Producer Kenny waxes lyrical about the Manchester theatre scene

Kenny Wax Productions is a London-based producer behind many successful plays and musicals, including SIX the Musical, Bugsy Malone, The Play That Goes Wrong and Identical the Musical.

With two productions currently playing at the Lowry, we caught up with Kenny Wax to find out more about his role, his love of theatre the shows he produces. 

For anyone who does not know, what does a producer do?

The producer is the person who generally owns and runs the business. In running the ‘business’ we have to finance the development of the production which can include getting permission to put the show on stage.

If it’s an original musical based on, for instance, a historic event, the rights will be acquired from the writers of the show, but if it’s a play or musical based on existing intellectual property such as a film, then the underlying rights need to be purchased.

The producer then puts the team together. This will include a director, and various designers for set, costume, lighting and sound. Collectively these are called the ‘creative team’. Auditions will be set and although the director will generally make the choices, the producer might have ‘sign off’.

Perhaps if a big star is to be cast, the producer will have secured them alongside the director. Then it’s a case of booking a theatre, employing everyone and marketing and advertising the show to ensure that it plays to an audience.

The producer also raises all the finance required to put on the production and carries the financial risk over and above any investment which has been raised.

It’s not for the faint-hearted!

How does it feel to have two shows at the Lowry this Christmas?

 For many of the past few years, we have had two shows at The Lowry.

One of my other productions, SIX the Musical, has played several times in the Quays and we often have another show for toddlers in the daytime, on top of the main show.

As Manchester is my hometown it’s always nice to bring my shows to the city.

What do you love about the theatre scene in Manchester?

 Many of my earliest experiences of theatre were at the Royal Exchange where I saw particularly memorable productions of Leaping Ginger and The Three Musketeers.

I also remember theatre trips to the Wythenshawe Forum to see Gypsy, and to the Opera House to see The Pirates of Penzance, which starred a very young Michael Ball alongside Paul Nicholas.

The Lowry has some great spaces; big and small and they are adaptable. Is that appealing to you – as a producer?

When we produced the musical Top Hat, starring Strictly Come Dancing winner Tom Chambers, I remember doing a press and groups event in the Compass Room at the very top of the building.

One of my children’s shows has performed in the small studio.

I’ve had many shows in both the Quays and the Lyric. I understand that the Quays can be played ‘in the round’ which I’ve not seen but that would be an exciting variation.

What grabbed you about both of these shows when you first saw them?

 We’re Going on a Bear Hunt is such a great title and about 20 years ago I had the opportunity of looking at two productions of the same title which were being licensed by the authors.

The first I saw was very traditional. It told the story as if reading the book from one page to the next.

That’s fine, but I felt it was rather too predictable.

So, I took a train down to Bristol to see a version of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt that had been devised by the brilliant director Sally Cookson.

She, together with composer Benji Bower, created this wonderful playground for a family of actors to explore, using ‘play’ as the central theme.

It’s so imaginative and the lovely thing to hear from parents when they are leaving the theatre is ‘well we really didn’t know how they would tell such a slight story’ but they are thrilled by the unusual approach which Sally and Benji took all those years ago and so are their kids.

Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World was an idea that emanated from one of my staff who had a young daughter.

Sheffield-based author and illustrator Kate Pankhurst (yes, a distant relative of suffragette Emmeline) had created some lovely picture books and we asked permission to turn the picture book into a stage show.

But we felt we needed to make the show accessible to all the family which, thankfully, Kate agreed to. We then put a fabulous team together: Chris Bush to write the stage adaptation, Miranda Cooper and Jennifer Decilveo to create the songs, and director Amy Hodge to pull the whole thing together.

And the result is an 80-minute straight-through (no interval) musical told with pop songs and great skill by a cast of five who multi-role such characters as Marie Curie, Jane Austen, Frida Kalho and Emmeline Pankhurst, to name just a few.

Having produced SIX the Musical, it would be easy to assume that Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World is an attempt to ride off the back of that success, but it was actually commissioned a couple of years before I saw SIX!

How are you spending Christmas?

 Christmas will be spent with the family – we now live in London but the kids are grown up so my wife and I will also try to get a break and look for a last-minute deal to somewhere warm.

Although all my productions in the UK are performing across the Christmas holidays, the office is shut so it’s a chance to unwind.

What plans do you have workwise for next year?

 We have one brand new musical in development which is going to be very exciting. I can’t say anything about it but it’s going to be announced mid-February and open in the West End in September.

We have another amazing show in development but it’s going to take the whole of next year to prepare it for audiences so that is more likely to be Spring 2025.

Finally, I am co-producing Just For One Day, which is the Live Aid musical opening at the Old Vic Theatre in London in February. Look out for that. It’s going to be incredible and it’s selling like hotcakes.

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt is at The Lowry until 7^th January and can be booked here

Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World is also at the Lowry until 7tth January and can be booked here