TheatrePeople (#70) - Stephen Brooker | Theatre Avenue

Hello again TheatrePeople!

Today I am so excited to introduce you to one of the most established leading musical supervisors and conductors in Britain, Stephen Brooker.

Stephen was the Conductor and Musical Director for the film of Les Misérables, conducted the Oscars - 85th Academy Awards, and composed and orchestrated music for the Jaguar XE Launch (2016) and Range Rover (2017), and beyond.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Stephen Brooker...

Stephen Brooker, musical director and conductor of Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera.

What’s a show that inspires you? (explain away!)

My Fair Lady and West Side Story, the marriage of a storyline, the melody, the text and accompanying music, the marriage that propels the emotions forward.

What’s one of your happiest moments in theatre?

The Sitzprobe - always. The first time the orchestra and cast come together, the energy in the room, the composer, arranger, and orchestrators work finally laid out for all to hear, such excitement.

What’s the biggest ‘fail’ or goof you’ve seen on stage? (do tell the story)

The ‘fixing’ of a musical moment, the arrangement being adjusted for directorial needs, and in the rush, rather than making the scene quieter (fewer musicians playing) I managed to remove ALL of the music for the scene - silence! The Directors face - disbelief.

Why do you love theatre?

To tell stories, heighten emotions, the teamwork, and collaboration of so many skills, all to bring the whole event to the audience, and to see the public enjoy, and be moved by the production.

Theatre is for...

PASSION

Not only the passion of the creators, the re-creators, the actors and musicians that are passionate about their craft. Not only the passion of the crew, the front-of-house staff, and the maintenance department that look after the magnificent buildings we perform in, but also the passion of the audience, the wanting to hear and see great ‘live’ art. Some productions may fail critically, artistically, or musically, some audiences will enjoy, some will not, BUT one can never deny, whatever the result that is created, and experienced—it will have been done with PASSION.

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More about Stephen

Stephen Brooker is Executive Musical Supervisor for Cameron Mackintosh worldwide. He was musical director and conductor for Universal Pictures’ film of Les Misérables.

Musical Supervision: Sister Act (2021),Les Miserables (2020), White Christmas, Mary Poppins (2019), Les Miserables – The Staged Concert, Sunset Boulevard, The Woman in White, Miss Saigon, Half A Sixpence, Les Misérables, Mary Poppins, The Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary Performance (DVD), Betty Blue Eyes, Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert, OLIVER! My Fair Lady, Cats, Hair, Carmen Jones, The Phantom of the Opera, Grease, Fame, Saturday Night Fever, Barnum, Peter Pan and Chess.

Musical Direction: The Woman in White, My Fair Lady, Miss Saigon, Les Misérables, Lautrec, Betty Blue Eyes, Cats, Shall We Dance, Hair, Fame, The Secret Garden, Chess, Carmen Jones, Saturday Night Fever and South Pacific.

Stephen has conducted the Classical Brit Awards and was composer and conductor for the original production of Burn the Floor. For the Imagination group, he has written, produced and conducted music for: Jaguar/Range Rover, Coca-Cola, Walt Disney, Ford Motors, Toyota Cars, Volvo Cars, Sony Eriksson, BMW, British Airways, Holiday Inn and Canon. Orchestral conducting includes: The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, West Australian Symphony, Haifa Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, Hamburg Sinfonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, London Mozart Players, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, London and Manchester Concert Orchestras and the Ukraine Opera and Symphony Orchestra. He conducted the Royal Choral Society in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen. Recordings include Disney Film Classics and Crazy for Gershwin (BBC Concert Orchestra), the studio recording of Hair, cast recordings of The Secret Garden, The Woman in White and South Pacific. He was orchestrator and conductor for Walt Disney’s award-winning Animator’s Palette and Cinderellabration (Disneyland Tokyo).

He produced the ‘live’ recording of OLIVER! Starring Rowan Atkinson, the 25th Anniversary recording of Les Misérables and the Dutch and Australian recordings of Mary Poppins. Stephen conducted the Oscars – The 85th Academy Awards and is an Australian Helpmann Award winner for Mary Poppins.

www.stephenbrooker.co.uk