Cameron Mackintosh

Born 17 October 1946 in London, sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh is one of the most influential musical theatre producers in the world, responsible for producing hits such as "Les Misérables", "The Phantom of the Opera", "Miss Saigon", "Cats", and "Hamilton". His father, Ian Robert Mackintosh, was a Scottish timber merchant and jazz trumpeter and his mother, Diana Gladys (née Tonna), was a Maltese-French production secretary. He has a younger brother, Robert, who is also a producer. At 8 Mackintosh saw a production of the musical "Salad Days", which caused him to decide to become a theatre producer. He went to the Catholic Prior Park College in Bath. In his teens he worked as a stagehand, later becoming an assistant stage manager, an finally - in the 1970s - a producer. In 1981 he produced Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "Cats", which became a huge success despite the initial doubts about whether singing cats were a good idea. This led to Mackintosh being approached by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, who asked him to produce what was then a French concept album called "Les Misérables" in London. Again, the musical was a huge success. In 1982 at the opening night of "Oklahoma!" in Adalaide, Mackintosh met an Australian theatre photographer Michael Le Poer Trench, who became his partner. In 1986 he produced Andrew Lloyd Webber's new musical "The Phantom of the Opera", the Broadway production of which became the longest-running Broadway musical in history. He went on to produce a number of other musicals, including "Five Guys Named Moe", revival of "Follies" and West End Transfers of "Oklahoma!", "My Fair Lady", "Carousel" and "Avenue Q". In 1996 Mackintosh was knighted for his services to musical theatre. Two years later he celebrated his 30 years in the business with the concert gala Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh (1998). His newer productions include revivals of "Oliver!" (with the role of Nancy cast via the show I'd Do Anything (2008)) and "Hair" as well as the his show "Hamilton". His group owns eight London theaters. He is also a patron of The Food Chain, a charity providing nutritional support for people living with HIV.