Husband And Wife Team Beat Lloyd Webber And Mackintosh To Top Of Theatre Power List
Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire – a new theatre superpower tops The Stage 100.

Ambassador Theatre Group’s ‘power couple’ beat Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh to number one.

The Stage newspaper has today announced The Stage 100 – the industry bible’s annual guide to the 100 most influential people in UK theatre.

*Husband and wife team Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire, the joint chief executives of Ambassador Theatre group, are placed at number one for the first time, following their £90 million purchase of Live Nation’s UK theatres. The deal made ATG the UK’s biggest commercial theatre operator in both the West End and the UK regions. Squire becomes only the second female number one in 14 years of The Stage 100.

*Old Vic artistic director, stage and film actor Kevin Spacey makes the Stage 100’s top ten for the first time.

*This year’s highest riser is Royal Court Theatre artistic director Dominic Cooke, who is placed seventh, reflecting a superb year for both the London venue and serious drama in the capital.

*New entrants in this year’s top 20 include John Barrowman and Mark Rylance. David Babani returns after a 3-year absence. Barrowman and Rylance are only the 8th and 9th performers to ever make the top 20 of The Stage 100.

*Regional theatre is also strongly represented, with artistic directors from Manchester, Chichester, Bath and Edinburgh – among others.

*News and opinion editor of The Stage and editor of The Stage 100, Alistair Smith, said:

“Since its launch in 1997, The Stage 100 has been dominated by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh. This is only the third occasion when neither has held the top spot.
“But Ambassador Theatre Group’s £90 million purchase of Live Nation’s UK venues has created a new theatrical superpower – the largest theatre operator of the modern era. In the regions, especially, it dwarfs all competition. The deal has been the biggest theatre story of 2009 and the largest theatre deal since Andrew Lloyd Webber bought his London venues in 2000.
“As such, Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire, the married couple who together launched and continue to run ATG, were a shoo-in for the top spot. They will take some budging in future years.”

For more information, images of the special issue, or pdfs of the full 100, please contact Alistair Smith Stage news and opinion editor on alistair@thestage.co.uk or 07788713147

The full top twenty is as follows [last year’s position]:

1. Howard Panter/Rosemary Squire (ATG) [5]
2. Cameron Mackintosh (producer/ theatre owner)[1]
3. Andrew Lloyd Webber (producer/ theatre owner / composer) [2]
4. Michael Grandage (Donmar Warehouse) [3=]
5. Nicholas Hytner (National Theatre) [3=]
6. Nica Burns / Max Weitzenhoffer (Nimax)[7]
7. Dominic Cooke (Royal Court Theatre)[13]
8. Bill Kenwright (Bill Kenwright Ltd) [6]
9. Michael Boyd (RSC) [8]
10. Kevin Spacey/ Sally Greene (Old Vic Theatre) [11]
11. Nick Thomas / Jon Conway (Qdos Entertainment) [9]
12= Sonia Friedman (Sonia Friedman Productions) [12]
12= David Pugh / Dafydd Rogers (producers) [18]
14. David Babani (Menier Chocolate Factory) [New Entry]
15. Jonathan Church (Chichester Festival Theatre) [16]
16. Bill Taylor (Stage Entertainment) [15]
17. Rupert Goold (director)[14]
18. Alex Poots (Manchester International Festival)[19]
19. John Barrowman (entertainer)[New Entry]
20. Mark Rylance (actor) [New Entry]
*New Entry denotes new entry into top 20, not Stage 100

The full list appears in the December 30, 2009 issue of
The Stage and online at www.thestage.co.uk