MATTHEW BOURNE OBE ANNOUNCED AS A PATRON OF THE FRIENDS OF THE THEATRE ROYAL

Theatre Royal have hit the jackpot again as Matthew Bourne OBE has accepted their invitation to become a Patron of the Friends of the Theatre Royal, sitting alongside Jill Halfpenny.  Matthew Bourne OBE is widely hailed as the UK’s most popular and successful choreographer and director. In 2012 he celebrated 25 years of creating and directing dance for musicals, opera, theatre and film as well as his own highly successful award winning companies. Matthew is the creator of the world’s longest running dance production, a five-time Olivier Award winner, and the only British director to have won the Tony Award for both Best Choreographer and Best Director of a Musical. He has been recognised by over 30 international awards, including following Dame Margot Fonteyn as only the second dance recipient of the Hamburg Shakespeare Prize for the Arts and being the first recipient in the arts category, of The British Inspiration Award. He received a Special Theatre Managers Association Award for services to dance touring and audience development. He was awarded the OBE for services to Dance in 2001. Matthew started his dance training at the comparatively late age of 22. He studied Dance Theatre and Choreography at The Laban Centre graduating in 1985 and spending a further year with the college’s performance company Transitions. Matthew danced professionally for 14 years creating many roles in his own work. As Artistic Director of his first company, Adventures in Motion Pictures from 1987 until 2002, Matthew created many award- winning works for the Company. The most iconic productions have been revived for New Adventures which were launched by Matthew and his Co-Director Robert Noble in 2002. New Adventures is now the most successful and busiest dance company in the UK and a major exporter of British dance across the world. Matthew’s choreography for classic musicals includes Cameron Mackintosh’s productions of Oliver! (1994 and 2009 Olivier nomination) and My Fair Lady (2002 – Olivier Award), and the National Theatre’s revival of South Pacific (2002). In 2004 Matthew co-directed with Richard Eyre and choreographed with Stephen Mear the hit West End musical Mary Poppins for which he won an Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer and two Tony nominations when it opened on Broadway. In addition to being a prolific choreographer, Matthew supports the wider dance industry and its future. He is proud to be an Associate Artist and Resident Company at Sadler’s Wells, to build audiences for dance across the UK and to provide extensive employment and career development opportunities for dancers, musicians and other theatre professionals. In 2008 he established Re:Bourne to increase opportunities to inspire young people with a passion for dance, and in 2010 he created New Adventures Choreographer Award to enhance opportunities and showcase the talents of emerging choreographers. The Friends organisation at the Theatre Royal is one of the biggest in the country with over 6,000 members. It is also one of the most generous Friends schemes in the UK; members benefit from 20% off tickets and drinks, priority booking ahead of the public, free ticket exchange, reduced booking fees, and are always the first to receive information regarding new shows. For more information about the Friends of the Theatre Royal organisation, or to join, visit http://www.theatreroyal.co.uk/join-us/become-a-friend Matthew Bourne’s powerful and provocative Swan Lake plays for two weeks from Tue 8 April, and the company unites New Adventures dancers with remarkable young talent from the North East in an extraordinary adaptation of William Golding’s classic novel, Lord of the Flies from Wed 5 – Sat 8 Nov. Tickets can be purchased from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21 or select your own seat and book online at www.theatreroyal.co.uk