Mark Warman
Mark Warman (born 5 August 1961) is a British conductor, musical director, composer, orchestrator and educator. He has worked extensively in London's West End on musical productions and orchestrated and conducted many albums, TV and film scores.
Early life
Warman was born in Kingston upon Thames and educated at Tiffin School before reading Music at King's College, Cambridge, where he sang in its famed Chapel Choir before becoming Musical Director in 1983 of the famous Footlights Revue.[1][2]
Musical director
At the age of just 23, Warman began his West End career as Musical Director of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4,[3][4][2] which ran for 16 months at the Wyndham's Theatre.[1] For EMI he conducted an orchestral version of the score by Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley at Abbey Road Studios.[5][6]
This started a career where Mark has been the Musical Director, Conductor or Arranger for over 100 shows in the West End, as well as overseas. Some of these shows include Les Misérables (Palace Theatre),[7][1][2] Metropolis (Piccadilly Theatre),[8][2] Thoroughly Modern Millie (Shaftesbury Theatre),[9][1][2] The Lion King (Lyceum Theatre),[1][2] Maxwell (Criterion Theatre),[10][11] Kiss Me Kate (Victoria Palace Theatre),[1][2] Children Of Eden (Prince Edward Theatre),[1][2] Saturday Night (Bridewell),[12][13][14][1][2] Into The Woods (Donmar Warehouse),[15][16][1][2] Pacific Overtures[17][18][1][2] (Donmar Warehouse) 2004 Olivier for Outstanding Musical Production,[19] Sweeney Todd (Holland Park),[20][1][2] Enter The Guardsman (Donmar Warehouse),[21][1][2] Floyd Collins (Bridewell),[22][1][2] Rock Horror Picture Show 50th Birthday Gala (Royal Court),[1][23] Babes In Arms (Chichester Festival Theatre),[24][25][26][1] Rooms (Finborough Theatre),[27] Drifting and Tilting (Barbican Theatre), Martin Smith's King (Prince Edward Theatre),[28][1][2] Chess In Concert - (Royal Albert Hall),[2][29] Sinatra at the London Palladium (Palladium),[1][2] The Night Of 1000 Voices (Royal Albert Hall) and The Boy Who Fell into A Book (Stephen Joseph Theatre)[30][31][32]
Stephen Sondheim
![](../I/Mark_Warman_%2526_Julia_McKenzie.jpg.webp)
Over his long career Mark seems to have had a great relationship with Stephen Sondheim. In 1998, Mark was the Musical Director on the first UK production of Sondheim's first musical, Saturday Night[12][13][14][1] at the Bridewell Theatre in London. This was followed up in 2005 with Mark being the first Musical Director to work on Evening Primrose[1][2] for the 'Discover the Lost Musicals' series in London. Mark then worked on Into The Woods at the Donmar Warehouse in London,[15][16][1][2] Sweeney Todd for Holland Park Opera Company in the UK[20][1] and then Pacific Overtures[17][18][1][2] at the Donmar Warehouse, which went on to win the 2004 Olivier for Outstanding Musical Production.[19] Stephen Sondheim is often a guest at the Royal Academy of Music,[1] where Mark currently continues to lead as its Principal Tutor. For the last 10 years Mark has been a judge for the Stephen Sondheim Society Student Prize of the Year competition, where himself, Julie McKenzie and a panel of judges select the best up and coming musical theatre graduate of the year.[33]
Carl Davis - orchestrations
Mark has also had a long working career with American Conductor and musician Carl Davis. Together Mark has orchestrated several TV scores over the years including, the 1995 series of Pride and Prejudice[1] starring Colin Firth, the 1995 documentary film Anne Frank Remembered[1] starring Glenn Close and Kenneth Branagh, The Queen's Nose[1] from 1995 - 2000, the 1995 series Oliver's Travels,[1] The Thatcher Years[1] and A Dance To The Music Of Time.
Other film, TV and stage orchestrations
Film and TV
Mark has worked on many scores over his career orchestrating and writing for both film and television, mostly with the BBC. In 1986 Mark started working on the TV series of Mr Pye,[1] followed shortly by A Penny For Your Dreams[1] in 1987. Between 1987 and 1989 Mark worked on Foreign Bodies, another TV series on the BBC. In the 90's Mark worked on Mr Abbott’s Broadway[1] a BBC Omnibus production and the TV score of The Black And Blue Lamp.
Mark also worked on both the film scores of Vox Lux[34] - a film by Brady Corbet, starring Natalie Portman and The Childhood Of A Leader[35][36][34] - a film score with the music originally written by Marks long time friend Scott Walker.
Stage orchestrations
Mark has also Orchestrated many West End musicals over his career. Some of these include Nine[37][38][1] at the Donmar Warehouse, Into The Woods[15][16][1][2] at the Donmar Warehouse, Moll Flanders[1] at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, Hard Times[39][1][2] at the Theatre Royal in Haymarket, Metropolis[8] at the Piccadilly Theatre, London and The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole[3][2] at the Wyndham's Theatrein London.
Mark has also composed and orchestrated many incidental music scores for the theatre including School For Scandal.[40][41][1] Henry VIII[42] and The Rivals[1][43] for the Chichester Festival Theatre and Three Hours After Marriage[44][1] for the Royal Shakespeare Company. in 2019, Mark composed the score for Alan Ayckbourn's new play The Boy Who Fell into A Book (Stephen Joseph Theatre)[30][31][32]
Lost Musicals (1990 - 2013)
Ian Marshall Fisher, Artistic Director of Lost Musicals,[45][1][2] invited Warman to be Musical Director for his inaugural 1990 season of three musicals: Fanny,[46][47] Allegro and Trouble In Tahiti. Warman went on to musically direct a further 15 shows in this project: Greenwillow[48] (1991), DuBarry Was A Lady[49] (1993), Music In The Air (1993), Red Hot And Blue[50] (1994), Love Life[51] (1995), Of Thee I Sing (1996), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes[52] (1997), As Thousands Cheer[53] (1998), I'd Rather Be Right[54] (1999), Evening Primrose[1][2] (2005), Nymph Errant (2006), Park Avenue (2008), Darling Of The Day (2010), Flahooley (2012) and Around The World (2013), which was presented in London and New York. A revival in 2001 of DuBarry Was A Lady[55][1] with Warman conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra was broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
Scott Walker
Mark began working with the avant-garde musician Scott Walker on his album The Drift[1] in 2003. Warman remained his musical director, conductor, keyboardist and orchestrator of albums, ballets and film scores until Walker's death in 2019. Brady Corbet's debut film The Childhood Of A Leader[35][36] was chosen to close the 2017 International Film Festival Rotterdam with a live performance of Walker's score, performed by a 75-piece orchestra conducted by Warman.
Royal Academy of Music
In 2003 Mark was invited by Mary Hammond, then Head of Musical Theatre at the Royal Academy of Music, to create a one-year postgraduate course in Musical Direction which he continues to lead as its Principal Tutor. He was awarded an Hon ARAM in 2012.[1][2]
Discography
- The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole - 1984 Original London Cast - Orchestrator, Conductor[4][3][2]
- The Six Wives Of Henry VIII - 1988 Studio Cast[29]
- Metropolis - 1989 Original London Cast - Music Director[8][29][56]
- Children Of Eden - 1993 Original London Cast - Keyboards
- A Year In Provence - 1993 Original Soundtrack - Keyboards, Arranger[5]
- Moll Flanders - 1993 Original London Cast - Orchestrator, Producer[29][5]
- Pride And Prejudice - 1995 Original Soundtrack - Orchestrator, Producer[5]
- Circle Of Life - 1996 The Kings Singers - Orchestrator[5]
- The Fields Of Ambrosia - 1996 Original London Cast - Conductor[56][1][29][5]
- Beauty And The Beast - 1997 Original London Cast - Keyboards[5]
- Saturday Night - 1998 Original London Cast - Vocal Arrangements, Music Supervisor[12][13][14][29][56]
- Hard Times - 2000 Original London Cast - Orchestrator, Producer[29]
- DuBarry was a Lady - 2001 Concert Cast - Music Director[55]
- Here’s To The Ladies - 2002 Christine Andreas - Conductor[29][5]
- The Drift - 2006 Scott Walker - Orchestrator, Conductor[1][5]
- Voices Of The Valley - 2006 Fron Male Voice Choir / Czech Film Orchestra - Conductor[1][5]
- Charles Dickens' Hard Times -The Musical - 2008 Original London Cast - Recording Producer, Orchestrator[5]
- And Who Shall Go To The Ball? - 2007 Scott Walker - Orchestrator, Conductor[5][6]
- Chess In Concert - 2008 Concert Cast - Music Director[2][29][5]
- From the Valleys: The Best of the Welsh Choirs - 2008 - Conductor[5]
- Carl’s War - 2010 Czech National Symphony Orchestra - Orchestrator
- Unburied Treasures: A Musical Revue - 2010 Original Cast - Producer[29]
- Carl Davis: Heroines in Music - 2011 Carl Davis - Orchestrator[5]
- Bish Bosch - 2012 Scott Walker - Orchestrator, Conductor[57][5][6]
- Soused - 2014 Scott Walker - Orchestrator, Conductor[58][5][6]
- The Childhood Of A Leader - 2016 Original Soundtrack - Orchestrator, Conductor[35][36][6]
- Mary Poppins Returns - 2018 Original Soundtrack - Keyboards[6]
- Vox Lux - 2018 Original Soundtrack - Orchestrator, Conductor
- Minus - 2018 Daniel Blumberg - Choir Director[5]
Personal life
Warman lives in London. He has just completed work on Mary Poppins Returns.[6] He represents himself and still continues to record albums for shows, groups and solo artists.[1][2]
References
- MA, Mark Warman; ARCM; Director, Hon ARAM Musical Theatre-Specialist Musical Director Coach Musical; conductor; composer; arranger; Company, educator Musical Supervisor for two Sondheim world premieres Composed incidental music for the Royal Shakespeare; End, on the West. "Staff - Mark Warman - Royal Academy of Music". www.ram.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- "Mark Warman". bookmusicandlyrics. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 - 1984 West End - Creative Team". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- "Various - Sue Townsend's Secret Record Of Adrian Mole". Discogs. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- "Mark Warman | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- "Mark Warman". Discogs. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- Nash, Russell. "Les Miserables", The Stage, London, 22 October 1992.
- "Metropolis - 1989 West End - Creative Team". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- "Thoroughly Modern Millie , a CurtainUp London review". www.curtainup.com. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- "Injunction soughtto halt musical life of Maxwell". The Independent. 1994-02-04. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- ‘Theatre Week’. "Maxwell", The Stage, London, 13 January 1994.
- "Sondheim.com - Putting it together since 1994". www.sondheim.com. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- "London Hears Sondheim's Long-Lost Saturday Night". Playbill. January 21, 1998. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- Martland, Lisa. "Saturday Night", The Stage, London, 24 December 1997.
- "Sondheim Guide / Into the Woods". www.sondheimguide.com. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- ‘Theatre Week’. "Into the Woods", The Stage, London, 12 November 1998.
- "Pacific Overtures - 2003 West End - Creative Team". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- Martland, Lisa. "Pacific Overtures", The Stage, London, 3 July 2003.
- "2004 Laurence Olivier Awards", Wikipedia, 2019-03-08, retrieved 2019-08-16
- Hepple, Peter. "Sweeney Todd", The Stage, London, 4 July 1996.
- ‘Theatre Week’. "Enter the Guardsman", The Stage, London, 11 September 1997.
- ‘Theatre Week’. "Floyd Collins", The Stage, London, 8 July 1999.
- "TimeWarp - The Lab - Stage Show details 2018 - 2019". www.timewarp.org.uk. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- Sell, Michael. "Babes in Arms review at Festival Theatre Chichester | Review | Theatre". The Stage. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- ‘Calendar’. "Babes in Arms", The Stage, London, 7 June 2007.
- Sell, Michael. "Babes in Arms", The Stage, London, 21 June 2007.
- "Rooms - A Rock Romance - 2013 Productions - Finborough Theatre". www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- "King - 1988 West End - Creative Team". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- "Mark Warman Discography : CastAlbums.org". castalbums.org. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- "The Boy Who Fell into A Book (Stephen Joseph Theatre) | WhatsOnStage". www.whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- "Theatre review: The Boy Who Fell into a Book at Stephen Joseph Theatre". British Theatre Guide. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- "The Boy Who Fell Into a Book | Review | Theatre". The Stage. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- "Sondheim Society competition 2016". Sondheim Society. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- "Mark Warman". BFI. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- Earls, John (2016-07-01). "Listen as Scott Walker announces new album". NME. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- "Deep Cuts: Scott Walker". Film Comment. 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- Wolf, Matt (1997-01-05). "Nine". Variety. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- Hepple, Peter. "Silver screen symphony bubbles with style", The Stage, London, 19 December 1996.
- ‘Theatre Week’. "Hard Times", The Stage, London, 1 June 2000.
- ‘Production News’. "The School For Scandal ", The Stage, London, 25 May 1995.
- ‘Theatre Week’. "The School for Scandal", The Stage, London, 6 July 1995.
- Sell, Michael. "Henry III", The Stage, London, 6 June 1991.
- ‘Theatre Week’. "The Rivals", The Stage, London, 5 May 1994.
- FitzGerald, Ann. "Full-blooded farcical romp ", The Stage, London, 30 May 1996.
- "Lost Musicals". www.lostmusicals.org. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- Shenton, Mark. "Fanny review at Lilian Baylis London | Review | Theatre". The Stage. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- Shenton, Mark. "Fanny", The Stage, London, 24 March 2005.
- ‘Theatre Week’. "Greenwillow", The Stage, London, 5 September 1991.
- "Du Barry Was A Lady - 2001 West End - Creative Team". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- ‘Theatre Week’. "Red, Hot and Blue", The Stage, London, 15 September 1994.
- ‘Production News’. "Ian Marshall Fisher’s", The Stage, London, 12 October 1995.
- ‘Theatre Week’. "Gentleman Prefer Blondes", The Stage, London, 1 May 1997.
- ‘Theatre Week’. "As Thousands Cheer", The Stage, London, 23 April 1998.
- Hepple, Peter. "I’d Rather Be Right", The Stage, London, 20 May 1999.
- "Du Barry Was A Lady - 2001 West End - Creative Team". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- "The Fields of Ambrosia - 1996 West End - Creative Team". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- "Scott Walker - Bish Bosch - Official Website". www.bishbosch.com. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- Michaels, Sean (2014-07-18). "Scott Walker and Sunn O))) reveal details of collaboration album, Soused". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-08-16.