The Ambassador Theatre Group

Co-founded by Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire in 1992, the Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) is currently the largest theatre group in the West End and separately, the second largest in the UK regions, with a total of 23 venues. ATG is also one of the country’s foremost theatre producers and has been behind some of the most successful and innovative productions in Britain and internationally.

ATG’s impressive portfolio of West End theatres include high profile and historic buildings such as the Comedy, Donmar Warehouse, Duke of York’s, Fortune, Phoenix, Piccadilly, Playhouse and Savoy (both co-ownership and management of) and the two new venues at Trafalgar Studios. ATG’s regional theatres include The Ambassadors Woking encompassing the New Victoria and Rhoda McGaw Theatres and a 6 screen cinema complex; the Theatre Royal, Brighton; the Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent; the Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent; Milton Keynes Theatre; the Churchill Theatre in Bromley; Richmond Theatre, Surrey; the King’s Theatre in Glasgow; the Theatre Royal, Glasgow; the New Wimbledon Theatre and the New Wimbledon Studio, London. In 2007, ATG opened a New York office as part of the company’s expansion in the United States and announced productions for Europe and Australia. This year, ATG opened Australian productions of The Rocky Horror Show in Sydney and Guys and Dolls in Melbourne.

Current and recent ATG co-productions in London and internationally include the acclaimed production of Harold Pinter’s The Lover/The Collection; Elling starring John Simm; The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess directed by Trevor Nunn; Guys and Dolls starring Ewan McGregor; Sondheim’s Tony Award winning Company on Broadway; The New Statesman starring Rik Mayall (UK tour and West End season); The Rocky Horror Show (UK tour and West End season); Sweeney Todd in London and on Broadway; Matthew Bourne’s Highland Fling (in London and on UK tour); The Witches starring Ruby Wax (in the West End and on UK tour); Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! (three London seasons, as well as UK and worldwide tours); Stephen Poliakoff’s Sweet Panic; Shared Experience’s After Mrs Rochester; Edward Hall’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Richard Eyre’s and the Royal National Theatre’s multi-award winner Vincent in Brixton (in the West End, on Broadway and on UK tour); a co-production of Noises Off with the Royal National Theatre in London and on Broadway; Christopher Hampton’s new version of Three Sisters starring Kristin Scott Thomas; Tom Courtenay in Pretending To Be Me; Gershwin’s My One and Only; The Mystery of Charles Dickens starring Simon Callow in the West End and on Broadway; a co-production of Doctor Faustus at The Young Vic starring Jude Law; Shockheaded Peter in the West End and the first major West End revival and Broadway production of Peter Nichols’ classic A Day in the Death of Joe Egg starring Eddie Izzard; Caryl Churchill's Far Away, directed by Stephen Daldry, plus the Royal Court Theatre production of Mouth to Mouth in the West End.

Other ATG successes include the co-production of The Weir in London and on Broadway (winner of the 1999 Olivier Award for Best New Play); Smokey Joe’s Café in the West End and the Olivier award-winning Slava’s Snowshow in the West End and North America plus the multi award-winning West End musical, Carmen Jones.

ATG also has a series of creative alliances, based in theatre, but with the potential to form a bridge between media. These unique initiatives include a film co-production company with Trademark Films, makers of Shakespeare in Love, and a TV company ScreenStage, with ITV plc, which has made five TV films to date. ScreenStage also co-produced The Play’s The Thing for Channel 4.

ATG has a wholly owned subsidiary company Sonia Friedman Productions, led by producer Sonia Friedman, whose current co-productions include the highly acclaimed Dealer’s Choice by Patrick Marber and the award-winning That Face by Polly Stenham, both in the West End. The hit West End comedy Boeing-Boeing will open this spring on Broadway and in Australia.

Previous SFP productions in the West End include Tom Stoppard's Rock ’n’ Roll (also on Broadway); In Celebration starring Orlando Bloom; The Dumb Waiter starring Lee Evans; Faith Healer starring Ralph Fiennes (Broadway); Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical The Woman in White (also on Broadway); the revival of Michael Frayn’s Donkeys’ Years; Bent with Alan Cumming; On The Third Day, the winning play from the C4 series The Play’s The Thing; Endgame with Michael Gambon and Lee Evans; Sexual Perversity in Chicago with Matthew Perry and Minnie Driver; Franco Zeffirelli’s Absolutely! (perhaps) with Joan Plowright; Ragtime; Macbeth with Sean Bean; Up For Grabs with Madonna and On An Average Day with Woody Harrelson and Kyle McLachlan.

ATG has also formed a joint major national pantomime and family entertainment company with Live Nation, First Family Entertainment. Now in it’s fourth year, the company is producing 12 high quality pantomimes for the Christmas 2008/2009 season.

Updated March 2008

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