Philip Glassborow is a playwright, lyricist and composer who writes for theatre, radio and television. His best-known theatre musical is
The Great Big Radio Show!
''The Great Big Radio Show!'' is a musical comedy, with music and lyrics by Philip Glassborow. Piano arrangements and dance music are by David Rhind-Tutt. Book is by Philip Glassborow with Nick McIvor.
Synopsis
"''Radio Show'' takes place in 19 ...
(music and lyrics) with book in collaboration with Nick McIvor, which was premiered by the
Watermill Theatre
The Watermill Theatre is a repertory theatre in Bagnor, Berkshire. It opened in 1967 in Bagnor Mill, a converted watermill on the River Lambourn. As a producing house, the theatre has produced works that have subsequently moved on to the We ...
in Newbury, showcased at the Bridewell Theatre in London, and had additional exposure via the off-Broadway
York Theatre Company
York Theatre is an off-Broadway theatre company based in East Midtown Manhattan, New York City. In its 50th year, York Theatre is dedicated to the production of new musicals and concert productions of forgotten musicals from the past. Each seas ...
‘Musicals in Mufti’ series (2005), and Malta’s National Theatre,
Teatru Manoel (2014).
Other theatre credits include a new musical version of “
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...
” by
J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...
(
Watermill Theatre
The Watermill Theatre is a repertory theatre in Bagnor, Berkshire. It opened in 1967 in Bagnor Mill, a converted watermill on the River Lambourn. As a producing house, the theatre has produced works that have subsequently moved on to the We ...
, Newbury and
Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre is a theatre located in Guildford, Surrey, England. Named after the actress Yvonne Arnaud, it presents a series of locally produced and national touring productions, including opera, ballet and pantomime. The theatre h ...
, Guildford) and “
A Kid for Two Farthings” (lyrics) with music by
Cyril Ornadel
Cyril Ornadel (2 December 192422 June 2011) was a British conductor, songwriter and composer, chiefly in musical theatre. He worked regularly with David Croft, the television writer, director and producer, as well as Norman Newell and Hal Sh ...
and book in collaboration with
Robert Meadwell, based on the novel by
Wolf Mankowitz
Cyril Wolf Mankowitz (7 November 1924 – 20 May 1998) was an English writer, playwright and screenwriter. He is particularly known for three novels— ''Make Me an Offer'' (1952), '' A Kid for Two Farthings'' (1953) and ''My Old Man's a Dustma ...
.
For BBC Radio, Philip compiled and presented “The Gorey Details” based on the work of
Edward Gorey
Edward St. John Gorey (February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000) was an Americans, American writer, Tony Award-winning costume designer, and artist, noted for his own illustrated books as well as cover art and illustration for books by other w ...
, which starred
Frank Langella
Frank A. Langella Jr. (; born January 1, 1938) is an American stage and film actor. He has won four Tony Awards: two for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance as Richard Nixon in Peter Morgan's '' Frost/Nixon'' and as André in Flori ...
,
Katherine Kellgren
Katherine Ingrid Kellgren or Kjellgren (1969 – January 10, 2018)Ancestry.com. ''New York, New York, Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018'' atabase on-line Lehi, Utah, US: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017. was an American actress, know ...
, Andreas Brown and
David Suchet
Sir David Courtney Suchet''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' ( ; born 2 May 1946) is an English actor known for his work on British stage and television. He portrayed Edward Teller in the television serial '' Oppenh ...
. He has dramatized many classic books for radio including “
Billy Budd
''Billy Budd, Sailor (An Inside Narrative)'' is a novella by American writer Herman Melville, left unfinished at his death in 1891. Acclaimed by critics as a masterpiece when a hastily transcribed version was finally published in 1924, it quick ...
, Sailor” by
Herman Melville
Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American people, American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his bes ...
; “Christopher Himself” based on '
Prater Violet
''Prater Violet'' (1945) is Christopher Isherwood's fictional first person account of film-making. The Prater is a large park and amusement park in Vienna, a city important to characters in the novel for several reasons. Though Isherwood broke ont ...
' by
Christopher Isherwood
Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood (26 August 1904 – 4 January 1986) was an Anglo-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist. His best-known works include '' Goodbye to Berlin'' (1939), a semi-autobiographical ...
(which starred
David Suchet
Sir David Courtney Suchet''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' ( ; born 2 May 1946) is an English actor known for his work on British stage and television. He portrayed Edward Teller in the television serial '' Oppenh ...
,
Adam Godley
Adam Godley (born 22 July 1964) is a British-American actor. He has been nominated for two Tony Awards and four Laurence Olivier Awards for his performances on the New York and London stages which include, ''Private Lives'' in 2001, ''The Pillo ...
and
Bernard Cribbins
Bernard Joseph Cribbins (29 December 1928 – 27 July 2022) was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over seven decades.
During the 1960s, Cribbins became known in the UK for his successful novelty records " The Hole in the Groun ...
, and featured an interview with
Don Bachardy
Donald Jess Bachardy (born May 18, 1934) is an American portrait artist. He resides in Santa Monica, California. Bachardy was the partner of Christopher Isherwood for over 30 years.
Early life
Born in Los Angeles, California, Bachardy studi ...
); “The Secret Garden,” starring Dame
Joan Plowright
Joan Ann Olivier, Baroness Olivier, (née Plowright; born 28 October 1929), professionally known as Dame Joan Plowright, is an English retired actress whose career has spanned over seven decades. She has won two Golden Globe Awards and a Ton ...
,
Ron Moody
Ron Moody (born Ronald Moodnick; 8 January 1924 – 11 June 2015) was an English actor, composer, singer and writer. He was best known for his portrayal of Fagin in ''Oliver!'' (1968) and its 1983 Broadway revival. Moody earned a Golden Globe ...
and
Prunella Scales
Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales (''née'' Illingworth; born 22 June 1932) is an English former actress, best known for playing Sybil Fawlty, wife of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), in the BBC comedy '' Fawlty Towers'', her nomination for a ...
; and “
Silas Marner
''Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe'' is the third novel by George Eliot. It was published in 1861. An outwardly simple tale of a linen weaver, the novel is notable for its strong realism and its sophisticated treatment of a variety of issues ...
” starring
Michael Williams,
Jenny Agutter
Jennifer Ann Agutter (born 20 December 1952) is a British actress. She began her career as a child actress in 1964, appearing in ''East of Sudan'', '' Star!'', and two adaptations of ''The Railway Children''—the BBC's 1968 television serial ...
,
Alex Jennings
Alex Jennings (born 10 May 1957) is an English actor of the stage and screen, who worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. For his work on the London stage, Jennings received three Olivier Awards, winning for ...
and
Edward Woodward
Edward Albert Arthur Woodward, OBE (1 June 1930 – 16 November 2009) was an English actor and singer. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he began his career on stage. Throughout his career, he appeared in productions ...
. His dramatisation of Anthony Trollope's story "Christmas Day At Kirkby Cottage" starred
Finty Williams
Tara Cressida Frances "Finty" Williams (born 24 September 1972) is an English actress.
Life
Williams was born on 24 September 1972 in London, the only child of Judi Dench and Michael Williams. Williams trained at the Central School of Speech an ...
,
John Rhys-Davies
John Rhys-Davies (born 5 May 1944) is a Welsh actor best known for portraying Sallah in the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise and Gimli in ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy. His other roles include Michael Malone in the 1993 series ''The Untoucha ...
and
Julia McKenzie
Julia Kathleen Nancy McKenzie (born 17 February 1941) is an English actress, singer, presenter, and theatre director. She has premièred leading roles written by both Alan Ayckbourn and Stephen Sondheim. On television, she is known for her BAFT ...
.
In 2014, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Red Cross inspection of
Theresienstadt Concentration Camp
Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Schutzstaffel, SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstad ...
, Glassborow was commissioned by director Adam Forde to write a new music theatre piece, ''Welcome To Terezin''. The play was presented at the
Edinburgh Festival
__NOTOC__
This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...
Glassborow's musical play "Star Of Strait Street" will be premiered as part of Valletta 2018, European Capital of Culture in May 2018. The play was previewed with the support of the Mackintosh Foundation for Malta's EU 2017 Presidency Arts Celebrations, at the Splendid Cultural Incubation Centre as part of the Strada Stretta Concept under the artistic direction of Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci.
References
* https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pfkw1
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glassborow, Philip
Living people
British dramatists and playwrights
Year of birth missing (living people)
Place of birth missing (living people)
British male dramatists and playwrights