Profile
Fred has been directing for 40 years, resulting in over 130 productions with local societies to his credit.
He first became interested in the amateur stage when as a teenager he worked backstage for several local societies. At Birmingham University he studied theatre directing with a BBC producer before embarking on a teaching career. Until a few years ago he was head of upper school at a local comprehensive.
Fred has directed musicals, opera, operetta, pantomime, revues and compilation shows at many of the leading theatres in the Northeast, namely: the Theatre Royal, Newcastle, Sunderland’s Empire Theatre, South Shields’ Customs House, the New Tyne Theatre in Newcastle, Whitley Bay Playhouse and the Gala Theatre in Durham City.
He has worked with many local societies, including:
Durham Musical Theatre Company, South Shields Musical Theatre, Northern Opera, West End Operatic Society Ltd., Newcastle Operatic Society, Palatine Opera, Chester-le-Street AOS, Cestrian AOS and Horden & Peterlee AOS.
Fred has a special interest in opera and directed Mozart’s “
Idomeneo” and the rarely performed “
The Barber of Baghdad” for Palatine Opera with the Northern Symphonia Orchestra. He has in recent years directed six operas for Northern Opera, working with professional singers on operas such as: “
La Traviata”; “
Faust”; “
Un Ballo in Maschera” and “
L’Elisir d’Amore”.
The works of Stephen Sondheim feature highly in his production schedule. He has directed “
Follies”; “
Company”; “
Sweeney Todd”; “
Into the Woods”; “
A Little Night Music” and “
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”.
Fred has directed all the major musicals but has especially enjoyed working on “
West Side Story”; “
Camelot”; “
The Secret Garden”; “
My Fair Lady”; “
The Vagabond King”; “
King’s Rhapsody”; “
Titanic”; “
42nd Street” and “
Scrooge”.
Fred’s first production for Durham Amateur Operatic Society was “The Desert Song” in 1968. “
Mack and Mabel” and “
Noel & Ivor”were his 54th and 55th productions for
DMTC and marked the 40th anniversary of this association. He has seen the Company move from the tiny Assembly Rooms Theatre to the George Garland Theatre at New College and now to the magnificent Gala Theatre.
As we move into Fred's 41st year of directing for
DMTC his next project in 2009 will be the all time classic production of "
Fiddler on the Roof".
