UK theatre industry publication The Stage has released its annual Top 100 power list of people within British theatre.
The Stage’s deputy editor Matthew Hemley, with features editor Georgia Snow and reporters Georgia Luckhurst and Katie Chambers, have drawn up this year’s list. They also asked key industry figures to suggest people for the list, and got input from The Stage editors Lyn Gardner and David Benedict, and reviews editor Sam Marlowe.
In at Number One is writer James Graham, followed by a Top 10 that features theatre owners and producers Nica Burns, Cameron Mackintosh, Andrew Lloyd Webber, ATG Entertainment, Trafalgar Entertainment and the National Theatre; West End producers Michael Harrison and Sonia Friedman; and director Jamie Lloyd.
James Graham, Writer
In a shift from previous years, The Stage’s top spot hasn’t gone to a producer or theatre, but a writer. Leaping up from Number 9 to Number One is playwright and screenwriter James Graham.
Graham’s 2024 was a busy one, even for him, including winning a Best New Play Olivier Award for Dear England at the National Theatre and the West End. Rupert Goold’s production is heading back to the National in March.
He also premiered powerful new play Punch at the Nottingham Playhouse, which is transferring to The Young Vic in March; and Graham’s stage adaptation of Alan Bleasdale’s seminal drama Boys From the Blackstuff enjoyed a regional, National Theatre and West End run, and is back on tour in 2025.
Throw in a high-rating return for his BBC drama Sherwood, and a Season 3 recommission, and it’s safe to say that the famously hard-working James Graham is on a roll.
It’s not all been plain sailing for James Graham: Almeida musical Tammy Faye, with Graham writing the book alongside Jake Shears’ lyrics and Elton John’s music, flopped on Broadway when it opened in November, lasting only 53 performances.
No matter, James Graham has more than proved himself, and it’s exciting to see what he will do next.
Michael Harrison, Producer
Up from the Number 6 slot last year to Number 2 is theatre and panto impresario Michael Harrison. It has also been a busy and successful year for Harrison, who, like David Ian and Bill Kenwright before him, has forged a successful producing partnership with Andrew Lloyd Webber – Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals.
The partnership demonstrated real results in 2024, including the opening of a huge new reboot of Starlight Express at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre; a tour of The Wizard of Oz , featuring new numbers by Lloyd Webber and including a short West End run; and co-producing Jamie Lloyd’s runaway hit production of Sunset Boulevard starring Nicole Scherzinger, which is now doing great business on Broadway.
Looking forward to 2025 and beyond, Harrison has another Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat tour now underway in theatres across the UK and Ireland; has lined-up Jamie Lloyd’s 2019 production of Evita for the London Palladium this summer, with a rumoured turn from Oscar-winner Ariana DeBose; and new Lloyd Webber musical The Illusionist, also to be directed by Jamie Lloyd.
All that is before we even mention Harrison bringing Imelda Staunton to the Palladium last summer in Dominic Cooke’s revival of Hello, Dolly!, and opening his latest show last night, Off-Broadway hit Titanique at London’s Criterion Theatre.
Michael Harrison is also forging new power relationships in the West End, chief among them is Cameron Mackintosh. Harrison has signed up to co-produce the new UK & Ireland tour of Miss Saigon with Mackintosh. Cameron Mackintosh has long partnered with other producers, particularly on international tours such as Michael Cassel in Australia, and Nick Grace for the current Les Miserables The Arena Spectacular tour. Aside from working with Disney on Mary Poppins, he rarely partners with others in the UK market on his own IP, and Harrison has clearly won an important piece of business, and a source of future growth.
And all that is before we mention his core business, which is pantomime production: through Crossroads Pantomimes, a joint venture with global producers Crossroads Live, Harrison is one of the UK’s largest and most successful panto producers, the jewel in the crown being the now-annual London Palladium panto, with Robin Hood starring Julian Clary and Jane McDonald finishing up this weekend.
Nica Burns, Theatre Owner & Producer
West End theatre owner and producer Nica Burns has dropped one place to Number Three this year, but that’s not to take anything away from her achievements in 2024. Burns continues to defy expectations of what a West End theatre owner should programme in their theatres. She seems to cleverly, maybe even bravely, mix commercial choices with work that would be considered fringe in lots of other markets, particularly on Broadway.
She has also used her newest theatre, in-the-round space @sohoplace, for a continuous stream of interesting work, and often not the shows that everyone thinks would be a shoe-in for her space.
At least two of her seven Nimax Theatres are fully booked, with Six at the Vaudeville and The Play That Goes Wrong at the Duchess going nowhere. Both are produced by Kenny Wax, who took a huge leap in 2025 opening a big new musical cold in the West End: Why Am I So Single? at Burns’ Garrick Theatre hasn’t had the success they had hoped, and is closing early on 19 January; but it’s a good example of how Nica Burns seems to work: loyal, supportive, and excited to take risks.
The wider Top 10
ATG, theatre owner & producer
Other Top 10 spots in the power list include ATG Entertainment’s Ted Stimpson, Michael Lynas and Adam Speers at Number Four.
When former British ATG head Mark Cornell was ousted in 2023, the jury was out on his replacement Ted Stimpson, who came from attractions marketing company GoCity. However, aided by ATG’s solid team of theatre vets, Stimpson has continued to forge growth for ATG. Despite some loses on the production side, namely Jamie Lloyd setting up on his own, their rebrand in April to ATG Entertainment has helped focus their activities in the UK and internationally – chiefly on Broadway, where in the Cornell era they picked up 7 Broadway venues from Jujamcyn.
That North America focus has also led to Stimpson appointing a new CEO for the region, Lori Hotz, and picking up touring Broadway producers Celebrity Attractions.
At the end of last year the company also announced a major new theatre in Vienna, and this week purchased significant Spanish theatre owner and producer SOM Produce.
National Theatre
The National Theatre’s management team, including outgoing Rufus Norris and incoming Indhu Rubasingham make Number Five, after hitting the top spot last year. Norris is going out strong, with a bumper 2024 season that has included Michael Sheen in Nye, and Ncuti Gatwa in The Importance of Being Earnest.
Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer, producer & theatre owner
At Number Six is Andrew Lloyd Webber, with his LW Theatre’s consisting of the jewels in the crown of London theatre’s – chief amongst them the mighty London Palladium, and lavish Theatre Royal Drury Lane. See Michael Harrison (above) for an efficient rundown of Lloyd Webber’s current producing activity. Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera continues to do stronger business than ever, under the stewardship of Cameron Mackintosh, particularly now that tourists are back in London, and a forthcoming new immersive production of the show in New York is much anticipated.
James McKnight, who Lloyd Webber brought in to run his Really Useful Group from ABBA’s Pophouse Entertainment, has staffed up radically in the last year, including appointing a COO and Chief Commercial Officer, to focus on maximising revenues and activity from the group’s IP.
Sonia Friedman, producer
Weirdly stuck at Number 7 is Sonia Friedman, who is by far the West End’s, and increasingly Broadway’s most successful and prolific multi-genre producer.
Her output in 2024 alone includes launching Mean Girls The Musical at London’s Savoy Theatre, recasting Stranger Things: The First Shadow at the Phoenix Theatre and announcing its Broadway run; staging Robert Icke’s Oedipus starring Lesley Manville and Mark Strong, and Juno and the Paycock starring Mark Rylance and J Smith-Cameron; premiering Jez Butterworth’s The Hills of California in the West End and then taking it to Broadway; continuing to produce The Book of Mormon and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the later in London and on Broadway; bringing Bush Theatre hit Shifters into the West End; oh and winning a Tony Award for Merrily We Roll Along on Broadway.
Coming up in 2025, Friedman’s projects include producing Imelda Staunton and her daughter Bessie Carter in Mrs Warren’s Profession at the Garrick Theatre, directed by Dominic Cooke; the West End transfer of Almeida Theatre smash-hit The Years at the Harold Pinter Theatre; Robert Icke’s new play Manhunt at the Royal Court; and bringing her acclaimed, Tony Award-winning production of new play Stereophonic to the Duke of York’s Theatre.
Sonia Friedman Productions is part of ATG Entertainment.
Cameron Mackintosh, producer & theatre owner
Dropping from 4 to Number 8 is Cameron Mackintosh, arguably the world’s most successful producer. His company’s accounts for last year show turnover at almost £200 million, which includes his 8 Delfont Mackintosh London theatres.
This year is the 40th anniversary of Les Miserables, with fans across the UK waiting to hear what Mackintosh will do to mark the occasion. His Les Miserables The Arena Spectacular juggernaut has powered through the UK and now sets off in earnest on its world tour, including a 2025 taken up with Europe, Australia and Asia, and maybe London?… Add to that next year’s 40th anniversary for his production of The Phantom of the Opera, and his 2027 milestone of 60 years producing musical theatre, and Mackintosh shows no signs of slowing down.
His productions of Oliver!, which officially opens next week at the West End’s Gielgud Theatre, Hamilton in London and on tour, and Mary Poppins on tour, continue to do great business; as will his forthcoming Miss Saigon tour.
Trafalgar Entertainment, theatre owner & producer
Trafalgar Entertainment’s Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire come in at Number 9. Their fast-growing group keeps adding UK theatres through its Trafalgar Theatres division, they are producing shows including last year’s Kiss Me, Kate and The Duchess (of Malfi), and the forthcoming new Clueless musical at their Trafalgar Theatre in London. They also have fast-growing film distribution and ticketing businesses.
Jamie Lloyd, director & producer
Finally, holding his spot at Number 10, is director and producer Jamie Lloyd. Awards came thick and fast at last year’s Olivier Awards for Lloyd’s production of Sunset Boulevard, now playing on Broadway.
Lloyd’s growing relationship with Andrew Lloyd Webber will also see his Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production of Evita elevated to the mighty London Palladium this summer, and he is attached to Lloyd Webber’s new musical The Illusionist.
His star-driven Shakespeare productions also ramped up in 2024, with Tom Holland starring in Romeo and Juliet at the Duke of York’s Theatre; and Sigourney Weaver currently playing Prospero in The Tempest at Lloyd Webber’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane, to be followed by Tom Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell in the same venue in Much Ado About Nothing.
To view the full Stage 100 list, see the link below.
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