I am one of the UK’s most experienced theatre programmers. I have worked for 13 different arts venues in my 39-year career, was Chief Executive of Buxton Opera House for 15 years (1998-2013) and have been programming theatres and arts venues for 26 years.
In 15 years as CEO of Buxton Opera House, I expanded their venues from one to five, overseeing the building of a completely new venue (Pavilion Arts Centre) and increasing annual performances from 250 to 800. By 2013, the venue had generated box office and fundraising income of over £50m in 15 years, and made six-figure trading profits for over a decade.
At various times, I’ve also worked in performing, composing, teaching, musical direction and theatre production, but programming has always been at the heart of my working life.
(* = current client)
That’s 17 different venues for 9 clients, totalling over 4,000 productions booked in that time.
My focus with client venues is a combination of artistic excellence and financial achievement. Take a look at what my clients have said about me to see how true this is.
This is a question I’ve had to answer many times in the last few years!
I’m not daft – I know that no one gets rid of a successful in-house programmer to hire me. But there are other scenarios, which occur surprisingly often, where hiring a freelancer can be an advantage:
Andrew has revolutionised the artistic programming of the Town Hall, bringing with him a massive knowledge of the industry and a huge network of contacts, which has almost doubled our number of annual shows. His commercial acumen and detailed knowledge of how deals work and how to get the best out of them has both saved us money and earned us money. Our net profit from Town Hall promotions has quadrupled since he joined us.
Andrew has provided programming services to Waterside since August 2016. During that time, Andrew has proved to be well connected, managing excellent relationships with promoters and tour bookers. His financial forecasting around show deals is extremely strong and provides us with both confidence and a deep understanding as to the potential of our artistic programme. He is creative in his approach to programming and thrives on finding new work, utilising his wide network of contacts to develop the artistic offering here at Waterside.
Andrew has been a real asset to the re-launch of the New Theatre Royal. Andrew was appointed from the outset (Sept 2016) due to his in-depth industry knowledge and personable approach. He has brought a range of quality commercial product to the venue; his industry knowledge and experience have been invaluable to us, and is he always at the end of a phone for discussion or support should we need him.
Andrew started working with us on our artistic programme in 2016, operating alongside our in-house programmer, and charged with the task of finding shows and promoters with whom we were not already working. He has brought around 40 new promoters and their shows to our roster, which has increased the range, variety and quality of our programme. He also supplies us (and all his clients) each brochure period, with an in-depth analysis of yield, retention and likely profit from every show and this has helped us tremendously in prioritising our marketing resources.
I have worked with Andrew for around 15 years. He has always been a pleasure to deal with. Nothing is too much trouble, he is quick to respond and has a wonderful knowledge of the venues he works with, programming events that enhance and benefit their schedule.
Andrew is easily one of the best programmers we work with…skilled at programming multiple venues and understands the requirements of different shows in different spaces, from the outset. Honest, direct, pragmatic and reliable, he is a genuine pleasure to work with.
We’ve worked with Andrew for over 10 years, routing numerous UK theatre tours. We’ve always found him to be efficient, and quick to respond, which is invaluable when organising hundreds of shows.
I can thoroughly recommend Andrew’s services. Here’s hoping he can help more and more theatres with his brilliant programming services.
We regard Andrew as one of the most organised and experienced venue programmers that we have dealings with. He provides quick, clear and prompt responses to availability requests and then communicates the contract and on-sale procedure in a professional manner. The whole process with Andrew is extremely smooth and well communicated.
We worked with Andrew when he was CEO at Buxton Opera House, as well as at Lincoln Theatre Royal and Cheltenham Town Hall in recent years. He is always precise and decisive, straightforward and a pleasure to deal with. As a promoter, I have come to realise how programming can make or break a venue and Andrew is an excellent programmer with a vast knowledge of touring shows and performers.
We work with 300 programmers for theatres in the UK. Andrew is the best of them. Looking after three strategically-important venues, he is reliable, efficient, diligent, clear and fair. He finds the best solutions for venues and promoters, helping to generate the best returns for all parties. He’s easy to work with, quick to respond and helpful at all times.
At Prestige, we particularly enjoy dealing with programmers who are as dedicated to the theatre business as we are, and Andrew certainly fits this profile, managing a large workload and devoting many hours to the task each day – even answering emails and issuing contracts on Saturday and Sunday. His dedication to his venues is very impressive and much admired.
Andrew has a rare programming talent – he actually makes himself available on the phone and answers emails immediately! Sue and I love doing business with him.
I wish you could be programming every venue!