chief Executives of Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG), the husband and wife team are closely followed by the record-holding musical impresario behind current hit Stephen Ward, who finds himself at number three this year, and the National Theatre’s Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr, whose position at number two reflects the success enjoyed by the South Bank venue in 2013, when four of its productions were playing in the West End simultaneously.
Talking about this year’s leaders, who since founding ATG in 1996 have driven the company to become the country’s largest commercial venue operator, Deputy Editor of entertainment industry newspaper The Stage Alistair Smith said: “In 2013, ATG was bought by private equity firm Providence in a deal worth in excess of £350 million. That deal was a game-changer and was the biggest theatre transaction that has ever taken place in the UK market. It was the theatrical equivalent of Roman Abramovich buying Chelsea in 2003.”
While the top 20 features a number of names seen in the Stage 100 in previous years, including Cameron Mackintosh and Nick Allott, Michael Grandage and James Bierman, Nica Burns and Max Weitzenhoffer, Sonia Friedman and Bill Kenwright, this year also welcomes a number of newcomers. The RSC’s Gregory Doran and Catherine Mallyon take the ninth spot, Sam Mendes and Caro Newling, the duo behind current hit Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, are in 18th place, Wicked producer Michael McCabe is just behind them at 19 and Jamie Lloyd, the director of hit new musical The Commitments and the hugely successful Trafalgar Transformed season, enters the list in 20th place.
Performers who have made the cut this year include Olivier Award winner Helen Mirren, whose performance as the Queen in Peter Morgan’s The Audience was a hit with both critics and audiences last spring, Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe, who starred in The Cripple Of Inishmaan, and Matt Smith, who made his musical theatre debut in American Psycho last month.
Our very own Julian Bird, Chief Executive of the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre, also made it on to the list for his role in the production of the UK Theatre Awards and the Olivier Awards with MasterCard, which made it back on to mainstream television in 2013.
The full list of 100 influential names can be found in today’s issue of The Stage or on the newspaper’s website.
Top 20:
1. Howard Panter / Rosemary Squire (Ambassador Theatre Group)
2. Nicholas Hytner / Nick Starr (National Theatre)
3. Andrew Lloyd Webber (Really Useful Group)
4. Cameron Mackintosh / Nick Allott (Cameron Mackintosh Ltd)
5. Sonia Friedman (Sonia Friedman Productions)
6. Michael Grandage / James Bierman (Michael Grandage Company)
7. Bill Kenwright (Bill Kenwright Productions)
8. Nica Burns / Max Weitzenhoffer (Nimax Theatres)
9. Gregory Doran / Catherine Mallyon (Royal Shakespeare Company)
10. Dominic Dromgoole / Neil Constable (Shakespeare’s Globe)
11. Daniel Evans / Dan Bates (Sheffield Theatres)
12. Nick Thomas (Qdos Entertainment)
13. Thomas Schumacher (Disney Theatrical Group)
14. Scott Rudin (Producer)
15. Jonathan Church / Alan Finch (Chichester Festival Theatre)
16. David Lan (Young Vic)
17. Josie Rourke and Kate Packenham (Donmar Warehouse)
18. Sam Mendes / Caro Newling (Neal Street Productions)
19. Michael McCabe (Producer)
20. Jamie Lloyd (Director)