Jeremy Nicholas (writer)
Encyclopedia
Jeremy Nicholas is an actor, writer, broadcaster, lyricist
and musician. He is President of the Jerome K. Jerome
Society.
He was born on 20 September 1947 in Wellington, Shropshire
, raised in Stafford
and educated at Wycliffe College
(1957-65) and the Birmingham School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art (1966-69).
and Edward II
, 1969-70, Circle of Glory, 1975), the Citizens' Theatre, Glasgow (1970-72), seven national tours and an Olivier Award nomination for his solo performance of Three Men in a Boat
(adapted by Nicholas) at the May Fair Theatre (1982), subsequently filmed for Channel 4
, recorded by Argo and broadcast on BBC Radio 4
. He appears regularly at festivals in his one man shows Funny You Should Sing That and An Evening with Jeremy Nicholas. At the English Music Festival
in May 2008 he was the narrator for Practical Cats (Rawsthorne) with the BBC Concert Orchestra
under Barry Wordsworth
, the first live performance of the work for 54 years.
, Outside Edge
, Wish Me Luck
, The Good Companions
, six months in Crossroads (its demise in 1987 was announced within four days of him joining the cast), as well as featuring in popular series such as Birds of a Feather
, The Upper Hand
, Heartbeat, London's Burning
and Murder in Mind. He has also appeared (‘mercifully briefly - they are two of the worst films in the history of cinema’) in Turtle Diary
and Ishtar
. Nicholas was the voice of Lionel in all 39 episodes of Budgie the Little Helicopter
.
Source Internet Movie Database
), The Jeremy Nicholas Anthology (BBC Radio 2
) and The Tingle Factor and Personal Records (BBC Radio 4
). He has adapted and/or read more than twenty books for radio and spoken word recordings. His dramatisation of Keble Howard's comic masterpiece The Fast Gentleman was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2000. He was responsible for the concept and compilation of all eight of EMI
’s best-selling CDs Hello Children…Everywhere based on his series for BBC Radio 4.
NEMACD600
The Phantom of the Opera (Gaston Leroux)
Naxos NA211812
Composers’ Letters (anthology)
Naxos NA203012
Christmas is Coming! Readings for the Festive Season (anthology)
Hodder Headline HH17
The Prisoner of Zenda (Anthony Hope)
Hodder Headline HH154
The Countryman Collection (anthology)
EMI 7243 8
The Fashion in Shrouds (Margery Allingham)
BBC ZBBC166
The Warden (Anthony Trollope)
BBC ZBBC 1213
Three Men in a Boat (Jerome K Jerome)
Argo SAY86, Argo 1052 & Argo 522 591 4
Three Men on the Bummel (Jerome K Jerome)
Argo 1304
Budgie the Little Helicopter (8 songs)
EMI TC-MFP 6117
Trolls: The Musical (Peter Skellern)
CRAMC 2
’s Vieux Carré
) and four major television plays. His songs and instrumental music have been recorded by Sarah Walker & Roger Vignoles
, Marc-André Hamelin
, duo-pianists Nettle & Markham, the Grimethorpe Colliery Band
and organist Kevin Bowyer
.
He is Director of Music for the Deanery Church of St. Mary, Bocking
(Essex
)
He was a jury member for the first BNDES International Piano Competition (http://www.concursopianorio.com/) in Rio de Janeiro (October 2009)
Published music
Blaythorne Suite, for cornet & piano
Pub. Studio Music
Blaythorne Suite, (arr. Farr) for brass band
Pub. Studio Music
Carphology, for clarinet & piano
Pub. Cramer Music
Toccata giubiloso, for organ
Pub. Cramer Music
Place Settings / Musical Chairs
Usherette’s Blues
Pub. Novello
Funny You Should Sing That (The Songs of Jeremy Nicholas)
(Open Wide, I Can’t Quite Remember Your Name, Camping Out, Dad Got All His Medals Out Today, Presidential Precedents, Valentine Card, Pub Crawl, Tongue Twister)
Pub. Novello
Pub. Hutchinson, 1984
& Dragon Books, 1987
Godowsky - The Pianists' Pianist
Pub. APR 1989
A Beginner's Guide to Opera
Pub. Ebury Press, 1993
& Crescent Books, 1994
Victorian Curiosities (ed.)
Pub. Little Brown, 1995
The Classic FM Guide to Classical Music
Pub. Pavilion Books, 1996
& 1997, revised and updated
The Classic FM Good Music Guide
Pub. Hodder & Stoughton, 1999
Chopin – His Life and Music
Pub. Naxos 2006
& Sourcebooks 2007
The Great Composers
Pub. Quercus, 2007
Idle Thoughts on Jerome K Jerome (ed.)
Pub. Jerome K Jerome Society, 2009
Funny You Should Sing That (Novello) - an album of comic songs (words and music by Nicholas) culled from the more than 150 written for programmes such as BBC Radio 4’s Stop the Week
(1978-91).
Nicholas has written the booklets for over 80 classical CDs, including the recording of his verses for Carnival of the Animals released 2006.
He is a regular contributor as writer and critic to Gramophone, International Piano and Classic FM
magazines.
Camille Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals. David Nettles & Richard Markham, pianos (with ensmble). Verses written and narrated by Jeremy Nicholas. Netmark NEMACD600
Francis Poulenc: The Story of Babar the Little Elephant. David Nettles & Richard Markham, pianos. Text by Jean de Brunhoff, narrator Jeremy Nicholas. Netmark NEMACD600
Jeremy Nicholas: Toccata Giubiloso. Kevin Bowyer, organ. NPC007
Jeremy Nicholas: Quiet Peace No.1 (arr. 2 pianos) David Nettle & Richard Markham, pfs., (MCD 65, Carlton Classics 30366 01052, NEMACD200)
Place Settings (words & music, Jeremy Nicholas) Sarah Walker & Roger Vignoles (Hyperion CDA66289)
Musical Chairs (alternative version of Place Settings) (words & music, Jeremy Nicholas) Jody Karin Applebaum & Marc-André Hamelin (Albany TROY744)
Usherette’s Blues (words & music, Jeremy Nicholas) Sarah Walker & Roger Vignoles (Hyperion CDA66289) Jody Karin Applebaum & Marc-André Hamelin (Albany TROY744) Nicy Roberts & Paul Roberts (TTB CD02)
Pretty Plain (words & music, Jeremy Nicholas) Jody Karin Applebaum & Marc-André Hamelin (Albany TROY744)
Maternity (words & music, Jeremy Nicholas) Jody Karin Applebaum & Marc-André Hamelin (Albany TROY744)
Valentine Card (words & music, Jeremy Nicholas) Stewart Collins & Andy Read (FEST CD231)
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
and musician. He is President of the Jerome K. Jerome
Jerome K. Jerome
Jerome Klapka Jerome was an English writer and humorist, best known for the humorous travelogue Three Men in a Boat.Jerome was born in Caldmore, Walsall, England, and was brought up in poverty in London...
Society.
He was born on 20 September 1947 in Wellington, Shropshire
Wellington, Shropshire
Wellington is a town in the unitary authority of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England and now forms part of the new town of Telford. The population of the parish of Wellington was recorded as 20,430 in the 2001 census, making it the third largest town in Shropshire if...
, raised in Stafford
Stafford
Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies approximately north of Wolverhampton and south of Stoke-on-Trent, adjacent to the M6 motorway Junction 13 to Junction 14...
and educated at Wycliffe College
Wycliffe College
Wycliffe College is an Anglican Church of Canada seminary federated with the University of Toronto. It is evangelical and Low church in orientation. On the other hand, the University of Toronto's other Anglican college, the University of Trinity College is Anglo-Catholic in outlook. While being an...
(1957-65) and the Birmingham School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art (1966-69).
Theatre
His work in the theatre includes seasons with the Prospect Theatre Company (Richard IIRichard II (play)
King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's...
and Edward II
Edward II (play)
Edward II is a Renaissance or Early Modern period play written by Christopher Marlowe. It is one of the earliest English history plays. The full title of the first publication is The Troublesome Reign and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England, with the Tragical Fall of Proud...
, 1969-70, Circle of Glory, 1975), the Citizens' Theatre, Glasgow (1970-72), seven national tours and an Olivier Award nomination for his solo performance of Three Men in a Boat
Three Men in a Boat
Three Men in a Boat ,The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog! published in 1889, is a humorous account by Jerome K...
(adapted by Nicholas) at the May Fair Theatre (1982), subsequently filmed for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, recorded by Argo and broadcast on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
. He appears regularly at festivals in his one man shows Funny You Should Sing That and An Evening with Jeremy Nicholas. At the English Music Festival
English Music Festival
The English Music Festival is an annual four day event held over the second May bank holiday, dedicated to the performance of British composers from the mediaeval to the present day with a strong focus on the early to mid twentieth century...
in May 2008 he was the narrator for Practical Cats (Rawsthorne) with the BBC Concert Orchestra
BBC Concert Orchestra
The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five which is not a full-scale symphony orchestra....
under Barry Wordsworth
Barry Wordsworth
Barry Wordsworth is a British conductor.From 1989 to 2006, Wordsworth was principal conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra, and now holds the title of conductor laureate. From 1990 to 1995, Wordsworth was music director of the Royal Ballet, Covent Garden. He began his second tenure in that post in...
, the first live performance of the work for 54 years.
Television
His leading roles on television have been in The Pickwick PapersThe Pickwick Papers (1985 television series)
The Pickwick Papers is a twelve-part BBC adaption of The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, made in 1985. It starred Nigel Stock, Alan Parnaby, Clive Swift and Patrick Malahide, with narration spoken by Ray Brooks.- Central characters :...
, Outside Edge
Outside Edge
Outside Edge is a play by Richard Harris about a cricket team trying to win a game of cricket whilst sorting out their various marital problems.-Plot:...
, Wish Me Luck
Wish Me Luck
Wish Me Luck is a British television drama about the exploits of British women undercover agents during the Second World War. The series was made by London Weekend Television for the ITV network between 1987 and 1989 and created by Lavinia Warner and Jill Hyem, who had previously produced and...
, The Good Companions
The Good Companions
The Good Companions is a novel by the English author J. B. Priestley.Written in 1929 , it focuses on the trials and tribulations of a concert party in England between World War I and World War II. It is arguably Priestley's most famous novel, and the work which established him as a national figure...
, six months in Crossroads (its demise in 1987 was announced within four days of him joining the cast), as well as featuring in popular series such as Birds of a Feather
Birds of a Feather
Birds of a Feather was a British sitcom that was broadcast on BBC1 from 1989 until 1998. Starring Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph, it was created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, who also wrote some of the episodes along with many other writers.The first episode sees sisters...
, The Upper Hand
The Upper Hand
The Upper Hand is a sitcom, produced by Central Independent Television and broadcast by ITV from 1990 to 1996. The programme was adapted from the American sitcom Who's the Boss?....
, Heartbeat, London's Burning
London's Burning
London's Burning was a British television drama programme produced by London Weekend Television for the ITV network that focused on the lives of members of the London Fire Brigade, principally those of the Blue Watch at a fictional fire station called Blackwall.It was broadcast between 1986 and...
and Murder in Mind. He has also appeared (‘mercifully briefly - they are two of the worst films in the history of cinema’) in Turtle Diary
Turtle Diary
Turtle Diary is a 1985 British drama about "people rediscovering the joys of life and love," based on a screenplay adapted by Harold Pinter from Russell Hoban's novel Turtle Diary, directed by John Irvin, and starring Glenda Jackson, Ben Kingsley, and Michael Gambon.-Synopsis:Two lonely Londoners -...
and Ishtar
Ishtar
Ishtar is the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility, love, war, and sex. She is the counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the cognate north-west Semitic goddess Astarte.-Characteristics:...
. Nicholas was the voice of Lionel in all 39 episodes of Budgie the Little Helicopter
Budgie the Little Helicopter
Budgie the Little Helicopter is a series of children's books and animated television series relating to a fictional character 'Budgie' and his friends. The characters were based on the books by Sarah, Duchess of York , who was influenced by her flight training in the Royal Navy...
.
Source Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
Radio
He has written and presented over sixty radio features for BBC Radio 2, 3 and 4 on a variety of subjects on subjects ranging from Latin, comic songs, and the Shipping Forecast to Korngold, Cziffra, Ronald Frankau and Harry Graham. In 1996 he won the Sony Radio Gold Award for Best Arts Programme. His own radio series have included The Shellac Show (BBC Radio 3BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
), The Jeremy Nicholas Anthology (BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
) and The Tingle Factor and Personal Records (BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
). He has adapted and/or read more than twenty books for radio and spoken word recordings. His dramatisation of Keble Howard's comic masterpiece The Fast Gentleman was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2000. He was responsible for the concept and compilation of all eight of EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
’s best-selling CDs Hello Children…Everywhere based on his series for BBC Radio 4.
Audio Recordings
Carnival of the Animals (music by Saint-Saëns, verses by Jeremy Nicholas)NEMACD600
The Phantom of the Opera (Gaston Leroux)
Naxos NA211812
Composers’ Letters (anthology)
Naxos NA203012
Christmas is Coming! Readings for the Festive Season (anthology)
Hodder Headline HH17
The Prisoner of Zenda (Anthony Hope)
Hodder Headline HH154
The Countryman Collection (anthology)
EMI 7243 8
The Fashion in Shrouds (Margery Allingham)
BBC ZBBC166
The Warden (Anthony Trollope)
BBC ZBBC 1213
Three Men in a Boat (Jerome K Jerome)
Argo SAY86, Argo 1052 & Argo 522 591 4
Three Men on the Bummel (Jerome K Jerome)
Argo 1304
Budgie the Little Helicopter (8 songs)
EMI TC-MFP 6117
Trolls: The Musical (Peter Skellern)
CRAMC 2
Music
Nicholas has composed the music for numerous stage plays (among them the world premiere and West End productions of Tennessee WilliamsTennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
’s Vieux Carré
Vieux Carre
Vieux Carré may refer to:*New Orleans's French Quarter* Vieux Carré, a play by Tennessee Williams...
) and four major television plays. His songs and instrumental music have been recorded by Sarah Walker & Roger Vignoles
Roger Vignoles
Roger Vignoles is a British pianist and accompanist. He regularly performs with the world’s leading singers – including Kiri Te Kanawa, Thomas Allen, Anne Sofie von Otter, Thomas Hampson, Gitta-Maria Sjøberg, Sarah Walker, Susan Graham, Felicity Lott, Stephan Genz, Monica Groop, Wolfgang Holzmair,...
, Marc-André Hamelin
Marc-André Hamelin
Marc-André Hamelin, OC, CQ, is a French Canadian virtuoso pianist and composer.Born in Montreal, Quebec, Marc-André Hamelin began his piano studies at the age of five. His father, a pharmacist by trade who was also a pianist, introduced him to the works of Alkan, Godowsky, and Sorabji when he was...
, duo-pianists Nettle & Markham, the Grimethorpe Colliery Band
Grimethorpe Colliery Band
The Grimethorpe Colliery Band is a brass band, based in Grimethorpe, South Yorkshire, England. It was formed in 1917, as a leisure activity for the workers at the colliery, by members of the disbanded Cudworth Colliery Band...
and organist Kevin Bowyer
Kevin Bowyer
Kevin John Bowyer is an English organist, known for his prolific recording and recital career and his interest in playing unusual, modern and extremely difficult compositions.-Biography:...
.
He is Director of Music for the Deanery Church of St. Mary, Bocking
Bocking
Bocking can refer to:*Bocking, a village near Braintree, Essex*Bocking 14, a cultivated strain of the plant Comfrey*Powerbocking, the use of powered stilts patented by Alexander Böck...
(Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
)
He was a jury member for the first BNDES International Piano Competition (http://www.concursopianorio.com/) in Rio de Janeiro (October 2009)
Published music
Blaythorne Suite, for cornet & piano
Pub. Studio Music
Blaythorne Suite, (arr. Farr) for brass band
Pub. Studio Music
Carphology, for clarinet & piano
Pub. Cramer Music
Toccata giubiloso, for organ
Pub. Cramer Music
Place Settings / Musical Chairs
Usherette’s Blues
Pub. Novello
Funny You Should Sing That (The Songs of Jeremy Nicholas)
(Open Wide, I Can’t Quite Remember Your Name, Camping Out, Dad Got All His Medals Out Today, Presidential Precedents, Valentine Card, Pub Crawl, Tongue Twister)
Pub. Novello
Writing
Raspberries and Other Trifles - Tales for Discerning DelinquentsPub. Hutchinson, 1984
& Dragon Books, 1987
Godowsky - The Pianists' Pianist
Pub. APR 1989
A Beginner's Guide to Opera
Pub. Ebury Press, 1993
& Crescent Books, 1994
Victorian Curiosities (ed.)
Pub. Little Brown, 1995
The Classic FM Guide to Classical Music
Pub. Pavilion Books, 1996
& 1997, revised and updated
The Classic FM Good Music Guide
Pub. Hodder & Stoughton, 1999
Chopin – His Life and Music
Pub. Naxos 2006
& Sourcebooks 2007
The Great Composers
Pub. Quercus, 2007
Idle Thoughts on Jerome K Jerome (ed.)
Pub. Jerome K Jerome Society, 2009
Funny You Should Sing That (Novello) - an album of comic songs (words and music by Nicholas) culled from the more than 150 written for programmes such as BBC Radio 4’s Stop the Week
Stop The Week
Stop the Week was a long running BBC Radio 4 discussion programme chaired by Robert Robinson which ran from 1974–1992-Origins:The BBC Radio's Current Affairs Department decided that it wanted a programme that would act as a bookend to Monday morning's Start the Week with Richard Baker, which had...
(1978-91).
Nicholas has written the booklets for over 80 classical CDs, including the recording of his verses for Carnival of the Animals released 2006.
He is a regular contributor as writer and critic to Gramophone, International Piano and Classic FM
Classic FM (UK)
Classic FM, one of the United Kingdom's three Independent National Radio stations, broadcasts classical music in a popular and accessible style.-Overview:...
magazines.
Recordings
- Sergei ProkofievSergei ProkofievSergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
: Peter and the WolfPeter and the WolfPeter and the Wolf , Op. 67, is a composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936 in the USSR. It is a children's story , spoken by a narrator accompanied by the orchestra....
. Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, conductor Ondrej LenárdOndrej LenárdOndrej Lenárd is a Slovakian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1977 to 1990 and of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra from 1991 to 2001, where his concert work included performances of Ján Bella's Wieland der Schmied. His recordings include a...
, narrator Jeremy Nicholas. Naxos RecordsNaxos RecordsNaxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...
8.550499
Camille Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals. David Nettles & Richard Markham, pianos (with ensmble). Verses written and narrated by Jeremy Nicholas. Netmark NEMACD600
Francis Poulenc: The Story of Babar the Little Elephant. David Nettles & Richard Markham, pianos. Text by Jean de Brunhoff, narrator Jeremy Nicholas. Netmark NEMACD600
Jeremy Nicholas: Toccata Giubiloso. Kevin Bowyer, organ. NPC007
Jeremy Nicholas: Quiet Peace No.1 (arr. 2 pianos) David Nettle & Richard Markham, pfs., (MCD 65, Carlton Classics 30366 01052, NEMACD200)
Place Settings (words & music, Jeremy Nicholas) Sarah Walker & Roger Vignoles (Hyperion CDA66289)
Musical Chairs (alternative version of Place Settings) (words & music, Jeremy Nicholas) Jody Karin Applebaum & Marc-André Hamelin (Albany TROY744)
Usherette’s Blues (words & music, Jeremy Nicholas) Sarah Walker & Roger Vignoles (Hyperion CDA66289) Jody Karin Applebaum & Marc-André Hamelin (Albany TROY744) Nicy Roberts & Paul Roberts (TTB CD02)
Pretty Plain (words & music, Jeremy Nicholas) Jody Karin Applebaum & Marc-André Hamelin (Albany TROY744)
Maternity (words & music, Jeremy Nicholas) Jody Karin Applebaum & Marc-André Hamelin (Albany TROY744)
Valentine Card (words & music, Jeremy Nicholas) Stewart Collins & Andy Read (FEST CD231)