Ben Harrison is a British sound designer specialising in musical theatre and live events.

Career

Between 2002 and 2007 Harrison was head of sound at

Leicester Haymarket Theatre The Leicester Haymarket Theatre is a theatre in Leicester, England, next to the Haymarket Shopping Centre on Belgrave Gate in Leicester City centre. History The Haymarket Theatre was opened by Sir Ralph Richardson and the opening season started ...

where he designed sound for productions of ''West Side Story''; ''The Lion'', ''The Witch and the Wardrobe''; ''Hot Stuff - the Christmas Edition''; ''Macbeth''; ''An Illustrious Corpse''; ''Beautiful Thing''; ''The Fortune Club''; ''East''; ''Divine;'' ''The Bogus Woman'' (which production later traveled to Adelaide & New York); ''The Good Woman of Schezuan''; Steven Sondheim's ''Pacific Overtures''; ''The Happy Prince''; and ''The Wizard of Oz''. Harrison designed the

Laurence Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as ...

-winning production of ''Cabaret'' at the Lyric Theatre in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 2007. Harrison also designed with

Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominence after winning the 2002 Pop Idol (series 1), inaugural series of the ITV (TV network), ITV talent contest ''Pop Idol'', making him the f ...

the sound for the ''Cabaret'' production at the Savoy Theatre in 2012 and at the King's Theatre in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in 2013. Other West End projects he worked on include ''Dreamboats and Petticoats'' with Des O’Connor and

Tony Christie Anthony Fitzgerald (born 25 April 1943), known professionally as Tony Christie, is an English musician, singer and actor. He is best known for his recording of "(Is This the Way To) Amarillo "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo" is a song writt ...

, ''Scrooge'' at the London Palladium with

Tommy Steele Sir Thomas Hicks (born 17 December 1936), known professionally as Tommy Steele, is an English entertainer, regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star. After being discovered at the 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho, London, Steele reco ...

, ''The Country Girl'' at the Apollo Theatre with

Jenny Seagrove Jennifer Ann Seagrove (born 4 July 1957) is an English actress. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and first came to attention playing the lead in a television dramatisation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's '' A Woman of Substance'' ...

and Martin Shaw, ''Soul Sister'' and ''Dancing in the Streets''. Harrison toured the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and internationally with ''Olivier'' and the Tony Awards-nominated ''Blood Brothers'', ''Starlight Express'', ''Tommy'', ''Dr Dolittle'', ''Laughter In The Rain'', ''Jekyll & Hyde'', ''Whistle Down The Wind'' (UK & American tours), ''Fame the Musical'' (Cyprus & Monte Carlo), ''Dancing in the Streets'' (International tour), ''Cabaret'', ''Dreamboats & Petticoats'', ''The Country Girl'', ''Evita'' (International Tour) and ''Soul Sister'' (Hackney Empire, West End and UK Tour). Productions for Leicester Curve that he worked for include ''Oliver!'', ''Simply Cinderella'', ''The Pillowman'', ''Hot Stuff'', ''Gypsy'', ''The King & I'', ''Obama the Mamba'', ''Piaf'' and ''Hello Dolly''. Other productions he was involved in include ''The Prodigals'' at the Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh Festival; ''Cendrillon'' (Monte Carlo); ''Mother Goose''; ''Aladdin''; ''Cinderella''; ''Snow White'' and ''Dick Whittington'' at the Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent; ''Panto's On Strike'' at the Manchester Opera House; and ''Hedda Gabler'' at the Royal Theatre, Northampton. Harrison is a regular associate of ARTBUILDING PROJECTS, consulting on audio installations of theatres and art spaces across Europe. In 2015, Harrison took charge of the sound for a production of ''Hairspray'' in Leicester. In 2016, the production toured the UK to venues such as the

Edinburgh Playhouse Edinburgh Playhouse is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. With 3,059 seats it is the second largest theatre in the United Kingdom after the Hammersmith Apollo. The theatre is owned by Ambassador Theatre Group. Building history The theatre opened ...

. In 2016, Harrison designed the sound for a production of ''Into the Woods'', put on by Opera North at the

West Yorkshire Playhouse Leeds Playhouse is a theatre in the city centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire. Having originally opened in 1970 in a different location in Leeds, it reopened as West Yorkshire Playhouse, on Quarry Hill, in March 1990. After a refurbishment in 2018-20 ...

."Into the Woods, Opera North, West Yorkshire Playhouse"
''The Arts Desk'', Graham Rickson 09 June 2016

References

External links

Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Ben Year of birth missing (living people) Living people