Dr. JULIAN WOOLFORD: BIOGRAPHY
Julian is an award-winning writer, director and educator. He trained at the University of Kent and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He is currently Head of Musical Theatre at GSA (Guildford School of Acting), the conservatoire based at the University of Surrey, from which he holds a doctorate.
Previously he was Artistic Director of Sevenoaks Playhouse; Artistic Director of the Global Search for New Musicals at the International Festival of Musical Theatre Cardiff and Associate Director of the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch.
In 2015 he became the first person to direct a commercial musical in Egypt when he staged The Sound of Music in Cairo.
As a writer, his plays and musicals have been performed around the world. His stage adaptation of The Devil’s Advocate had a highly successful tour of the Netherlands and Liberace, Live From Heaven, had a sell-out run at London’s Leicester Square Theatre in the West End, toured New Zealand, and played at the Edinburgh Festival.
Julian is the author of musicals, working with composer Richard John. Their versions of The Railway Children and The Wind In The Willows played at Sevenoaks Playhouse and The Railway Children has had more than 100 productions in Britain, New Zealand, Bermuda and the USA. Their musical about airport security staff, Terminal Four Play is part of Theatre 503’s Urban Scrawl project, is available as a podcast, and played at the Latitude Festival and their musical The Teddy Bear's Picnic had a successful National Tour.
They were commissioned by the Estate of Lionel Bart (author of Oliver!) to completely rewrite the Book for Bart’s Twang!!, first produced by GSA and subsequently at London’s Union Theatre. Their musical Comrade Rockstar was presented in concert with a West End cast at the Ivy Theatre Guildford and live-streamed worldwide.
Julian’s revue, Speak Low based on Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya’s writings, was produced by GSA. For BBC Radio 3 he wrote Broadway Hall of Fame: Cole Porter and Broadway Hall of Fame: Leonard Bernstein, which were both produced at the Palace Theatre London. His musical Oh Carol! won the Covent Garden Festival Search for a New Musical. HIs play with music, BlueBirds, was first produced at the Cochrane Theatre, London and has had revivals at the Kenneth More Theatre and Above The Stag in London; B.Y.M (Beautiful Young Man) was presented as part of the Pride Encore Benefit Season in New York and his first play The Oedipus Complex, premiered at Bristol New Vic.
He co-wrote the musicals Let Him Have Justice and The Bakewell Bake-Off (published by Concord). His many scripts for Christmas productions include Aladdin, Dick Whittington, Cinderella and Snow White for the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, Snow White for Bournemouth Pavilion and The Snow Queen for Theatre North and the scripts for Peter Pan and Cinderella at the Lighthouse, Poole.
He is the author of the book How Musicals Work (Nick Hern Books), which is the standard textbook for musical theatre creation and writing, and of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music (Routledge Fourth Wall).
Julian’s extensive directing credits include work in the West End, regional theatres and internationally.
London productions: 2 Boys In A Bed On A Cold Winter’s Night (Arts Theatre, West End); Liberace Live From Heaven (Leicester Square Theatre); The Musical of Musicals, (Sound Theatre & King’s Head); BlueBirds (Cochrane Theatre & Above The Stag); Let Him Have Justice (Cochrane Theatre); Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well… (King’s Head); The Bakewell Bake-Off (Landor Theatre);
National tours: Oklahoma! (2010); South Pacific (2007/8); Carousel (2004); Fiddler On The Roof (2003 & 2008) and Murdered to Death.
Overseas: The Sound of Music (Cairo & Beirut premieres); The Importance of Being Earnest and Mrs Warren’s Profession at the English Theatre of Hamburg; Two Pianos, Four Hands; I Do! I Do! and Deadly Murder (Vienna); …And The Pursuit of Happiness (Off-Broadway); Wuthering Heights (European tour).
Regional Theatre: Wallflowering; Vita & Virginia; Kiss of the Spiderwoman; The Turn Of The Screw, The Railway Children, Wind in the Willows (Sevenoaks Playhouse); Dames At Sea; The Turn of The Screw; The Sound Of Music; The Fifteen Streets; Aladdin; Dick Whittington; Cinderella; Who’s Under Where?; The Underworld Project (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch); The Bed Before Yesterday (Mill at Sonning); Me And My Girl (Devonshire Park Eastbourne); The Oedipus Complex; Oedipus Rex (Bristol Old Vic) and The Comedy Of Errors (Worthing).
