Kenny Wax is a British theatrical producer of musicals, plays, concerts and family entertainment.

Early life and education

Born in Bowdon,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, third child of parents Robert and Valerie Wax. His brother

Derek Wax Derek Wax is a British television producer. His work includes ''Sex Traffic'', '' Occupation'', '' The Hour,'' '' Troy: Fall of a City,'' ''Capital'' and ''Humans''. He was a producer at Granada TV from 2001-2005 and an Executive Producer at Ku ...

is a multi BAFTA and

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

winning television producer whose award-winning programmes include '' Sex Traffic'', '' The Hour'', ''

Occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

'' and ''

Humans Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

''. Kenny was educated at Altrincham Preparatory School, in Cheshire and Carmel College, Oxfordshire. He graduated from the

Polytechnic of Central London , mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength , type = Public , established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster , endowment = £5.1 million ...

with a 2(1) in Business Studies.

Career

Wax began his theater career as an usher at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on the 1989 production of ''

Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madame Butterfly'', and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed rom ...

''. He left there to work for Dewynters as a 'runner' before being offered full time employment in the media department of the theatre advertising agency. He left there to be a runner for Cameron Mackintosh on the Stiles and Drewe musical ''

Just So ''Just So Stories for Little Children'' is a 1902 collection of origin stories by the British author Rudyard Kipling. Considered a classic of children's literature, the book is among Kipling's best known works. Kipling began working on the ...

'' at the Tricycle Theatre. He was production administrator at the

King's Head Theatre The King's Head Theatre, founded in 1970 by Dan Crawford, is an off-West End venue in London. It is the second oldest operating pub theatre in the UK. In 2021, Mark Ravenhill became Artistic Director and the theatre focusses on producing LGBTQ ...

in Islington, where he produced his first production, a season of Sunday Night Concerts under the banner Kickin' The Clouds Away and spent a season as general manager of the

National Youth Theatre The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and registered charity in London. Its aim is to develop and nurture young people through creative arts and theatrical productions. Founded in 1956 as the world's first youth th ...

. Wax spent three years at

Imagination Entertainment Imagination Games is a multi-platform game company that creates, produces and distributes interactive entertainment. History Imagination Game is a subsidiary of Imagination Entertainment and part of the Imagination Group of Companies. Imaginati ...

before starting his own company in 1995. He was general manager for PW Productions of ''

The Woman In Black ''The Woman in Black'' is a 1983 gothic horror novel by English writer Susan Hill. The plot concerns a mysterious spectre that haunts a small English town. A television film based on the story, also called '' The Woman in Black'', was produced ...

'' and '' An Inspector Calls''. Wax has produced both plays and musicals in London's West End. He has also produced family entertainment products such as Stiles and Drewe's ''The Three Little Pigs'' at the

Palace Theatre Palace Theatre, or Palace Theater, is the name of many theatres in different countries, including: Australia *Palace Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria *Palace Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales Canada *Palace Theatre, housed in the Robillard Block, Mo ...

, and with Tall Stories ''

The Gruffalo ''The Gruffalo'' is a British children's picture book by author Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. Its tells the story of a mouse taking a walk in the woods and deceiving different predators, including the Gruffalo. ''The Gruf ...

'', ''The Gruffalo's Child'' and ''Room on the Broom''. Wax's production of ''

The Play That Goes Wrong ''The Play That Goes Wrong'' is a 2012 play by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields of Mischief Theatre Company. It won Best New Comedy at the 2015 Laurence Olivier Awards. As of September 2021, the show has been running since 201 ...

'' opened on Broadway in March 2017. and recently completed a 7-month UK wide tour 2012.

International work

Top Hat A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditionally m ...

'' has been seen twice in Japan and in Sweden performed by the Malmö Opera. ''

Hetty Feather ''Hetty Feather'' is a book by English author Jacqueline Wilson. It is about a young red-haired girl who was left by her mother at the Foundling Hospital as a baby and follows her story as she lives in a foster home before returning to the Fou ...

'' has played at the Asolo Theatre in Sarasota, ''Mr Popper's Penguins'' at the New Victory Theatre in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, ''

The Tiger Who Came To Tea ''The Tiger Who Came to Tea'' is a short children's story, first published by William Collins, Sons in 1968, written and illustrated by Judith Kerr. The book concerns a girl called Sophie, her mother, and an anthropomorphised tiger who invites hi ...

'', ''We're Going On A Bear Hunt'' and ''The Three Little Pigs'' have all played at the

Melbourne Arts Centre Arts Centre Melbourne, originally known as the Victorian Arts Centre and briefly called the Arts Centre, is a Performing arts center, performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, ...

and the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

. A film version of We're Going On A Bear Hunt was shown on Channel 4 Christmas 2016.

Awards and appointments

Wax's production of ''The Play That Goes Wrong'' was winner of the

Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End The ...

, and the

Tony Award for Best Scenic Design in a Play Tony Award for Best Scenic Design in a Play is an award for outstanding set design of a play. The award was first presented in 1960 after the category of Best Scenic Design was divided into Scenic Design in a Play and Scenic Design in a Musical w ...

. His production of ''Top Hat'' won three

Laurence Olivier Awards 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 ...

and an Evening Standard Theatre Award for 'Best Night Out' His production of '' Once on This Island'' won Best New Musical at the

1995 Laurence Olivier Awards The 1995 Laurence Olivier Awards were held in 1995 in London celebrating excellence in West End theatre by the Society of London Theatre. Winners and nominees Details of winners (in bold) and nominees, in each award category, per the Society of ...

. His productions of ''

'', ''Room on the Broom'' and ''

'' have also received nominations for the

Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Family Show is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards in 1976 ...

. His production of '' Wonderful Town'' won the Manchester Evening News Award for Best Production 2014. He was appointed president of the Society of London Theatre in June 2017. He listed 16th in the Stage 100, the industry newspaper's list reflecting the 100 most influential people working in the theatre and performing arts industry as well as being shortlisted by the Stage as Producer of the Year. He also sits on the board of the League of Independent Producers.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wax, Kenny Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British theatre managers and producers