Cast & Creative
Robyn Grant & Daniel Foxx
Book & Lyrics
Robyn Grant & Daniel Foxx
Book & Lyrics
Robyn is a director, writer and performer from Leeds.
She began writing and directing back in 2015 whilst studying at East 15 Acting School. Since then she has written for both stage and screen, with a passion for comedy and creating exciting roles for women.
Previous work includes: 2:22 A Ghost Story Associate Director: UK Tour 2022/2023, as Assistant Director: Apollo Theatre, Lyric Theatre, West End), Come Dine With Me The Musical (Turbine Theatre), Waiter There’s a Murder in my Soup! (Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre), Vulvarine: A New Musical (Assembly, Edinburgh Fringe and UK Tour, winner of the Fairy Powered Best New Writing Award, Co-written with Daniel Foxx), Beauty and the Beast: A Musical Parody (King’s Head Theatre and UK tour. Co-written with Daniel Foxx), Tom and Bunny Save the World (UK Tour, Winner of the Vaults Festival Spirit Award), Buzz: A New Musical (Winner of the Otherplace/Balkan Award).
Robyn Grant and Daniel Foxx were also shortlisted for a Writers Guild of Great Britain Award for their work on Unfortunate for Best Musical Theatre Book Writing in 2020.
Daniel is an award-winning comedian and writer. Named utterly hilarious and effortlessly charismatic by Rolling Stone Magazine, his hit debut show Villain achieved a complete sell-out extended run at the Edinburgh Fringe 2023 and saw him nominated for the NextUp Biggest Award in Comedy. Villain is now embarking on a UK-wide tour and a run of dates in New York.
On social media, Daniel’s comedy sketch videos have earned him a huge online following and millions of views, whilst on screen he has performed on BBC One, BBC Three, ITV and Comedy Central. Daniel has provided tour support for Josh Widdicombe, Rosie Jones, Judi Love and Sofie Hagen, and garnered a host of accolades including a Writers’ Guild Award nomination, Dave’s Top 10 Jokes of the Fringe, and the Brighton Fringe Award for Excellence.
As a writer, Daniel creates plays, screenplays, and musical theatre. Unfortunate earned Foxx and Grant a Writers Guild Award nomination for Best Musical Theatre Book Writing 2020. Following the success of his online sketches, Daniel is currently working with a production company on a series based on one of his popular characters.
Tim Gilvin
Music
Tim Gilvin
Music
Tim is a Composer and Musicals-Writer based in the South West. He has worked with Dan and Robyn on several other projects including workshops of Buzz, Shipton and the lockdown classic, Fat Rascal’s Fat Podcast. Tim’s other musicals include Stay Awake, Jake (The Other Palace 2014, Vault 2016, Southwark Playhouse 2020) and Help! We Are Still Alive (Seven Dials Playhouse, 2022). His new musical Cable Street will be having its London premiere in February 2024. Tim is currently under commission to both Royal and Derngate and Birmingham Hippodrome.
Tim has won several awards, including the S&S Award for Best Unproduced Musical (2014), the Vault Festival Origin Award for New Writing (2016) and he has been nominated for the Stiles and Drewe Best New Song Prize (2016).
Outside of musical theatre, Tim works as a professional Music Educator and Orchestrator, having provided additional orchestrations for Sarah Brightman’s A Starlight Symphony tour (2022). In 2021 his song “Together” was performed by over 7,000 children in schools across Wiltshire.
Robyn Grant
Director
Robyn Grant
Director
Robyn is a director, writer and performer from Leeds.
She began writing and directing back in 2015 whilst studying at East 15 Acting School. Since then she has written for both stage and screen, with a passion for comedy and creating exciting roles for women.
Previous work includes: 2:22 A Ghost Story Associate Director: UK Tour 2022/2023, as Assistant Director: Apollo Theatre, Lyric Theatre, West End), Come Dine With Me The Musical (Turbine Theatre), Waiter There’s a Murder in my Soup! (Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre), Vulvarine: A New Musical (Assembly, Edinburgh Fringe and UK Tour, winner of the Fairy Powered Best New Writing Award, Co-written with Daniel Foxx), Beauty and the Beast: A Musical Parody (King’s Head Theatre and UK tour. Co-written with Daniel Foxx), Tom and Bunny Save the World (UK Tour, Winner of the Vaults Festival Spirit Award), Buzz: A New Musical (Winner of the Otherplace/Balkan Award).
Robyn Grant and Daniel Foxx were also shortlisted for a Writers Guild of Great Britain Award for their work on Unfortunate for Best Musical Theatre Book Writing in 2020.
Abby Clarke
Set, Costume & Puppet Designer
Abby Clarke
Set, Costume & Puppet Designer
Abby is a theatre designer and practitioner. She trained in Performance Design at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, was nominated as ‘Best Designer’ for the The Stage Debut Awards 2019 for her design for Beauty and the Beast at Theatre by the Lake, and was a finalist in the 2017 Linbury Prize for Stage Design.
Some of Abby’s design credits include: The Owl Who Came for Christmas (Leicester Curve); Beauty and The Beast (Theatre By The Lake) – Nominated for Best Designer at the Stage Debut Awards 2019; As You Write It (Shakespeare North Playhouse); Abida Parveen (The Lowry); Alphabus (Manchester International Festival); The Show Windows (Coventry City of Culture); Road (Leicester Curve and De Montfort University); The Allesley Silas (Belgrade Theatre); Read All About It (Belgrade Theatre); In the Meantime We Try (Belgrade Theatre); An Evening With… (Shakespeare North Playhouse); Humans At Work (Warwick Arts Center); Bird in the Window (UK tour); The Furies (Oxford Playhouse); Living Together (Oxford Playhouse); The Witching Way (Royal Exchange); Luminosity (HOME Theatre); Prince Gorge (Camden People’s Theatre); Dia-Beat-Es (UK tour); HMS Pinafore (Minack Theatre); Humans At Work (Warwick Arts Centre); Taming of the Shrew (HOME Theatre); SWIM (HOME Theatre); Our Friends in the North (HOME Theatre).
Melody Sinclair
Choreographer
Melody Sinclair
Choreographer
Melody Sinclair (she/her) studied Urban Dance Practice at the University of East London (UEL). Alongside her studies, she became a member of ZooNation: The Kate Prince Company and trained with Boy Blue Entertainment.
Choreographer credits include: #50Days: A State Of The Nation Grime Musical (Birmingham Hippodrome/BYMT), Treasure Island (Hall for Cornwall). Associate Choreographer credits include: SIX the Musical (London, UK & International Tour, Norwegian Cruise Lines and Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), To The Streets (Birmingham Hippodrome/China Plate Productions). Melody is Co-Founder of Marshon Dance Company (Birmingham).
Melody’s performer credits include: ‘Messy Love’ NAO, London Fashion Week London, Ellesse AW19 Partner Conference, ZooNation: Unplugged (Sadler’s Wells Theatre), The International Olympic Committee Head of State Performance (Royal Opera House), Breakin’ Convention (Sadler’s Wells Theatre), ZooNation: Groove on Down the Road (Royal Festival Hall), BBC Dance Proms (Royal Albert Hall), Pioneer DJ: International Music Summit.
Tim Gilvin
Orchestrations and Arrangements
Tim Gilvin
Orchestrations and Arrangements
Tim is a Composer and Musicals-Writer based in the South West. He has worked with Dan and Robyn on several other projects including workshops of Buzz, Shipton and the lockdown classic, Fat Rascal’s Fat Podcast. Tim’s other musicals include Stay Awake, Jake (The Other Palace 2014, Vault 2016, Southwark Playhouse 2020) and Help! We Are Still Alive (Seven Dials Playhouse, 2022). His new musical Cable Street will be having its London premiere in February 2024. Tim is currently under commission to both Royal and Derngate and Birmingham Hippodrome.
Tim has won several awards, including the S&S Award for Best Unproduced Musical (2014), the Vault Festival Origin Award for New Writing (2016) and he has been nominated for the Stiles and Drewe Best New Song Prize (2016).
Outside of musical theatre, Tim works as a professional Music Educator and Orchestrator, having provided additional orchestrations for Sarah Brightman’s A Starlight Symphony tour (2022). In 2021 his song “Together” was performed by over 7,000 children in schools across Wiltshire.
Nikki Davison and Joe Davison for Auburn Jam
Additional Orchestrations & Music Production
Nikki Davison and Joe Davison for Auburn Jam
Additional Orchestrations & Music Production
Nikki & Joe have helped develop musicals from workshops through concept albums and onto stage, with their arrangements, orchestration, music production and supervision. Credits include Rumi (London Coliseum, Doha Oxygen Park), Public Domain (Vaudeville Theatre), Broken Wings (Theatre Royal Haymarket, Beiteddine Lebanon, Qatar Opera House, Dubai Opera House), Millennials (The Other Palace), Footballers’ Wives (Concept Album).
They have produced & arranged albums for West End stars including Kerry Ellis, Janie Dee and Alice Fearn, and artists such as Rebecca Levy, Felix Hagan & The Family and Caroline Kay. They have toured and recorded with the likes of Bear’s Den, Frank Turner and Arkells and have performed, arranged and conducted at world-famous venues from The Royal Albert Hall and The O2 Arena to Elbphilharmonie and Al Wasl Dome Dubai. Cast recordings they have produced include: Rags OLC (Stephen Schwartz & Charles Miller) Queen Of The Mist (Michael John LaChiusa), The Clockmaker’s Daughter (Webborn & Finn).
Composition for TV & Film includes: Paw Patrol (Nickelodeon), I’m Open To That (Samsung), Brighter Days (Belvita, written for Denise Van Outen), Hey You What If (CBBC), Delete Delete Delete (BBC Ireland), The Girl Who Built A Rocket (WaterAid), Sweet Chariot (BMW/England Rugby), and assisting Nick Lloyd Webber on Love, Lies and Records (BBC).
Arlene McNaught
Musical Director and Supervisor
Arlene McNaught
Musical Director and Supervisor
Arlene is a London based musical director and composer. She holds an MA in Music & Theatre Studies from the University of Glasgow and trained in Musical Direction at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Recent credits include: We Will Rock You (London Coliseum, West End); SIX (West End & UK Tour); Head Over Heels (Hope Mill Theatre); Marry Me a Little (Barn Theatre); Beauty & the Beast and Aladdin (Sunderland Empire) and Little Miss Sunshine (UK Tour). Arlene is delighted to be returning to Unfortunate.
Rachel Murphy
Associate Musical Director
Rachel Murphy
Associate Musical Director
Originally from Glasgow, Rachel works in West End and around the UK as musical director and pianist. Rachel trained at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (MA Musical Direction) and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance (BMus Hons Classical Piano). Recent credits include: Close-Up (Menier Chocolate Factory) and Once On This Island (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre). Other credits include: Beauty and the Beast Pantomime (Spotlight theatre); We Will Rock You (European Tour); Frozen Deputy Keys 2 (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane); Jersey Boys Deputy Keys 1 (Trafalgar Theatre & UK Tour); Mamma Mia Deputy Keys 2 (UK Tour); Strictly Ballroom Deputy Keys 2 (UK Tour). Upcoming credits include: Just For One Day (Old Vic Theatre).
Adam King
Lighting Designer
Adam King
Lighting Designer
Adam is a Mountview alumni. Since graduating he has gone on to be Assistant Lighting Designer on Harry Potter & The Cursed Child and Bend It Like Beckham in the West End.
His own design credits include: Flowers for Mrs Harris (Riverside Studios); Annie Get Your Gun (Lavender Theatre); Then, Now & Next (Southwark Playhouse); We Need New Names (UK tour); Gone Too Far (Theatre Royal Stratford East); From Here to Eternity (Charing Cross); Flashdance (European Tour); The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore (Charing Cross); Snowflake/Tornado (UK Tour & BBC); Dare You Say Please (Kings Head); We’re Few And Far Between (White Bear); How to Survive an Apocalypse (Finborough); Robin Hood, Jack & the Beanstalk, Aladdin (Harlow Playhouse); The Nutcracker, Peter Pan, Beauty & the Beast (New Theatre Royal Portsmouth); Mephisto Waltz, Swingle Stepping, Fast Blue (Royal Opera House Main Stage); The Clockmakers Daughter (Cadogan Hall); Beyond Therapy (UK tour); Original Death Rabbit, The Wasp (Jermyn Street); Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Lysistrata Jones (Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Theatre); 9 to 5, Urinetown, Oh What A Lovely War, The Little Mermaid, Enron, Legally Blonde, Coram Boy, Shakespeare in Love, Hamlet, Macbeth, Guys & Dolls (The Mack), and many more.
John Lawrence
Associate Lighting Designer/Relighter
Lucy Baker-Swinburn
Content Sound Design
Lucy Baker-Swinburn
Content Sound Design
Lucy is an Audio Engineer/Designer based in Buckinghamshire. After graduating from Central School of Speech and Drama with a BA Hons in Theatre Sound she has worked in the entertainment industry ever since. Theatre Sound Design include: Sugar Coat (Southwark Playhouse); Only An Octave Apart (Wiltons Music Hall); Foley SD for Ghostbusters, Secret Cinema, Singing in the Rain, London, Melbourne, Moscow.
Music Technology Design and Programming include: Sinatra (Birmingham Rep); Once On This Island (Regents Park Open Air); Sylvia (The Old Vic); 42 Balloons (Vaudeville Theatre); Betty! A sort of Musical (The Royal Exchange); Legally Blonde (Regent’s Park Open Air) and Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World (UK Tour). Lucy also works extensively with PA MUSIC LTD as Associate Programmer. Shows include Next to Normal (Donmar Warehouse); Guys and Dolls (The Bridge Theatre); Company (London & Broadway); SIX (UK Tour); TINA (London, Broadway, Hamburg, Utrecht, Madrid); & Juliet (Manchester, London). West End Sound include: Girl From The North Country (Old Vic Theatre); Sunny Afternoon (Harold Pinter Theatre); Tell Me on a Sunday (Duchess Theatre); Singin’ in the Rain (UK tour); Legally Blonde (Savoy Theatre); Dirty Dancing (Aldwych Theatre); Mary Poppins (Prince Edward Theatre) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (London Palladium).
Show Works is a production company specialising in Sound, AV & Data For Events. We take great pride in working on a plethora of productions such as immersive installations, musicals, tours, live streams and outdoor events. We offer a range of services within this sector including hire, sales, installation & design. Recent credits include: Tubular Bells (UK Tour), KissFM (UK Tour), Stranger Things Immersive Experience, Burn The Floor (UK Tour), Showstoppers! and Glastonbury.
Oscar Thompson
System Sound Design
Oscar Thompson
System Sound Design
Show Works is a production company specialising in Sound, AV & Data For Events. We take great pride in working on a plethora of productions such as immersive installations, musicals, tours, live streams and outdoor events. We offer a range of services within this sector including hire, sales, installation & design. Recent credits include: Tubular Bells (UK Tour), KissFM (UK Tour), Stranger Things Immersive Experience, Burn The Floor (UK Tour), Showstoppers! and Glastonbury.
John Maddox for Suspended Illusions
Flying
John Maddox for Suspended Illusions
Flying
Suspended Illusions designs, builds and integrates custom magic illusions, wire flying rigs and special effects for live performance. Our systems have been toured extensively throughout Europe and North America.
Stranger Things (Phoenix Theatre); The Witches, House of Bernarda Alba, Othello, Peter Pan, A Taste of Honey, Ocean at the End of the Lane (National Theatre); The Full Monty, And Then There Were None (UK Tour); The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (Gillian Lynne & UK Tour); Newsies (Troubadour Wembley Park); Henry V (Donmar Warehouse); The Windsor’s: Endgame (Prince of Wales Theatre); The Third Man, Brian & Rodger, Habeas Corpus (Menier Chocolate Factory); Dystopian Dream, (Sadler’s Wells & International Tour); The Secret Life of Humans (London & New York).
John has also created effects for Sigur Ros’ world tour, Nick Mohammed and several magicians. Every Christmas he helps Peter Pan fly, Jack climb the beanstalk and Fairy Godmothers float in theatres up and down the country.
Belinda Clarke for Wildpark Entertainment
General Manager
Belinda Clarke for Wildpark Entertainment
General Manager
Belinda is a General Manager and Producer specialising in touring and commissioning marginalised theatre makers to develop new work. She completed her masters in Creative Producing from Mountview, receiving a distinction and a nomination from Mountview for an Evening Standard Future Theatre Award for Theatre Making.
As a Producer, she has worked with touring companies such as Frantic Assembly, Pinkhouse Productions, Fuel, Arch468, THESE GIRLS, Lagahoo Productions and her founded company Leading Light Collective. As Participation Producer for Frantic Assembly, she has recently produced the 15th year of their flagship UK tour of Ignition.
Belinda is newly working with Wildpark Entertainment as General Manager and excited to be supporting the production company on their future productions.
Titch Gosling
Production Manager
Titch Gosling
Production Manager
Titch has worked as a Production Manager and as a Stage Manager in the West End and on UK and International Tours for 17 years.
Theatre Highlights: Kathy & Stella Solves a Murder (Edinburgh & UK Tour); Then, Now & Next (Southwark Playhouse); Circus 1903 (Hammersmith Apollo); Black Blues Brothers (UK Tour); Unfortunate (UK Tour); Acis & Galatea (Stone Nest); Rob Brydon, A Night of Songs & Laughter (UK Tour); Tubular Bells (Festival Hall & UK Tour); Holes (UK Tour); Avenue Q (UK Tour); Mr Men (UK Tour); Night of the Iguana (Noel Coward Theatre); Guys and Dolls (Royal Albert Hall); Circus 1903 (Royal Festival Hall); Bing Live! (UK Tour); Young Frankenstein (Garrick Theatre); The Miser (Garrick Theatre); Kenneth Branagh Season (Garrick Theatre); Carousel (Royal Academy of Music); Amour (Royal Academy of Music); One Man, Two Guvnors (UK and International Tour); Watch This Space Festival (National Theatre); Egusi Soup (UK Tour); The Little Witch (The Place); One Man, Two Guvnors (Theatre Royal Haymarket).
Television Highlights: Olivier Awards (Young Frankenstein), Olivier Awards (Kenneth Branagh Season), Phantom of the Opera 25 Year Anniversary (Royal Albert Hall).
Sarah Leung CDG
Casting Director
Sarah Leung CDG
Casting Director
Sarah is a full member of BAFTA and the CDG. She was born in Manchester, coming from a mixed British/Chinese background, making her one of the only casting directors in the UK with Chinese heritage. She started her career in film as assistant to producer Larry Franco on Batman Begins, and was later asked to return to post-production as assistant to Emma Thomas (wife of director Christopher Nolan). From here, Sarah moved into casting, assisting in Film (Warner Bros, Universal) TV (BBC, ITV, C4), Theatre, West End, London. Most recently Casting Director on the film Past Life with Emile Hirsch, John Hannah, Suzy Eddie Izzard. Trueman and the Arsonists a play by Simon Stephens (Roundhouse London), Zayla by Courteney Tan East/SKY, Too Good To Be True by Asia Mackay East/Sky, To Wong Foo Dir Douglas Carter Beane, George Takei’s Allegiance Dir Tara Overfield Wilkinson. Cable Street Dir Adam Lenson, a new musical workshop Level Up Dir by Adam Meggido. Sarah is about to start casting on 2 films which will be shooting in the spring 2024 in the UK. Sarah is repped by Mildred Yuan at United Agents.
Maya Lewis and Christina Semertzaki
Make-Up Designer
Claire Llewellyn for RC-Annie
Intimacy and Fight Coordinator
Claire Llewellyn for RC-Annie
Intimacy and Fight Coordinator
Claire is an Associate Fight and Intimacy Director with Rc-Annie Ltd. Recent Fight Direction credits: The Fair Maid of the West (Royal Shakespeare Company); Peter Pan (Rose Theatre Kingston); Never Have I Ever (Chichester Festival Theatre); Treason (National Tour); Phantasmagoria (Kali Theatre); Noises Off (Associate for National Tour); 2:22 A Ghost Story (Associate on National Tour); The Life of Pi (Associate for National Tour); Maud and Down in the Valley (Scottish Youth Opera); Around the World in 80 Days (Theatre by the Lake); Kidnapped (National Theatre Scotland); Peter Pan (Reading Rep); Duet for One (Orange Tree Theatre); The Walworth Farce (Southwark Playhouse); Caucasian Chalk Circle (Rose Theatre, Kingston); Oklahoma (West End); Pride and Prejudice, sort of (Criterion Theatre and UK Tour); Evelyn (Metal Rabbit Productions); To Kill a Mockingbird (Sonia Friedman Productions); Wonder Boy (Bristol Old Vic); Macbeth (Leeds Playhouse); 71 Coltman Street (Hull Truck); Beauty and the Beast (Rose Theatre, Kingston); Carmen (OperaNorth); Don Giovanni (Nevill Holt Opera); Witness for the Prosecution (London County Hall); The Prince of Egypt (Dominion Theatre, Associate FD); The Process (Bunker Theatre); Ages of the Moon (The Vaults); Frankenstein (NYT Rep); Whoddunit (Park Theatre); Wait Until Dark (Frinton Summer Theatre); King Lear (Progress Theatre); Love of the Nightingale (Salisbury Playhouse); Romeo and Juliet (China Plate Theatre) and Hansel and Gretel (Rose Theatre Kingston).
Salvatore Sorce
Voice and Dialect Coach
Salvatore Sorce
Voice and Dialect Coach
Theatre includes: In Dreams (Leeds Playhouse); 42nd Street (Sadlers Wells and UK tour); For Black Boys Who Consider Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy (Apollo Shaftesbury); A Little Life (Harold Pinter and Savoy Theatres); Black Superhero (Royal Court); The Two Popes (UK Tour); Girl from the North Country (UK tour); First Touch (Nottingham Playhouse); Best of Enemies (Young Vic).
Television includes: Paris Has Fallen, My Lady Jane, Transatlantic.
Film includes: Silver, A Bit of Light.
Matthew Ives
Swing Consultant
Matthew Ives
Swing Consultant
Matthew is, along with fellow performer Amy West, co-founder and director of ‘MT Swings: Performers Training Programme.’ Matt is delighted to be working on Unfortunate supporting the fantastic resident creative team and team of covers. Performance credits: Ensemble/1st Cover George McFly for Back To The Future (Adelphi Theatre); Alternate Andy
Williams/On Stage Swing/Assistant Dance Captain for The Osmonds (UK Tour); Dance Captain/1st Cover Lucas and Pugsley for The Addams Family (UK Tour); Pepe/Swing and Dance Captain* for The Boy Friend (Menier Chocolate Factory and Toronto*); Dance Captain and Assistant Director for Closer to Heaven (Above The Stag); Dance Captain and Assistant Choreographer for Sleeping Beauty, Jack and the Beanstalk (Capitol Horsham); Benjamin for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (Kilworth House Theatre) and Bitelle and Swing for La Cage Aux Folles (UK Tour). Creative credits: Choreographer for 9 to 5, The Wedding Singer, Spring Awakening (Emil Dale Academy); Movement Director for The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me (New Wimbledon Theatre); Choreographer for Graduate Showcases 2021 – 23 (Emil Dale Academy); Assistant Choreographer for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat 2019 (Kilworth House Theatre) and Associate Choreographer for Tina: Das Rock Legend (German Tours 2018 and 2019/20).
Instagram: @matthewives93 @MTSwingLife
Aled Williams
Puppet Builds
Aled Williams
Puppet Builds
Aled Wyn Williams is a maker and designer based in South Wales. Aled works with theatre companies across the UK as well as internationally. He studied Design for Performance at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, graduating in 2018. As a maker, Aled specialises in puppetry and props for live performance and as a designer his work predominantly focuses on queer culture and youth development.
Credits include: Love Cardiff (Sherman Theatre Cymru); Romeo and Juliet (Simply Theatre Geneva); Hop (Grand Ambition Swansea); Charlotte’s Web (Simply Theatre Geneva); How to Defeat Monsters (and get away with it) (Flossy and Boo); Y Mabinogi (Struts and Frets); Maid Marian (Sherman Theatre Cymru); Rocket Launch Blaenavon (Tin Shed Theatre); Treasure Island (Sherman Theatre Cymru).
Stephenson Ardern-Sodje
Assistant Director
Stephenson Ardern-Sodje
Assistant Director
Unfortunate is Stephenson’s debut as an Assistant Director.
As a performer, theatre includes: Spike in Rock Follies (Chichester Festival Theatre); Daniel in Once on This Island (Regent’s Park Theatre); Simba in Disney’s The Lion King (UK & Ireland tour); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It and The Tempest (Globe Theatre tour) and Cover Alexander Hamilton / John Laurens / Philip Hamilton / Ensemble in Hamilton: An American Musical (Cameron Mackintosh Ltd).
Television includes Superhoe, Breeders 2.
Training: Royal Academy of Music.
Eliza Beth Stevens
Assistant Director
Eliza Beth Stevens
Assistant Director
Eliza is a director, writer and actor from North Yorkshire and a graduate of the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. She is also the Founder and Artistic Director of Out The Attic Productions, a ‘platform for the stories of women and those unrepresented throughout history’. As a writer, Eliza was published in 100 Voices, 100 Women Sharing Their Stories of Achievement with her piece Out The Attic and her debut play It’s a Fair Cop is currently in development. She is also the host of The Grafters Podcast. Credits as Director: It’s a Fair Cop (Leeds Playhouse Furnace Festival); Control Freak (2Northdown) and …that’s what she said (Unity Theatre). Credits as Associate Director: Miss Moore Thought Otherwise (Library Tour) directed by Kate Golledge. Credits as Assistant Director: The Seagull (LIPA) directed by Will Hammond and Henrietta (NYMT) directed by Kate Golledge.
Instagram @elizabstevensx
Sian Clare
Costume Supervisor
Sian Clare
Costume Supervisor
Sian trained at Guildhall School of Music & Drama in Technical Theatre: Costume
Supervision.
Theatre and Opera credits include: Cabaret (Kit Kat Club, Playhouse Theatre);
Xanadu, ¡Carpa! & Les Enfants Du Paradis (Giffords Circus); Cinderella (Theatre
Royal Stratford East); 2:22 A Ghost Story (Noel Coward Theatre); A Funny Thing
Happened on the Way to the Forum (Lido 2 Paris); La Gioconda (Grange Park
Opera); Robin Hood (Regents Park Theatre); Head Over Heels (Hope Mill Theatre);
Mandela (Young Vic Theatre); Atomic Saloon (Spiegelworld); Boy & Blue Stockings
(Lamda); Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus (Trinity Laban); The Stunners
Opera (Mountview Academy); Bakkhai (National Youth Theatre); Sweet Charity
(Nottingham Playhouse) and Flashdance The Musical (South Korean tour, Selladoor
Worldwide).
Film & TV credits include: Nevermind the Buzzcocks (SKY); Black Mirror (Netflix);
Lords of Chaos (Chimney Productions) and Ellen (Touchpaper TV).
Freya Espie
Props Supervisor
Freya Bramble
Company Stage Manager
Bernice Rayner
Deputy Stage Manager
Jennifer Bye
Assistant Stage Manager
Kirsty Hale
Head of Wardrobe
Nicola Thorp
Head of Wigs, Hair and Make-Up
Lucy Crew
Wardrobe Assistant
Ash Way
Sound No. 1
Lucy Watson
Sound No. 2
Jack Finney
LX 1
Arlene McNaught
Keys
Arlene McNaught
Keys
Arlene is a London based musical director and composer. She holds an MA in Music & Theatre Studies from the University of Glasgow and trained in Musical Direction at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Recent credits include: We Will Rock You (London Coliseum, West End); SIX (West End & UK Tour); Head Over Heels (Hope Mill Theatre); Marry Me a Little (Barn Theatre); Beauty & the Beast and Aladdin (Sunderland Empire) and Little Miss Sunshine (UK Tour). Arlene is delighted to be returning to Unfortunate.
Dejeanté Hinks
Guitar
Becky Slater
Drums
Helen Snell Ltd
Marketing
Distrikt Communications
Press
Laura Elmes
Producer
Laura Elmes
Producer
Laura is an award-winning producer of theatre and live events, including all of the iterations of Unfortunate. Alongside a slate of theatre productions with Wildpark Entertainment, Laura set up and ran the UK’s largest drive-in cinema and theatre from 2020-2021, with its own contact-free diner. Originally planned for an 8-week limited season, The Drive-In became the top-grossing cinema in the UK and ran for 11 months showing classic movies, new releases and a range of live events. Laura was Line Producer for Runaway Entertainment on 2:22 A Ghost Story (Noel Coward Theatre) and The Windsors Endgame (Prince of Wales Theatre), and was previously Production Coordinator for their productions of Girl From The North Country (Noel Coward Theatre); Guys and Dolls (Savoy Theatre, Phoenix Theatre and UK tour); In The Heights and The Railway Children (both King’s Cross Theatre). Prior to this she worked with Jamie Hendry Productions on Impossible (Noel Coward Theatre) and Let It Be (Garrick Theatre).
Laura received the Stage One Bursary in 2017 and is on the Board for the League of Independent Producers.
Wildpark Entertainment
Producer
Wildpark Entertainment
Producer
Wildpark Entertainment is an award-winning London-based entertainment company founded by producer Laura Elmes. Current and recent productions include Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch (Underbelly London, Underbelly Edinburgh 2019 & 2022, UK tours); Tim Murray is Witches (Underbelly Edinburgh); Sophie Santos is Codependent (Underbelly Edinburgh), Clown Sex (Pleasance Edinburgh); Live at Wembley Park Theatre with shows headlined by Sindhu Vee and Phil Wang and Waiter! There’s a Murder in my Soup (both Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre); Algorithms (Pleasance Edinburgh and Soho Theatre, now an Amazon Audible Original series); Voldemort and the Teenage Hogwarts (Assembly Edinburgh, King’s Head Theatre and UK tours); Ladykiller (UK tour); Vulvarine (Assembly Edinburgh and UK tour); Beauty and the Beast: A Gender Swapped Musical Parody (King’s Head Theatre and UK tour); The Prophetic Visions of Bethany Lewis (Underbelly Edinburgh and Brighton Fringe); Tom and Bunny Save the World (Assembly Edinburgh and UK tour) and Buzz the Musical (Pleasance Edinburgh and UK tour).
Runaway Entertainment
Producer
Runaway Entertainment
Producer
Runaway Entertainment is an award-winning theatre and film company, founded in 2011 by Tristan Baker and Charlie Parsons. Runaway works with the most exciting talents in the theatre industry to produce award-winning and ambitious theatre. Productions include the Tony and Olivier Award-winning Girl From The North Country (The Old Vic, Noël Coward, The Public Theater, Royal Alexandra in Toronto, Gielgud, Belasco, UK & Ireland Tour, US Tour); 2:22 A Ghost Story (Noël Coward, Gielgud, Criterion, Lyric, Apollo, UK Tour, Ahmanson Theatre in LA, Her Majesty’s Theatre in Melbourne); Olivier Award-winning Disney’s Newsies (Troubadour Wembley Park); 101 Dalmatians (Regent’s Park, UK Tour); The Windsors: Endgame (Prince Of Wales); Peter Pan (Troubadour White City Theatre); David Bowie’s Lazarus; Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Olivier Award-winning In the Heights; Olivier Award-winning The Railway Children (all King’s Cross Theatre); Guys and Dolls (West End, UK, international tours); Footloose (West End, South Africa, UK tours); Flashdance (UK, international tour) and The Christmasaurus Live (Eventim Apollo). Runaway Entertainment will be producing the world premier of The Hunger Games on stage in London in Autumn 2024.
The Vaults
Co-Producer
The Vaults
Co-Producer
The Vaults is London’s home for immersive theatre and alternative arts. Set in a maze of disused railway arches under Waterloo Station in London, we encourage those who have a natural affinity for the unusual, the daring and the unknown. Renowned as an immersive venue, we have more recently grown to infamy in parody dinners with shows such as ‘Mulan Rouge‘, and are now the proud producers of ‘Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical‘, now embarking on a UK tour. This year, we celebrate our tenth anniversary and feel very fortunate to be a part of another wonderful parody such as this.
Dianne Roberts
Co-Producer
Dianne Roberts
Co-Producer
Dianne is so pleased to be involved with Unfortunate… which she first saw at the Edinburgh Fringe. She is a Producer and Investor in an exciting range of productions including Olivier and Tony award winning Girl From the North Country and more recently, Disney’s Newsies. Other recent shows include 2.22 A Ghost Story, Vanya, Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder and Feeling Afraid as if Something Terrible is Going to Happen. Her support for new productions include several Edinburgh fringe shows and working with a new company creating original musical theatre. Her philanthropic work includes supporting productions at the Almeida and the Royal Academy of Music Theatre and Jazz programmes.
Shawna Hamic
Ursula
Shawna Hamic
Ursula
Broadway: 1776 (Richard Henry Lee). The Last Ship (Mrs. Dees). Broadway National Tours: 1776 (Richard Henry Lee), Les Misérables (Madame Thenardier), Kinky Boots (Trish). Off-Broadway: Miss You Like Hell, The Public Theater. Regional: 1776, A.R.T., My Paris, Goodspeed, TV/Film: “Orange is the New Black”, “The Time Traveler’s Wife”, “Halston”, “Russian Doll”, “New Amsterdam”, “That Damn Michael Che”, “Bull”, BRUISED (Dir- Halle Berry).
Social Media: @ShawnaHamic- This is for my family & friends. So excited to finally get a chance to perform here in the UK. It’s always been a dream of mine to do so! Thanks to the entire Unfortunate family for making that dream a reality! Thanks, as ever, to my reps at Clear Talent Group.
River Medway
Ariel
River Medway
Ariel
After appearing on the third season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, River Medway quickly became a fan-favourite from the series.
Since the show aired, River has travelled the UK on various tours, including the ‘Pick’n’Mix’ UK tour, ‘The Main Event’ UK Tour and the official Drag Race UK Season 3 tour, alongside the rest of the season 3 cast. She also briefly joined the West End cast of Tuckshop’s ‘Dick Whittington’ at the Phoenix Theatre as Alice in 2021. As well as this, River continues to headline Pride events and club gigs across the country.
Most recently, River played Sister Mary Julie Andrews in ‘Death Drop: Back In The Habit’, which played in London’s West End, and a UK Tour.
Thomas Lowe
Triton
Thomas Lowe
Triton
Thomas is a Manchester born singer, actor, TV host and composer. He was catapulted to early stardom as a member of the teenage pop band NORTH and SOUTH. The band starred in the BAFTA nominated hit BBC TV series NO SWEAT, for which Tom’s original song featured on the soundtrack at the age of eighteen.
At 20, Thomas became the youngest ever actor to star as “Marius” in the London West End award winning production of LES MISERABLES. He played “The Rum Tum Tugger” in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s original West End production of CATS, and created the leading role of “Billy” in the West End workshop of Boy George’s TABOO.
He co-starred in the Hollywood premiere of BACK TO BACHARACH AND DAVID, and at the Hollywood Bowl in a major production of LES MIS as “Enjolras.” He also opened the current Las Vegas hit, VEGAS! THE SHOW, at Planet Hollywood Casino and Resort, where he paid tribute to Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Tom Jones and Elton John.
Allie Dart
Sebastian
Allie Dart
Sebastian
Resident Director/Dance Captain/Understudy Ariel
Training: East 15 Acting School (Winner of the Tom Bennet Comedy Award)
Theatre Credits: 2:22 A Ghost Story (Apollo Theatre, West End), Cinderella (The Hounslow Arts Centre – for which she was nominated for ‘Best Sisters’ at the Pantomime Awards 2022), Unfortunate; The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch (UK Tour 2022), Jack Frost (Norwich Playhouse), Waiter! There’s a Murder in my Soup! (Troubadour Wembley Park), Vulvarine: A New Musical (King’s Head Theatre and UK Tour), Tom and Bunny Save the World (UK Tour), Beauty and The Beast; A Musical Parody (King’s Head Theatre and UK Tour – for which she received an Off West End Award Nomination for Best Supporting Female in a Musical), The Case of the Missing Monsters (Dorich House), Buzz: A New Musical (Pleasance Theatre) and Always Easier for the Others (The Yard Theatre)
TV Credits: The Stand Up Sketch Show (ITV), Derren Brown: Fear & Faith (Channel 4)
Keep up to date with Allie on Instagram – @alliedartmunro
Jamie Mawson
Eric
Jamie Mawson
Eric
Jamie trained at East 15 Acting School in London.
Jamie is an associate artist at Fat Rascal Theatre. His credits include Prince Eric in Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch (UK tour); Orson Bloom in Vulvarine: A New Musical (King’s Head Theatre and UK tour); Graham in Buzz: A New Musical (Pleasance); Reverend Hare in Waiter, There’s a Murder in my Soup! (Troubadour Wembley Park); Tom in Tom and Bunny Save the World (Assembly and UK tour) and Beau in Beauty and the Beast: A Musical Parody (King’s Head Theatre and UK tour).
Other theatre credits include Banquo in Macbeth (The Young Shakespeare Company UK tour). Jamie has also appeared in several television commercials, including ads for Amazon and KFC.
Jamie is loving this adventure… but not as much as Eric loves his hair!
Julian Capolei
Grimsby
Julian Capolei
Grimsby
Julian most recently appeared at the Kit Kat Club as part of the Prologue Company in CABARET starring Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley.
Previous stage credits include Omar in Disney’s ALADDIN THE MUSICAL (Prince Edward Theatre), TOMMY (UK Tour), PETER PAN (Derby Playhouse), Sinbad in SINBAD THE SAILOR (Theatre Royal Stratford East)
Julian has choreographed, Billie The Kid – A new musical at the Vaudeville Theatre in London. They have also worked on music videos for Belle & Sebastian and Hot Since 82.
Corrina Buchan
Ensemble
Corrina Buchan
Ensemble
Understudy Ursula/Sebastian
Originally from Glasgow, Corrina is a queer actor and theatre-maker. She has devised for companies such as Complicité, Wayward Productions and the Wardrobe Ensemble.
Theatre credits include: DEATH DROP: BACK IN THE HABIT (West End & UK Tour), DRAC & JILL (Wardrobe Theatre) LITTLE WOMEN IN BLACK (Wardrobe Theatre) , SAM WANAMAKER FESTIVAL 2019 (Shakespeare’s Globe), TRACING GRACE (West Yorkshire Playhouse, Theatre 503), S A F A R I (North Wall Arts Centre, Oxford), CATALYST: ALCHYMY FESTIVAL 2019 (North Wall Arts Centre, Oxford) MYCORRHIZA (Space Arts Centre) BAT BOY THE MUSICAL (Citizens Theatre, Glasgow) and GODSPELL (Citizens Theatre, Glasgow).
Instagram: corrina_buchan
Represented by Ashley Vallance at INTERTALENT
Jack Gray
Ensemble
Jack Gray
Ensemble
Understudy Eric/Triton/Grimsby
Jack is an actor/musician from Leeds.
Training: Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Credits while training include: Sir Robert Cecil in 5/11, Charlie Fox in Speed-The-Plow and Leontes in The Winter’s Tale.
Theatre credits include: Badgers Can’t Be Friends (Southwark Playhouse, Kings Head Theatre), Cockfosters (Turbine Theatre), Anticlimax (Theatre503), Five Short Plays Loosely Linked by the Theme of Crime (Drayton Arms Theatre), Unfortunate (Underbelly).
Jack has also recently finished filming Side Hustle, a short film due for release in 2024, which he wrote and starred in.
Instagram: @jack.a.gray
Jamie McKillop
Ensemble
Jamie McKillop
Ensemble
Understudy Triton/Grimsby/Eric
Jamie trained at Arts Educational School London
Theatre Credits include; Break My Windows for the Prestigious A Play, A Pie and a Pint; The Dolls Dragged Up (Scottish Tour), The Bookie Cumbernauld Theatre)
TV Credits: Stacey Stone (CBBC)
Jamie was the vocal captain and lead singer for NCL Cruises, and has been the resident dame in panto at Websters Theatre, Glasgow for the past 10 years. He is also an established Drag Artist.
Jamie would like to take this opportunity to dedicate his performance in loving memory of his brother, Paul.
Milly Willows
Ensemble
Milly Willows
Ensemble
Understudy Ariel/Sebastian/Ursula
Milly is a 2023 Graduate of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts.
Credits whilst training: Mrs Lovett in SWEENEY TODD; The Mayoress of Ashton in BIG FISH; Kate in THE WILD PARTY and The Witch in INTO THE WOODS (Italia Conti).
Other credits: Specs in SCANDALGATE (Workshop) and 2023 Winner of THE STEPHEN SONDHEIM SOCIETY PERFORMER OF THE YEAR COMPETITION (Sondheim Theatre).
Instagram: milly.willows
Represented by Michelle Blair Management