Phillip Gainsley's Podcast

Episode 142: Kathleen Marshall and Steve Ridley

Phillip Gainsley's Podcast

Show Notes

Kathleen Marshall

Kathleen began her Broadway career as an assistant to her brother Rob, the choreographer of Kiss of the Spider Woman, in 1993. The two also collaborated on She Loves Me, Damn Yankees , Victor/Victoria and Seussical. She was the artistic director for the Encores! series of staged musical revivals from 1996 through 2000. During that time, she choreographed The Boys from Syracuse, Li'l Abner and Call Me Madam and she directed and choreographed Babes in Arms and Wonderful Town.

She also directed and choreographed the Broadway revival of Grease.

I was fortunate enough to catch the Encores! production of Wonderful Town when it transferred to Broadway.

Kathleen was also the director and choreographer of the Broadway revival of Pajama Game which opened in February 2006 and which was the Broadway acting debut of Harry Connick Jr. I’m happy to report I was there too!

More pertinent, Kathleen directed and choreographed a Broadway revival of Cole Porter's Anything Goes in 2011, with Sutton Foster as Reno Sweeney. The show ran at London’s Barbican Centre in 2021 and was recorded for television (BBC) by Ross MacGibbon, later picked up by PBS in America. Kathleen’s production is as close to perfect as can be. In fact, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer.

Stephen Ridley

In 2021 Steve joined Kathleen as music supervisor and music director of Anything Goes at the Barbican. He was also music supervisor of Oklahoma! at Wyndham’s Theatre. Steve conducted the highly-acclaimed Broadway transfers of The King and I at The London Palladium and the Dominion Theatre and An American in Paris at the Dominion Theatre, and he was the music director of the Olivier Award winning revival of Ken Ludwig’s Crazy for You at the Novello Theatre. He later was music supervisor of Kiss me, Kate at the Barbican, now being shown on PBS throughout the U.S.

Steve is a music director, conductor and pianist based in London. He was born in Middlesbrough and is a graduate of the Royal College of Music.

I’m thrilled that he joined us for this exciting episode!

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