Biography

Hugh Wooldridge is an English theatre director, theatre and television producer and writer and stage and television lighting designer. Following training at LAMDA, he began his career assisting UK directors such as Alan Ayckbourn, Eric Thompson, Freddie Carpenter, David Kelsey, Frank Hauser, Philip Grout and Michael Blakemore. He has been a Resident Director at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester; the Thorndike Theatre, Leatherhead, and the Old Vic Theatre, London.

Wooldridge has worked extensively throughout the UK and beyond, including international tours of Jesus Christ Superstar and The Rocky Horror Show as well as national tours of plays by Nöel Coward, Daphne du Maurier and Dylan Thomas.

Since 1999, he has been the producer, director and devisor of the spectacular fund-raising productions of The Night of 1000 Voices at The Royal Albert Hall. Other productions at the Royal Albert Hall include Who Could Ask For Anything More? the Centenary Celebration of Ira Gershwin; ANTHEMS, the WhatsOnStage prize-winning show with Kerry Ellis, Brian May and Adam Pascal; Chess in Concert introduced by Tim Rice with Josh Groban, Adam Pascal, Idina Menzel, Kerry Ellis, Clarke Peters and Marti Pellow. Concert versions of The Wonderful World of Captain Beaky for UNICEF featuring Roger Moore, Jeremy Lloyd, Joanna Lumley and others; and Seasons of Love, celebrating the original Calendar Girls and Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research.

Television credits include An Evening with Alan Jay Lerner (TVS Writer, Director 1982), An Evening with Liz Robertson (TVS Writer, 1982), No 73 (TVS Celebrity Guests 1982), Showcase (TVS Producer 1982), The A-Z of Music with Richard Stilgoe (TVS Producer 1982), Challenge Anneka (Chatsworth TV, BBC TV / Mentorn TV Original creator and writer; Creative Consultant, 1987), An Evening with Alan Jay Lerner (Director and writer, 1989) PBS USA from Lincoln Center, New York; A Gala Concert for Hal Prince (Director and writer, 1992), Bayerischer Rundfunk and Eurovision, Munich; Director and writer Who Could Ask For Anything More? - the centenary celebration of Ira Gershwin at the Royal Albert Hall, London (1996) Thames HD/BBC TV; Director and co-adapter with Tim Rice Chess in Concert (2008) PBS USA from Royal Albert Hall, The Songs of Tim Rice (London Director and writer, 2017) PBS Maryland - nominated for 3 local Emmy Awards - Best Artistic Program, Best Lighting and Best Direction, winning the Emmy for Best Lighting.

During the Covid pandemic, Hugh Wooldridge produced and directed for television a series of 29 programmes on osteopathy, Watering The Withering Fields - Discovering Osteopathy with Barrie Savory DO.

In 2023/4 Hugh Wooldridge directed and produced A Man For All Time: A Shakespeare Masterclass; hosted by Sir Trevor Nunn, starring Dame Judi Dench and Roger Allam with two young student actors from RADA (Rowan Robinson) and LAMDA (Charlie Norton). A Man For All Time: A Shakespeare Masterclass is shown on Marquee TV.

In December/January 2024/5 Hugh Wooldridge directed a new production of Jeeves Takes Charge at the Theatre Royal, Bath, which was chosen by The Guardian as one of the top 20 Best Festive Theatre Shows.

Most recently, Hugh Wooldridge has directed 2024's BBC TV's Britain's Got Talent winner, Sydnie Christmas, in her first UK tour playing at large venues across the UK.

- IMDb mini biography by: Fiona Popplewell