Today, one of, or even the biggest, theatre producers in the world is turning 75! It’s Sir Cameron Mackintosh’s birthday (17 October) so we’re going to share some little-known but fascinating facts about the theatre giant.
1. He shares his birthday with a couple of other thespians
17 October is a day for winners! Not only is today Sir Cameron’s birthday, but it’s also the birthday of actor, director, writer and Olivier Award-winner Mark Gatiss, as well as Tony Award-winning director and actor David Cromer whose latest work, The Band’s Visit, dominated the 2018 Tony Awards.
2. He worked his way up from the bottom
Cameron didn’t start out on top. In fact, he was in the wings for some years. As a teenager, he took on the role of stagehand at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He went on to become an assistant stage manager on touring productions before producing some touring shows. By the 1970s, he started producing London shows but his career didn’t start to soar into the stratosphere until his collaboration with Andrew Lloyd Webber on Cats in 1981.
Charlie Stemp, Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Devon Elise Johnson and the cast of Half A Sixpence at the Noël Coward Theatre (Photo: Matt Crockett)
3. He was knighted in 1996
Sir Cameron was knighted in the 1996 New Year’s Honours for his services to British theatre and he is the first British producer to be elected to Broadway’s Theater Hall of Fame. In 1990, he inaugurated the Chair of Contemporary Theatre at St. Catherine’s College in Oxford University, with Stephen Sondheim as his visiting professor. He is also the president of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Gillian Lynne, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Michael Crawford and Cameron Mackintosh. (Photo: Dan Wooller)
4. Cameron Mackintosh’s partner is Michael Le Poer Trench
He met the Australian-born theatre photographer while working on Oklahoma! in Adelaide in 1982. The couple split their time between their London, Somerset and West Highland homes.
5. He’s not the only producer in the family
His younger brother Robert Mackintosh is also a theatre producer. In recent years, he’s produced McQueen and Tell Me On A Sunday in the West End.
6. Sir Cameron remains the world’s most prolific producer of musicals, with over 50 shows either on or in pre-production internationally.
In addition to Cats, Cameron has been responsible for some of the biggest shows in the world. Not long after Cats, he produced Les Misérables, currently the longest-running musical in the world. He has also produced The Phantom Of The Opera, Mary Poppins and Hamilton – all currently running in the West End.
His other hits include Half A Sixpence, Avenue Q, Carousel, Kinky Boots, Miss Saigon, Five Guys Named Moe, Follies, Oliver!, Little Shop Of Horrors, and My Fair Lady.
The cast of Les Misérables, Mary Poppins, Hamilton and The Phantom Of The Opera at West End LIVE 2021 (Photo: Pamela Raith Photography)
7. Eight West End theatres are owned and operated by Delfont Mackintosh
Delfont Mackintosh is owned by Sir Mackintosh and it runs eight of the major West End theatre. The Gielgud, Noël Coward, Novello, Prince Edward, Prince Of Wales, Sondheim Theatre, Victoria Palace and Wyndham’s theatres are all part of the Cam Mac family.