CREATIVE TEAM
Wladyslaw Szpilman
Music & Memoir
Wladyslaw Szpilman was born in the Polish town of Sosnowiec on 5 December 1911.
From 1935 he worked for the Polish Broadcasting Company until his career came to an abrupt end in September 1939 when German troops invaded Poland. Szpilman never gave up the will to write music, even when living in the Warsaw Ghetto.
After the end of war, Szpilman returned to the Polish Broadcasting Company where he directed the music department until 1963. Szpilman performed as a concert pianist and chamber musician in Poland, as well as throughout Europe, Asia and America. His compositions include orchestral works, concertos, piano pieces, but music for radio plays and films, and some 500 songs, many of which still are popular in Poland today.
Wladyslaw Szpilman died on 6 July 2000 in Warsaw.
Thom Southerland
Adaptation & Direction
Theatre includes: The Illusionist (Umeda Arts, Toyko & Osaka, Japan) Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (UK tour) Titanic (UK and international tours, Charing Cross Theatre, Princess of Wales, Toronto, Umeda Arts, Tokyo, Osaka & Southwark Playhouse) Grand Hotel (Umeda Arts, Tokyo & Southwark Playhouse) She Loves You (Copenhagen); Angela’s Ashes (Irish and UK tours), The Pajama Game (Umeda Arts, Tokyo); Sanxingdui (China tour); Noises Off (Berlin); Candide (Bergen National Opera); Harold And Maude, The Woman In White, Death Takes A Holiday, Ragtime - Off West End Award for Best Musical Production, The Mikado (Charing Cross Theatre); Allegro, Grey Gardens, Victor/Victoria, Mack And Mabel, Parade - Longlisted for Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical, nominated for WhatsOnStage Award for Best Musical Revival and Off West End Award for Best Musical Production (Southwark Playhouse); The Smallest Show On Earth (UK tour); Peter Pan (US tour); The Grand Tour, Me And Juliet - Off West End Award for Best Director, State Fair (Finborough & Trafalgar Studios).
Simon Lee
Musical Supervision & Arrangements
Simon has conducted many of the world’s greatest orchestras in concert and on over 50 albums. He has performed with artists from Jose Carreras to Bjork. But the body of his work has been a joyful career as a Music Supervisor and Orchestrator, both in the West End and internationally. He has a longstanding musical relationship with Andrew Lloyd Webber as his supervisor, currently of the London production of The Phantom of the Opera. His films include the aforementioned, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar.
Wolk Transfer Company
Producer
Wolk Transfer Company is a Tony-nominated production company specializing in the development and transfer of compelling shows that Move, Matter, Inform and Inspire.
Previously on Broadway: The Hills of California, Job, Once Upon A Mattress, Prince of Broadway, Pacific Overtures. Off-Broadway: Messy White Gays, The Jewish Question and more than 50 solo shows under the umbrella of founder Michael Wolk’s nonprofit, All For One Theater Company. In the U.K: Kenrex, Ballad Lines, The Karate Kid, the upcoming musical adaptation of The Pianist, and Monsoon Season and My Name is Gideon at the Edinburgh Fringe.
DEM Productions
General Management
DEM Productions (Deux Ex Machina Productions), led by Tony and Olivier Award-winning producers Ramin Sabi and Emily Lunnon, is an award-winning London-based production company, specializing in new writing, musicals, and acclaimed revivals. Founded in 2014, they produce West End, fringe, and touring theatre while providing general management and production accounting services.