Monday 17 October 2011

Sir Cameron Mackintosh: Theatre entrepreneur and producer, "National Treasure",U.K.

b. October 17, 1946

Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh  is a British theatrical producer notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "the most successful, influential and powerful theatrical producer in the world" by the New York Times. He is the producer of shows such as Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, Mary Poppins, Martin Guerre and Cats.


Mackintosh is notable as a producer for his transformation of the musical into a global, highly profitable brand, and was the first theatrical producer to recognise that both touring productions and worldwide productions (often in countries where musicals were seldom seen, such as the former eastern bloc countries in the early 90s) were potentially highly lucrative markets which could, collectively, match and even surpass the revenues generated from New York and London productions. In mounting a plethora of productions across the globe, he has maintained tight creative control of his musicals in order to ensure the consistency and quality of the productions, no matter where they are seen. As far as possible, productions worldwide of Mackintosh musicals use the same staging, production design, lighting, front-of-house design, and orchestrations as their London and New York counterparts. This is a departure from previous practice, where international productions of West End or Broadway musicals would often be licensed out to foreign producers and entirely reconceived locally, with highly variable and often substandard results.

Mackintosh has also had considerable success in bringing legitimate theatre directors (such as the Royal Shakespeare Company's Trevor Nunn and Nicholas Hytner) and technicians to the world of musical theatre.
He is renowned for how closely he works with the creative team of a production.

He has recently expressed his interest in producing musicals from the otherwise neglected Asian and African regions, citing that the potential in these markets is inexhaustible.

In 1996 Mackintosh was knighted for his services to the British theatre.  

He is openly gay, and in a stable long-term partnership with the Australian-born theatre photographer Michael Le Poer Trench. In both 2005 and 2006 was listed 4th on The Independent on Sunday's Pink List, a list of the most influential "out-and-proud" gay men and women. He has remained high on the list every year since, including 2010, when he was listed at number 18.  In 2011, he was not on the main list, but was named a "National Treasure"

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