For over thirty years, Hugh Wooldridge has directed, produced, devised and lit productions worldwide – from Copenhagen to Cape Town.

Having trained at LAMDA, he started his career by assisting directors such as Alan Ayckbourn, Eric Thompson, Frank Hauser and Michael Blakemore; however, he has been directing plays in his own rite since the age of 17.

In the first 10 years of his career Hugh directed more than 60 productions in London and throughout the UK – from Alan Ayckbourn to Rene de Obaldia, and Pam Gems to Athol Fugard.  He was a resident director at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester; the Thorndike Theatre, Leatherhead, and the Old Vic Theatre, London.

During the next 10 years, he ran his own multi-media company, The Jolly Good Production Company, which produced plays and TV programmes, managed artistes and published books. During this time he was also responsible for music programmes and programming in the ITV network, specifically in the south and south east of England. He also directed international tours of Jesus Christ Superstar and The Rocky Horror Show as well as national tours of plays by Noël Coward, Daphne du Maurier and Dylan Thomas

More recently he has specialised in devising, directing and producing large-scale events around the world including the Richard Rodgers Award celebrating Andrew Lloyd Webber in Pittsburgh, An Evening with Hal Prince in Munich, Sondheim Tonight in New York, and Who Could Ask For Anything More? – the centenary celebration of Ira Gershwin at the Royal Albert Hall, London.  With Trevor Nunn he co-directed the Golden Wedding Anniversary celebrations for Her Majesty the Queen. In May 2008 he adapted and directed Chess in Concert at the Royal Albert Hall with Josh Groban, Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal and Marti Pellow, introduced by Tim Rice.

Since 1999, he has annually produced, devised and directed The Night of 1000 Voices at the Royal Albert Hall, London.  He has also directed many showcase, workshops and first productions of new writing, and has been much in demand helping others to improve their own productions.  He makes time to direct a production every year at a drama school in the US, UK or Denmark.

In the future, in addition to his commitment to continue working on large-scale productions, Hugh Wooldridge plans to spend more time directing smaller projects similar to those he thrived on during his first 10 years, and being available to help others achieve their goals.

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