Michael Strassen(DIRECTOR/STAGING)
Michael trained at the Guildford School of Acting. On graduating he went into the original cast of Miss Saigon at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. He went on to work at The Bristol Old Vic, Newcastle Opera House, Theatre Royal Plymouth and Leicester Haymarket. Productions include Sweeney Todd, Piaf, Jesus Christ Superstar (Simon/Judas), The Golden Ass, Poppy, Lonely Hearts, Sleeping Beauty (Henry), You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown (Linus), Yakety-Yak! (Javett), The Pirates of Penzance (Frederic), Pacific Overtures, Rock Hard (Rock) and Hot Stuff (Joe Soap). Hot Stuff went on to be a No. 1 UK tour. Other West End credits include Les Miserables (Marius), Jesus Christ Superstar at the Lyceum, with director Gale Edwards (Simon Zeolotes), and Oscar at the Shaw Theatre (Robert Ross). He played Bernard in Jean de Florette at the Young Vic and recorded a new version of Dickens' Hard Times for Imagination/BBC as Tom. He appeared in concert with Ruthie Henshall and Bernadette Peters at the Royal Festival Hall. Michael also appears in Hey, Mr Producer!, (DVD/Video) celebrating Cameron Mackintosh’s contribution to world theatre.
Working with Stephen Sondheim was a personal high point for Michael. He did this at Oxford University during Sondheim's professorship there. Michael played several leading roles, including the role of Yussupov, to much acclaim from the highly accomplished audience, which included Sondheim, Lionel Bart, Cameron Mackintosh and many other of the world's leading director/producers.
Michael was asked to sing Marius in Les Miserables for the VE Day Anniversary at Hyde Park attended by the Royal Family and an audience of 250,000. The concert was broadcast worldwide by BBC Television. Christmas 2005 he was invited to sing at Windsor Castle for President Chirac’s state visit in a special presentation of Les Miserables.
Loving You, Michael's first solo CD, is distributed through HMV and itunes. His one-man show built around the CD sold out at the Cafe Royal. (He also performed it for a special booking for Her Majesty the Queen's Golden Jubilee). As well as recording 2 solo albums Michael duets with Ruthie Henshall on her Gershwin CD "Love is Here to Stay" and executive-produced her solo CD, 'Pilgrim' and two CDs of humorous poetry with Lord Denham and Joanna Lumley (A Thing of Shreds and Patches/Victorian Plums). He worked on the Robert de Niro movie The Bridge of San Luis Rey as co-musical supervisor. and sang on the soundtrack of the Gold Circle-produced major motion picture, Something Borrowed, starring Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney. Michael worked with director Jonathan Kent and legendary composer Michel Legrand on the first workshop of Marguerite.
Michael directed Ruthie Henshall's one woman show at the Royal Festival Hall and subsequent UK Tour. He directed 'From West End to Broadway' featuring six leading West End artists in concert and the controversial play The Pitchfork Disney, by Philip Ridley for the Yvonne Arnaud Mill Studio. Most recently he staged and directed ‘The Attic’, a new musical about old and new toys and their values clashing written by Mark Carroll. This was performed at The theatre Royal, Haymarket with a West End cast. The cast album is now available.
Michael England
(MUSICAL DIRECTOR/ORCHESTRATIONS)
In the West End Michael England has been Musical Director for Spamalot; The Producers; The Phantom of the Opera; Jerry Springer – The Opera and Les Misérables. Other productions include, Evita; Aspects of Love and Grease. He was Asst MD on Miss Saigon and Cats.
On the concert platform, his conducting credits include the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, Stockholm Sinfonietta, Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, Nederlands Balletorkest and the Slovenia Radio Symphony Orchestra, which was also televised.
He has been Musical Director for Tony award winner Lilianne Montevecchi, for John Barrowman and Ruthie Henshall for whom he also arranged and conducted tracks on her album Pilgrim.
As a composer his output has included works for film, television and the concert platform, and in December 2008 he was commissioned to write a short piece for members of the Royal Ballet, which premiered at the Royal Opera House in the Clore Studio, as part of their 'Draft works' series.
Sasha Regan
(PRODUCER)
Sasha founded The Union Theatre in 1998. Ten years on she is proud to have established a London venue that is still thriving and attracting new visitors. The Union Theatre most recently won The Peter Brook 'Up and Coming Studio' Award, which was presented to her at The National Theatre Studio in November.
Regan’s producing credits include straight plays 'We're all doing Time' (Critics Choice), new musicals 'Chelinot' by Mike Crynne (The Sunday Times Critics Choice), and the reviving of old musicals 'Cabaret', 'Annie Get Your Gun' (Critics Choice), 'The Pajama Game' (Critics Choice), 'Sweeney Todd' (Critics Choice).
Regan also enjoys producing new stagings of Gilbert and Sullivan works. Most recently she has produced the very successful all-male 'HMS Pinafore' (Critics Choice Evening Standard) and the 'Mikado' (Critics Choice Time Out, Evening Standard and the Times).
Sasha was awarded The Stage One Bursary for New Producers by The Society of London Theatres. Sasha will be directing an all male 'Pirates of Penzance' in July.
Christopher Mundy
(ASSISTANT MUSICAL DIRECTOR)
As AMD (Cambridge): HMS Pinafore, Little Shop of Horrors, The Threepenny Opera, Spartacus (Footlights), Aristophanes’ Peace, and Whistle Down The Wind As MD (Cambridge): Merrily We Roll Along, Women of Trachis, Too Darn Hot! A Night At The Musicals, and Tony Blair: The Musical (Edinburgh Fringe Sell-Out, 2007).
In London, recent work includes: MD/keys for the UK Stephen Sondheim Society’s inaugural Student Performer of the Year Competition (The Venue, Leicester Square), keys 2 dep on Evita (Adelphi), rehearsal pianist for the Really Useful Group section of Concert for Diana (Wembley Stadium), keys 2 for Assassins (Landor), audition piano for Betwixt (The King’s Head), audition and rehearsal piano for The Black and White Ball (The King’s Head), supervised by Larry Blank, MD/keys 1 on Speed Dating: The Musical (Jermyn Street), and MD/keys for The News Revue at the Canal Café Theatre, for which he was invited back for their “Best Of 2008” Christmas Run.
Most recently, Chris was MD/keys 1 on Sweeney Todd at The Union Theatre (Time Out and Evening Standard Critics’ Choice) and MD/keys 1 for the UK premiere of Austentatious at the Landor Theatre.
Abigail Rosser
(ASSISTANT TO THE DIRECTOR)
Abigail graduated from The Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts ( LIPA) with a BA (Hons).
Credits include; Princess Jill Mother Goose (Hackney Empire), Ginger in Funny Girl (Chichester Festival Theatre), Sarah in Company (The Kings Head and Edinburgh Festival), Gabriella in Forgotten Million (Barons Court Theatre) Samantha and Judy in Stolen (The Landor), Abbey in The Icons (The Venue, Leicester Square), Dick in Dick Whittington (Oldham Coliseum), Demeter in Cats (Capitol Theatre, Dusseldorf), Mrs Potifer in Joseph and his Technicolour Dream Coat (UK tour and at The New London Theatre), Withcraft - Cy Coleman Review' (Wax Club, Dusseldorf), Wendy in Peter Pan (Camberly Theatre, Surrey), Mina in 'Dragula' (Rosemary Branch, London), Dr Seuss (The Old Vic, London.
Commercials include; Waterstones, Lloyds TSB and Prudential. She also appears in a number of short films as well as the 'Bollywood' hit 'Khabi Kushi Khabi Ghan', shot on location in Mumbai.
Abigail creates and writes versions of Shakespeare plays for Primary Schools in North London.
Neil Lamont
(SET DESIGNER)
Neil Lamont was born in Windsor and started work in the film industry when he left school, following in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps. His career has gone from strength to strength, most recently working on the Harry Potter series of feature films as Supervising Art Director working along side 3 times Oscar winning Production Designer Stuart Craig (Ghandi, Dangerous Liaisons and The English Patient).
His previous work includes designing Brokedown Palace, starring Kate Beckinsale and Claire Danes, set in Thailand following the fate of two girls arrested for drug smuggling.
Other credits as Supervising Art Director include Enemy At The Gates, The World Is Not Enough, Titanic (his father won the Oscar for Production Design) and The English Patient.
Company’s filmic flow interests Neil as a designer and he hopes to expand this for any future productions.
Steve Miller
(LIGHTING DESIGNER)
Steve is resident lighting designer at the Union Theatre, work for whom includes:
Caligula, H.M.S.Pinafore, The Mikado, Cheekie Chappie, Stars in the Morning Sky, The Pyjama Game, The Wild Party, Greengrass, The Rival Queens, The Government Inspector, Curse of the Werewolf, Pippin, Sweeney Todd, Annie Get your Gun, Rocket Man, Madonna and Me, Barnstorm, Macbeth, The Devils and many others.
Shows for other theatres include: Babes in Arms (Kenneth More Theatre), Little Black Book (Riverside Studios), The Black Cat (Hoxton Hall), Madonna and Me ( Jermyn Street and Liverpool Actors Studio), Too (Edinburgh & Kings Head), The Romans in Britain (Man in the Moon), Ivan, A miscarriage of Justice (Riverside Studios), Owning the Knuckleball (The Latchmere), Windermere (Liverpool Actors Studio), Dreams of Anne Frank (Camden Stables and Croydon Warehouse), The Box (Tristan Bates), Love for Love (New End), the Pistols (Hackney Empire) This Happy Breed (MITM) and many more.
Steve is a producer of 14-26 Films. Projects for this company include The Gibson Diaries (Channel 5 Pilot), Sunstroke (Feature film), many corporate shows including for the NHS. Other film projects include the pilot of The Dark Side of the Street, the full-length feature film of which is to begin filming next year with Steve as DOP. Steve has lit many short films and will film two more this summer.
“Steve Miller’s lighting nicely recreates the dank, murky atmosphere of the Dark Ages” – Patrick Marmion, Time Out on Romans in Britain.
“Steve Miller’s assertive lighting design aids the atmosphere” – Mark Espiner, Time Out on The Rival Queens.
“Steve Miller’s highly effective lighting design conjures a twilight world in which mortals mingle with ghosts and witches “ – Robert Shore, Time Out on Macbeth.
“The Union has never looked more dungeon-like, lit by Steve Miller to give the conspirators the gaunt, scarred faces of figures in a Rembrandt painting” – Jonathan Gibbs, Time Out on The Devils.
“..augmented by Steve Miller’s atmospheric lighting, where wooden slats are backlit, faces are illuminated by candles and entrances and exits are flung open flooding the dark with infernal light” – Tamara Gausi, Time Out on Sweeney Todd.