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Richard Jones (director)
Encyclopedia
Richard Jones is a British theatre and opera director.
and London
. After working as a jazz musician, he spent 1982-83 on a bursary working with Scottish Opera
and the Citizens Theatre.
Festival, Opera Northern Ireland and Opera 80
. He came to prominence in 1987 with the world première of Judith Weir
's A Night at the Chinese Opera
for Kent Opera
and a production of Mignon
at the Wexford Festival
.
Opera productions include The Gambler, L’heure Espagnole & Gianni Schicchi, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Royal Opera House); Lohengrin (Munich), Skin Deep (Opera North), Falstaff, Macbeth, Jonathan Dove’s Flight and Euryanthe (Glyndebourne); Rusalka (Copenhagen); Billy Budd (Frankfurt); The Fiery Angel (Brussels); The Queen Of Spades and Olivier Award-winning Hansel and Gretel (WNO); Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, The Love for Three Oranges, Die Fledermaus, David Sawer’s opera From Morning to Midnight, Lulu and The Trojans (ENO); Pelleas and Melisande (Opera North, ENO); The Cunning Little Vixen, Der fliegende Holländer and Jenufa (Amsterdam); Julius Caesar (Opernwelt Production of the Year) and The Midsummer Marriage (Munich); L’enfant et les sortilèges & Der Zwerg and Juliette (Paris Opera); Un ballo in maschera and La boheme (Bregenz Festival); Wozzeck (Berlin and WNO).
Theatre includes Annie Get Your Gun, The Good Soul of Szechuan, Six Characters Looking For an Author and Hobson’s Choice (Young Vic); Rumpelstiltskin (Birmingham Contemporary Music); Too Clever by Half (Olivier Award), The Illusion (Evening Standard Award) and A Flea in Her Ear (Old Vic); Into the Woods (Olivier and Evening Standard Awards) in the West End, Black Snow (American Repertory Theatre); All’s Well That Ends Well (Public Theatre, New York); Holy Mothers (Ambassadors/Royal Court Theatre); La Bête (West End, Broadway: Tony nomination); Titanic (Musical)
Wrong Mountain (Broadway); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Royal Shakespeare Company); Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme and Tales from the Vienna Woods by Odon von Horvath in a new version by David Harrower (National Theatre).
Richard’s productions of The Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk for the Royal Opera House and The Trojans (2004) for ENO won the Olivier Award for Best Opera production in 2005. In 2000 his production of Hansel and Gretel for WNO, won the Olivier Award for best new Opera. In 2000 Richard was awarded Designer of the Year with Antony McDonald for Un ballo in maschera in Germany. He was nominated for a South Bank Show award for his production of The Queen of Spades at WNO and for an Olivier Award for Pelleas and Melisande at ENO. He was awarded the Barclays/TMA Award 2001 for The Queen of Spades at WNO and again in 2006 for Wozzeck at WNO. He has also won the Evening Standard Award for Der Ring Des Nibelungen at the Royal Opera House.
In 2011, Richard will be directing Government Inspector at Warwick Arts Centre and London's Young Vic Theatre. The production features Julian Barratt
and Doon Mackichan
. For the Bavarian State Opera Munich Richard Jones will be directing Jacques Offenbach´s Les contes d´Hoffmann, due to premier on October 31st 2011.
Early life
Jones was born in London, and studied at the University of HullUniversity of Hull
The University of Hull, known informally as Hull University, is an English university, founded in 1927, located in Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire...
and London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
. After working as a jazz musician, he spent 1982-83 on a bursary working with Scottish Opera
Scottish Opera
Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies funded by the Scottish Government...
and the Citizens Theatre.
Career
Richard Jones's earliest productions were for the BatignanoBatignano
Batignano is a small town in southern Tuscany, a frazione of the comune of Grosseto, positioned at about 10 km north-east of the capital on one of the last foot-hills of the valley of Ombrone which dominated the ancient city of Roselle....
Festival, Opera Northern Ireland and Opera 80
English Touring Opera
English Touring Opera is an opera company in the United Kingdom. From 1979 to 1992 it was known as Opera 80.- About the company :Opera 80 was founded in 1979 by the Arts Council of Great Britain as the successor to Opera For All; in 1992 the company changed its name to English Touring Opera...
. He came to prominence in 1987 with the world première of Judith Weir
Judith Weir
Judith Weir CBE, is a British composer.-Biography:Her music has been appreciated by audiences and critics alike. She trained with John Tavener while still at school and subsequently with Robin Holloway at King's College, Cambridge, graduating in 1976...
's A Night at the Chinese Opera
A Night at the Chinese Opera
A Night at the Chinese Opera is an opera by Judith Weir. Aside from an earlier opera for children, this was Weir's first full-scale opera, written on commission from the BBC for performance by Kent Opera. The work received its premiere on 8 July 1987 at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, England...
for Kent Opera
Kent Opera
Kent Opera was a British opera company in the period 1969-1989. Based in Ashford, England the Company presented its productions in several centres mainly in the southern part of England. These included The Orchard Theatre, Dartford, the Assembly Halls, Tunbridge Wells, Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury,...
and a production of Mignon
Mignon
Mignon is an opéra comique in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. The Italian version was translated by Giuseppe Zaffira. The opera is mentioned in James Joyce's The Dead,...
at the Wexford Festival
Wexford Festival Opera
The Wexford Festival Opera is an opera festival that takes place in the town of Wexford in South-Eastern Ireland during the months of October and November.-Festival origins under Tom Walsh, 1951 to 1966:...
.
Opera productions include The Gambler, L’heure Espagnole & Gianni Schicchi, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Royal Opera House); Lohengrin (Munich), Skin Deep (Opera North), Falstaff, Macbeth, Jonathan Dove’s Flight and Euryanthe (Glyndebourne); Rusalka (Copenhagen); Billy Budd (Frankfurt); The Fiery Angel (Brussels); The Queen Of Spades and Olivier Award-winning Hansel and Gretel (WNO); Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, The Love for Three Oranges, Die Fledermaus, David Sawer’s opera From Morning to Midnight, Lulu and The Trojans (ENO); Pelleas and Melisande (Opera North, ENO); The Cunning Little Vixen, Der fliegende Holländer and Jenufa (Amsterdam); Julius Caesar (Opernwelt Production of the Year) and The Midsummer Marriage (Munich); L’enfant et les sortilèges & Der Zwerg and Juliette (Paris Opera); Un ballo in maschera and La boheme (Bregenz Festival); Wozzeck (Berlin and WNO).
Theatre includes Annie Get Your Gun, The Good Soul of Szechuan, Six Characters Looking For an Author and Hobson’s Choice (Young Vic); Rumpelstiltskin (Birmingham Contemporary Music); Too Clever by Half (Olivier Award), The Illusion (Evening Standard Award) and A Flea in Her Ear (Old Vic); Into the Woods (Olivier and Evening Standard Awards) in the West End, Black Snow (American Repertory Theatre); All’s Well That Ends Well (Public Theatre, New York); Holy Mothers (Ambassadors/Royal Court Theatre); La Bête (West End, Broadway: Tony nomination); Titanic (Musical)
Titanic (musical)
Titanic is a musical with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a book by Peter Stone that opened on Broadway in 1997. It won five Tony Awards including the award for Best Musical...
Wrong Mountain (Broadway); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Royal Shakespeare Company); Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme and Tales from the Vienna Woods by Odon von Horvath in a new version by David Harrower (National Theatre).
Richard’s productions of The Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk for the Royal Opera House and The Trojans (2004) for ENO won the Olivier Award for Best Opera production in 2005. In 2000 his production of Hansel and Gretel for WNO, won the Olivier Award for best new Opera. In 2000 Richard was awarded Designer of the Year with Antony McDonald for Un ballo in maschera in Germany. He was nominated for a South Bank Show award for his production of The Queen of Spades at WNO and for an Olivier Award for Pelleas and Melisande at ENO. He was awarded the Barclays/TMA Award 2001 for The Queen of Spades at WNO and again in 2006 for Wozzeck at WNO. He has also won the Evening Standard Award for Der Ring Des Nibelungen at the Royal Opera House.
In 2011, Richard will be directing Government Inspector at Warwick Arts Centre and London's Young Vic Theatre. The production features Julian Barratt
Julian Barratt
Julian Barratt is an English comedian, musician, music producer and actor. Barratt is best known for playing the character of Howard Moon in the cult comedy The Mighty Boosh, which he also co-writes with comedy partner, Noel Fielding.-The Mighty Boosh:Barratt stars as the character Howard Moon...
and Doon Mackichan
Doon Mackichan
Doon Mackichan is an English comedienne and actress.-Biography:Born in London, Mackichan was brought up in Surrey until the age of 9 when she moved with her family to Upper Largo, Fife. She is a graduate of Manchester University...
. For the Bavarian State Opera Munich Richard Jones will be directing Jacques Offenbach´s Les contes d´Hoffmann, due to premier on October 31st 2011.