PRODUCER
Co-founded by Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire in 1992, the Ambassador Theatre Group Ltd (ATG) is the largest owner/operator of theatres in the UK with 39 venues, an internationally recognised theatre producer and a leader in theatre ticketing services through ATG Tickets.
ATG's impressive portfolio of West End theatres includes historic buildings such as the Apollo Victoria, Donmar Warehouse, Duke of York's, Fortune, Harold Pinter, Lyceum, Phoenix, Piccadilly, Playhouse, Savoy, Trafalgar Studio 1 and Trafalgar Studio 2.
ATG's regional theatres include The Ambassadors Woking encompassing the New Victoria and Rhoda McGaw Theatres and the award-winning 6 screen cinema complex, Ambassador Cinemas; Aylesbury Waterside Theatre; New Alexandra Theatre Birmingham; Theatre Royal Brighton; Bristol Hippodrome; Churchill Theatre Bromley; Edinburgh Playhouse; Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone; King's Theatre and Theatre Royal, Glasgow; Grimsby Auditorium; Liverpool Empire; Palace Theatre and Opera House, Manchester; Milton Keynes Theatre; New Theatre, Oxford; Richmond Theatre; Southport Theatre; Regent Theatre and Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent; Sunderland Empire; Princess Theatre, Torquay; New Wimbledon Theatre and New Wimbledon Studio; Grand Opera House, York.
ATG has been behind some of the most successful and innovative productions in Britain and internationally. Current and recent ATG co-productions include All New People starring Zach Braff and the new 'Austin Powers' style musical Monkee Business (both of which premiere in Manchester prior to London), the Lincoln Center's production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific in London and on tour in the UK; Ghost the Musical, in Manchester and London and on Broadway in 2012; Matthew Bourne's The Nutcracker! at Sadler's Wells and on tour in the UK, the hugely successful UK tour and London production of Monty Python's Spamalot by Eric Idle; Being Shakespeare starring Simon Callow; The Misanthrope starring Damian Lewis and Keira Knightley; the critically acclaimed award-winning musical West Side Story at Sadler's Wells and on tour in the UK; Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard; the hit comedy Fat Pig by Neil LaBute; Harold Pinter's The Lover/The Collection; Elling starring John Simm; The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess directed by Trevor Nunn; Guys and Dolls starring Ewan McGregor; Sondheim's Sweeney Todd and the Tony Award-winning Company, both on Broadway, and The Rocky Horror Show.
ATG is also mounting productions around the world. ATG's recent productions in Australia include The Rocky Horror Show, Guys and Dolls and West Side Story. Recent ATG productions on Broadway include Geoffrey Rush and Susan Sarandon starring in Exit the King starring Geoffrey Rush and Susan Sarandon.
ATG has recently launched a number of major new production company initiatives. In partnership with Tony Award® winner Jerry Mitchell, the acclaimed director and choreographer, ATG has formed Jerry Mitchell Productions. Jerry Mitchell Productions will work to develop, create and produce new productions for ATG theatres in London, New York and around the world. Under the Artistic Direction of Chris Luscombe, with Associate Directors Maria Aitken and Philip Franks, Theatre Royal Brighton Productions will present classic and new drama both on tour in the UK and in the West End; and in a co-producing partnership with ATG, West End and Broadway Producer, Tali Pelman, will develop and produce new productions for presentation within ATG venues.
Other ATG successes include the co-production of The Weir in London and on Broadway (winner of the 1999 Olivier Award for Best New Play); Smokey Joe's Café in the West End and the Olivier award-winning Slava's Snowshow in the West End and North America plus the multi award-winning West End musical, Carmen Jones.
ATG has a wholly owned subsidiary company Sonia Friedman Productions (SFP), led by Sonia Friedman, who is one of the most prolific producers in the West End and on Broadway. Current and recent productions include the Olivier award-winning smash hit musical Legally Blonde the Musical, Jerusalem, in the West End and on Broadway, Betrayal starring Kristin Scott Thomas, The Children's Hour starring Keira Knightley and Elisabeth Moss, Much Ado About Nothing starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate, Shirley Valentine & Educating Rita, La Bête, Othello, La Cage Aux Folles, Arcadia, Boeing-Boeing, The Norman Conquests, The Seagull, No Man's Land and Tom Stoppard's Rock 'n' Roll.
ATG also owns a major national family entertainment and pantomime company, First Family Entertainment (FFE). FFE produced eight pantomimes for the Christmas 2011/2012 season featuring a star-studded line up including David Hasselhoff and Dame Edna Everage.
