The Creative Team

Rebecca Applin | Composer, Lyricist and Bookwriter

Telling stories through music is Rebecca’s passion. She studied Music at Cambridge University, followed by Composition for Screen at the Royal College of Music, and has been composing for theatre, dance, radio and screen ever since. She has written many new musicals and regular writes with Susannah Pearse. Some highlights include: Jabberwocky was highly commended in the 2014 S&S Award for musical theatre; The 45th Marvellous Chatterley Village Fete is licensed by Perfect Pitch; together with Kate Ferguson, Rebecca and Susannah won a commission from the George Bernard Shaw estate to adapt The Devil’s Disciple into a musical; and she won the opportunity to develop her musical theatre portfolio over 2015 with Fairground Theatre. She works with Youth Music Theatre and with the International Schools Theatre Association on projects with young people and community projects include the centenary celebration Milestones at Watford Palace Theatre. Rebecca has worked on scores for BBC Learning Zones, two of which were nominated for BAFTA awards, Radio 5 Live drama, and an educational commission from the Welsh Assembly.

Chris Bush | Lyricist and Bookwriter

Chris is an award-winning playwright, lyricist and theatre-maker, and was the 2013 Pearson Playwright-in-Residence for Sheffield Theatres. Past work includes A DECLARATION FROM THE PEOPLE (National Theatre); LARKSONG (New Vic Theatre); THE SHEFFIELD MYSTERIES, DICKENSIAN, GOODWILL TO ALL MEN, WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER and 20 TINY PLAYS ABOUT SHEFFIELD (all Sheffield Theatres); ODD (Perfect Pitch/Royal & Derngate Northampton); TONY! THE BLAIR MUSICAL (York Theatre Royal/Tour); SLEIGHT & HAND (Summerhall, Edinburgh. Also live-screened into Odeon cinemas and by BBC Arts); POKING THE BEAR (Theatre503); THE BUREAU OF LOST THINGS (Theatre503/Rose Bruford); HARSH REALITY (Wimbledon Theatre/Tour) and WOLF (National Theatre Studio: reading). Chris has won the National Young Playwrights’ Festival, a Brit Writers’ Award, the Perfect Pitch Award and the Sunday Times Edinburgh Competition.

Gus Gowland | Composer, Lyricist and Bookwriter

Gus Gowland originally trained as an actor at the RSAMD in Glasgow and completed his Masters in Musical Theatre at Goldsmiths in 2011, graduating with Distinction. In 2014 his play ‘Clocks & Teapots’ was performed at Rada Studios & the London Transport Museum as part of ‘London Omnibus’. He co-wrote and directed ‘Barren’, (special prize for merit at the LOST One Act Theatre Festival), ‘Love Love Love’ (Canadian Fringe Tour) & wrote & performed in ‘Tell Me On A Thursday’ at the Camden Fringe. In 2011 Gus wrote two songs for ‘Copyright Christmas’, at the Barbican. He produced and directed a season of ‘Miniscule Musicals’ at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, one of which was performed at the 10th anniversary birthday party at South Bank Centre. Gus was shortlisted for the inaugural Perfect Pitch award in 2013 & his songs ‘Take Me Back’ and ‘Turning Stones’ have been shortlisted for the Stiles & Drewe Award. Gus co-wrote the song ‘Home’, with Alistair Brammer for the MADTrust album ‘West End Goes MAD for Christmas’. He was also one of 5 music industry experts to form the UK Jury for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014.

Current projects include: ‘The Red Virgin’ with MA students at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland; collaborating with Eamonn O’Dwyer on an adaptation of Neil McKenna’s ‘Fanny & Stella’ & writing lyrics for a new song cycle with Craig Adams.

His musical ‘Pieces of String’ is being developed with Perfect Pitch & is currently under option with The Booking Office. It is due to be produced in Spring 2016.

Jennifer Whyte | Composer, Lyricist and Bookwriter

Jennifer studied music at Glasgow University and the University of Massachusetts.

Her theatre credits as conductor/pianist include Betty Blue Eyes, Les Misérables, Avenue Q, Follies, The Wiz, The Threepenny Opera, Cats, Sunset Boulevard, My Fair Lady, Whistle Down The Wind, The Phantom Of The Opera, Martin Guerre, Show Boat and Dames At Sea.

In television she was musical director for ITV’s PopIdol and BBC1’s Can’t Sing Singers. She then worked on Hit Me Baby One More Time and Soapstar Superstar for ITV and composed title and incidental music for two documentary series for the BBC entitled Tsunami Prayers and Vet Safari.

Her credits as a composer for theatre include Shehallion, a Celtic music and dance show, The Famished Land, an Irish folk musical drama, and Chasing Fate, a gritty urban musical. Her newest piece for theatre is an American jazz musical called Orville In The Underworld.

Most recently she was on-set pianist for the movie version of Les Misérables at Pinewood Studios, associate musical director for The Magistrate at the Royal National Theatre and she has just recorded her first solo album of piano music for Mozart Records.

Matt Winkworth | Composer

Matt trained at Goldsmiths College, London, and is currently based in Oxford working as a freelance composer and musical director. He won the inaugural Perfect Pitch Award in 2014 with Chris Bush and their musical, ODD, is currently in development. He was also a finalist for the Cameron Mackintosh Composer-in-Residency (2013) and the RSC Song Competition (2015). Other credits as composer include: The Bureau of Lost Things (2015) with Chris Bush; Hidden Spire (2015), OFS Arts; Stone’s Throw (2013), Pegasus Theatre; The Odyssey, Attempts on Her Life, Under Milk Wood, Animal Farm and The Canterbury Tales (2011-15), Oxford Playhouse.

Nathan Martin | Musical Director

Nathan's theatre credits as Musical Director include Closer Than Ever – dir. Richard Maltby Jr. (Jermyn Street), Dorothy Fields Forever(Kings Head), Unite For The Future (Old Vic), Helen Lederer’s One Night Stand (national tour), Elegies (Arts), Nine (Teatro San Martino – Bologna), Assassins (New End), High Spirits (Bridewell), After The Fair (Kings Head) and Bastien and Bastienne (BAC). He also played piano on omance Romance (Gielgud), Side By Side By Sondheim (Civic, Chelmsford and The Stables, Wavendon), Miss Saigon (Drury Lane & UK tour), The Lion King (Lyceum), Whistle Down The Wind (Aldwych) and The Producers (Drury Lane). Workshops include Rebecca, Marguerite and The Wizard Of Oz. TV includes Popstar to Operastar. Radio includes Performance On 3 and Loose Ends.

Nathan has performed extensively in concert and cabaret all over the world. He was a regular performer at London’s Pizza On The Park, playing five solo engagements there, including Facing The Music – the Fred Astaire songbook. He was also seen there in Jeff Harnar’s The 1959 Broadway Songbook, Something Wonderful with Craig Rubano and Heather MacRae and Catch Us If You Can with Lee Lessack. Other solo engagements include Jermyn Street Theatre, Covent Garden Theatre Museum, Giardini del Baraccano - Bologna, Don’t Tell Mama – NYC, and for Holland America, Saga and Spirit Of Adventure cruises.

For several years Nathan has worked on the MAC award winning show Simply Barbra starring Steven Brinberg, playing worldwide. He has made several albums including Simply Barbra – original London cast (TER), Lindsay Hamilton – It’s Me!, James Gillan’s self titled debut album, Linzi Hateley – True Colours, Gay Soper – Flying Fish and Fallen Angels and his own debut CD - Anywhere With You, available on LML music.

Nathan is a Certified Master Teacher of Estill Voice Training and a member of The British Voice Association. He was a vocal coach for the second series of ITV’s Popstar to Operastar and has taught at The Actor’s Centre, Mountview Theatre School, Bird College Of Performing Arts, Drama Studio London and regularly gives masterclasses at The Bernstein School of Musical Theatre, Bologna and for Laboratorio IALS Musical di Roma. For more information, go to www.nathanmartin.info.

Asia Osborne | Director

Asia's directing credits include 'Shakespeare's Sister' (with Masterclass at the Theatre Royal Haymarket), 'One By One' (Tristan Bates), 'London Omnibus' (Drill Hall, RADA), Emma (Drink, Shop & Do, Leicester Square Theatre & Tristan Bates), Find Me (Colston Hall, Bristol), Woyzeck (St Andrew’s Crypt), Romeo and Juliet (Broadway Theatre), and Spring Awakening (Camden People’s Theatre). She trained on the Young Vic Springboard Course, and won an Emerging Directors bursary from JW3 in 2013, and a Young Company Directors' bursary from Company of Angels in 2010.

Asia is the Artistic Director of ONEOHONE, an award winning interactive and immersive theatre company. Its work has toured from the UK to Croatia, California, and Chicago, where in 2011, Asia was a Visiting Artist at Northwestern University. From 2012 to 2013, Asia was Director in Residence at Eton College.

Jeremy Lloyd Thomas | Director

Jeremy trained at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, graduating with distinction in 1984.

He now divides his time between acting and directing.

He is currently involved in a weekly rep season at The Theatre Royal Nottingham both as actor and director, following on from a season at The Theatre Royal Windsor.

He is a regular director/tutor at The Mountview Academy where recent productions have included ' Grease', ' The Wedding Singer', ' My Fair Lady', ' Me And My Girl', 'Fiddler On The Roof', 'Nicholas Nickleby', 'David Copperfield' & 'The Gut Girls'.

He directed 'Carousel' at The Landor Theatre for Almost Normal Productions, one of his all time favourites.

Sue Knox | Producer

Sue Knox is the Managing Director of this Stage Limited. With This Stage Limited, Sue has produced the London premiere of Paul Scott Goodman's Bright Lights, Big City and the Kerrigan and Lowdermilk project The Freshman Experiment. Sue also produces Show Off!, a musical theatre piano bar night that has been running since March 2010.

In 2014 Sue produced London Omnibus, a programme of short plays that in some ways served as a proof of concept for Accidents and Emergencies.

Before forming This Stage Limited, Sue was an Associate Producer of Fiddler on the Roof at the Savoy Theatre.

Sue started her professional life as a lawyer in New York City. She holds a B.A. (Hons) from the University of King's College in Halifax, Nova Scotia and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.